In raw numbers, Tuesday’s election made Ridgefield history, with one of the highest turnouts in an off-year municipal election. I want to express my deepest thanks to Ridgefield voters for their overwhelming support for our candidates. We focused our campaign on Democratic leadership, our accomplishments, and our vision to preserve and protect Ridgefield. Our opponents focused on bashing us, misinformation, and negativity.
I commend ALL of the candidates who ran, from every party. Running for these volunteer positions is an extraordinary undertaking and an enormous amount of work.
Ridgefield Democrats won every seat we ran for, including seating a new member of the Police Commission, critical to the health and safety of our town. Our opponents have accused us of “stealing” one of “their” seats. I have news for them: the seats do not belong to Rs or Ds. They belong to the VOTERS, and the voters decided who should be entrusted with them.
It’s also worth noting that every board and commission in Ridgefield is bipartisan, as required by our Town Charter. And while candidates run with parties next to their names, on the vast majority of boards and commissions, decisions are rarely made on a party-line basis. Elected officials represent ALL Ridgefielders.
In politics there is no such thing as a guaranteed outcome, and for some, there is a strong temptation to resort to incivility. I’m proud that Ridgefield Democrats stuck to our guiding principles and ran campaigns based on truth. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The time is always right to do what is right.”
And for that I would like to thank our earnest, honest and hard-working volunteers, candidates and supporters, whose passion, insight and dedication led Ridgefield to the outcome we all deserve.
Arny DiLaura
Chair
Ridgefield DTC