Selecting the Selectmen

The way Newtown's election for First Selectman and Selectman works can seem a bit surprising.   All though each of the parties describe their Selectman candidates as the “running mate” of their First Selectman candidate (like the federal President and Vice President candidates), the two candidates are in separate but interlocked races.

 As you would expect, the candidate winning the most votes (a plurality) in the First Selectman race does become the First Selectman.  However, after that things get weird.  All the losing candidates in the First Selectman race are dumped into the Selectman race, and the top two vote getters from this combined pool become the Selectmen.

Therefore, a First Selectman candidate can win, but not his or her running mate.  Likewise, a party’s Selectman candidate can win while the party’s First Selectman is defeated.   This system can also create some unusual situations, such as in 2007, when the incumbent was defeated in the First Selectman race only to come in as the second place finisher in the Selectman race.  Thus the defeated incumbent and his vanquisher served together on the Board for the next two years. 

With all the possible variations, it can’t help but be an interesting race.  Stay tuned and vote on Tuesday!