Steward Defeats Ziolkovski In A Landslide

In a race that provided little drama, , garnering 83 percent of the vote.

"It feels great,” Steward said. “I’m surprised at the numbers I got. But I’m not in a lot of other ways. I know there are people who are not happy with everything I do.”

, starting and . And for the first time since he has become selectman in 2005, Steward will be working with a Republican-controlled Board of Finance, Representative Town Meeting and Board of Education.

Despite the lopsided victory (2,704 to 573), Steward did not get a “mandate” by the voters, Ziolkovski said. Only about 25 percent of registered voters voted in the election, he said.

“75 percent of voters did not come out to vote for Dan Steward,” Ziolkovski said. “How can you have a mandate with 25 percent of the vote.”

Ziolkovski said he will continue to work to get the town and the state to fix the , which led him to run in the first place. If they do not fix it, Ziolkovski said he would consider suing the town and the state.

Four Years

Steward has been first selectman since 2005, winning all of his elections by large margins (in 2009 he ran unopposed). Because of a charter change last year,

Steward’s running mate, Paul Suprin, again won re-election to the Board of Selectman. And Democrat Paul Konstantakis won re-election as well, keeping the Board of Selectmen intact.

Although both Suprin and Konstantakis ran unopposed, if Ziolkovski received more votes than either of them, he would have gained a spot on the Board of Selectmen. He did not, as Suprin received 2,333 votes and Konstantakis received 1,143.

“The Board of Selectmen stays the same, which is a good solution for me,” Steward said. “I’m pleased.”