Politics & Government

Herbst, GOP, Win All Their Races in Trumbull

First Selectman Tim Herbst and the entire republican slate won on Tuesday night.

That means a 17-4 GOP majority on the 21-seat Town Council, because Trumbull has minority representation rules. Democrats also have seats blocked off on other boards and commissions because of minority representation rules.

Unofficially, Herbst received 6,371 votes to Democrat Martha Jankovic-Mark's 2,788. The voter turnout was between 36 and 40 percent.

"I'm proud. It was a team effort. We're very grateful for democrats who cross party lines," Herbst said.

Herbst said he realized in the summer that he needed to win over democrats in town. "I think that the debates were a turning point," he said, adding that there was an increased "get-out-the vote operation" that also helped.

At Democratic headquarters in the White Plains Road shopping center, Mark thanked all of her supporters.

"I really enjoyed campaigning. I appreciate your friendships," Mark said. "We tried to toot our horn. We'll toot harder next time."

She added that democrats "kept it professional," referring to attack ads. "I'm proud we kept it where it should be. We'll set it up next time and we will take them."

Herbst said his ads were a response to the democrats' attack ads from 2011 and other comments since then. "There was a lot of mud that was slung over the last two years," he said. "You punch me, I'll punch back."

"I ran on my record," Herbst added. "We've done a lot in four years."

Meanwhile, Trumbull Democratic Town Committee Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo said she knew the race would be tough.

She urged democrats to "stay active."

"Two years goes by very quickly. We'll be back," DiNardo said.

The chair also thanked Mark for stepping up. "It wasn't an easy time to step up and run. Martha was willing to make a sacrifice."

Official results will be released Wednesday.


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