As polls opened in Southbury at 6:00 a.m., a single voter waited outside the town’s public library to cast their ballot at one of the three polling locations across town.
At the town’s volunteer firehouse, adjacent to Town Hall, candidates and volunteers waved signs and greeted voters who made it a priority to vote before heading off to work.
First Selectman Jeff Manville is seeking his sixth term in office, as Democratic challenger Tim O’Neil is also running for the seat in a rematch from 2023.
There are four ballot questions on the ballot, which include questions about extending the First Selectman’s term to four years and the potential merger of the town’s separate Planning and Zoning Commissions.
In the first few hours of Election Day, candidates from both parties told The Record that this year’s campaign season was “quieter” with less “mud-slinging” involved, compared to years past.
Still, one brief exchange outside between a voter and the two candidates for First Selectman hinted at some underlying tension that exists even in small-town politics.
As a voter exited the polls, she approached the current First Selectman to express her disapproval of the Republican Party, echoing sentiments of voters who are upset with the current national political climate.
“It’s not personal, but I just wanted to send a message,” the voter said to the incumbent candidate.
Manville replied to the voter with a reference to his opponent’s posting of an image on his personal Facebook account with the message “86-47”.
“It’s sad to have a candidate who put on his Facebook page 86-47…k—the president,” said Manville.
Just a few steps away, O’Neil chimed in, saying, “That’s actually ridiculous.”
While O’Neil had posted an image referencing only those numbers, he previously explained to The Record that the post was made in “solidarity with FBI Director James Comey” and referenced the definition of the ’86’ slang term, meaning “to get rid of,” as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Meanwhile, at the town’s Senior Center, Board of Selectmen candidate Anne Armeno, along with her husband Anthony, braved the morning chill to welcome morning voters.
Armeno, the former chair of the Southbury Republican Town Committee, was appointed to the board in December 2024. In her former role, she helped organize and delegate strategies for local candidates. Now, as a candidate herself, she says the experience has been “surreal” for her.
“This is more of show up at everything and getting your name out there. You may think people know you, but they really don’t know you,” she said.
Armeno continued, “I hope to carry on what I’ve been doing…being one of the best people to serve our town.”
Voters who spoke with The Record, like Bill Dwyer, said that he was on the fence about one of the ballot questions, specifically whether the First Selectman’s term should be extended from two to four years.
“When you don’t like the person who is in there, you are glad it’s two [years], but to get things done, it seems like 20 minutes after you’re in office, your two years are up,” Dwyer said. “You take almost half of that time campaigning again.”
Dwyer said that he voted Republican down the ballot, noting that he didn’t align with the messaging from local Democrats offering a “fresh vision”.
“Fresh vision…what does that mean? That means you want to go the other way when we have the ball rolling good right now,” he said.
Voters like Deb Ludorf said that national politics didn’t play a factor for her, but she felt strongly about one of the ballot questions offered to voters this time around.
With a professional background in architecture, she explained why she felt that the two separate land use boards should be kept as they are.
“I feel that the two commissions are extremely important to maintain,” said Ludorf. “I think they have different hats to wear. I think they should keep them separate for that reason alone.”
Polls will be open until 8:00 p.m. tonight.
To find your polling location, visit the town’s website at: https://www.southbury-ct.org/findpollingsite
The Southbury Record 