Voters Re-elect Hughes, Scott and Hwang

Voters in Easton and surrounding towns have re-elected three incumbents to represent them in the Connecticut General Assembly. Democrat Anne Hughes retained her 135th House District seat, Republican Tony Hwang won re -election to represent Senate District 28, and Republican Tony Scott will remain in the 112th House District.

Hwang, who represents Easton, Newtown and Fairfield, received 51% (22,959) of the overall vote to Democrat Tim Gavin’s 49% (22,137), a margin of 822 votes, according to the unofficial results from the Connecticut Secretary of State website. Gavin received 12,857 votes from Fairfield voters to Hwang’s 12,329, but Hwang carried Newtown by 920 votes (6,693 to 5,773) in addition to receiving 394 more votes (2,092 votes to 1,698) than Gavin from Easton voters.

Hwang issued a statement on Wednesday thanking voters for their trust and confidence to re-elect him and pledged to work collaboratively for a better Connecticut during what he described as “difficult and challenging times.”

“I will work to reduce property taxes and personal taxes,” the statement said.  “I will battle unsustainable inflation costs that undermine Connecticut residents’ ability to live and thrive in our state.  Connecticut is not affordable right now, and we need to do better.”

Hwang also vowed to “protect a woman’s right to choose reproductive decisions,” and to improve access to affordable physical and mental health supportive services.

Hughes received 62% (6,712) of the total votes to Burns’s 38% (4,191) and received the majority of votes from all three towns voting for the 135th, which includes a portion of Easton, Redding, and Weston. Hughes’ margin of victory by town was 23 votes in Easton (971 to 948), 1,078 in Redding (2,679 to 1,601) and 1,402 in Weston (3,062 to 1,642).

“I am truly humbled and grateful to the voters of Easton, Weston and Redding,” Hughes said in her enthusiastic statement submitted to the Courier and posted online.

“You know what is at stake, and showed up in record numbers. This landslide victory is a mandate for all the work we’ve championed together. I am so proud of the turnout, engagement and support across all three towns! We have raised the bar in the 135th House District! See you soon, back at Greiser’s on Sundays! I am so excited to continue to represent this community year-round!” the statement said.

Republican incumbent Rep. Tony Scott ran against Democrat Sheila Papps for the House District 112 seat, which – after the state’s redrawn district map – now includes all of Monroe, about half of Easton and a portion of Trumbull.

Scott received a majority of votes from all of his voting districts and, like Hughes, described his victory as a “landslide” in comments submitted to the Courier.

“I want to thank the people of Monroe, Easton and Trumbull for their overwhelming support on election day,” Scott said.

“This landslide victory means a great deal considering two new towns were added to my district.  I made great efforts to introduce myself and visit both Easton and Trumbull regularly during the last few months and I am humbled they convincingly chose me to be their voice for the 112th district.  I look forward to proudly representing everyone in the 112th district, just as I have done for the past two years.  Once I get sworn in on January 4, I urge all constituents to use their voice and reach out to me with any issue that may arise,” Scott commented.

Easton’s local results reflected the overall regional and statewide election results for governor, U.S. senator, and the Fourth Congressional District, which were won by Democrats Ned Lamont, Richard Blumenthal, and Jim Himes, respectively.

Easton voters also voted in favor of the only question on the ballot, which proposed amending the Constitution of the State to permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting. The 57% of Easton voters who voted “Yes” on the ballot question (2,053 to 1,528) is three percentage points lower than the statewide results, which totaled 60% of the votes in favor (674,002 to 444,745).

Easton’s local vote differed from the statewide results for two major contested races. The majority of Easton votes went to the Republican candidate Harry Arora for Treasurer and fellow Republican Mary Fay for Comptroller, but those candidates lost the overall election to their Democratic opponents, Erick Russell and Sean Scanlon, respectively.

Easton also re-elected Democrat David Smith and Republican Dori Wollen as Registrar of Voters for their respective parties.

The voter turnout in Easton was a robust 68% compared to the statewide voter turnout of 57%.