Republican BET Primary Slate of 6 Endorsed By First Selectman Camillo is Victorious

After weeks of letters, phone calls, door knocking, banners, and literature. And after a proliferation of lawn signs, many with the likeness of the First Selectman, Republican Fred Camillo, giving an endorsement of six candidates and offering his cell phone number for questions about the authenticity of his endorsement.  And after several days of early voting, the Republican BET primary is over.

There were 12 candidates in all, but only those the six with the most votes in the primary will be on the November 4 election ballot for the BET.

The BET, which is short for Board of Estimate and Taxation is the Town’s finance board. It is comprised of 12 members, six Democrats and six Republicans, though Karen Fassuliotis, an incumbent who was not endorsed by the RTC, was backed by the Independent party and will be on the ballot on Nov 4.

Whichever party gets the most votes during the election in November will get the ability to select the chair, whose position is unique in that he or she gets to cast a tie-breaking vote.

Greenwich Republicans sent out an e-blast at 8:54pm announcing the winners of the primary, “The Greenwich Republicans are pleased to announce our candidates for the Board of Estimate and Taxation: Sally Bednar, Josh Brown, Harry Fisher, Joe Kelly, Joe Pellegrino and Leslie Tarkington. This final slate of candidates was endorsed by First Selectman Fred Camillo before the primary.

“We’re proud to have so many members interested in serving the Town of Greenwich on the BET, and we’re delighted that so many aware, involved residents took the time to vote. Now let’s bring that enthusiasm to the polls in November and put these excellent candidates over the top!” the Greenwich Republicans eblast said.

Unofficial results from Secretary of the State as of 9:30pm show Joe Pellegrino garnered the most votes, with 1,712 or 10.05%.

Leslie Tarkington who was not endorsed by the RTC but went on to petition her way back into the race, garnered 1,541 votes or 9.05%.

The unsuccessful slate included incumbents David Alfano, Nisha Arora and Lucia Jansen as well as Alessandra Brus, Phil Dodson, and John Hopley.

Sorted by highest vote-getter:

• Pellegrino – 1712
• Kelly – 1694
• Bednar – 1570
• Brown – 1540
• Tarkington – 1541
• Fisher – 1530
• Alfano – 1376
• Arora – 1303
• Jansen – 1288
• Hopley – 1186
• Dodson – 1179
• Brus – 1116

At 9:27 the Registrars of Greenwich confirmed the results in an eblast, noting all data sent are unofficial and would be subject to re-verification. They noted that official results are published approximately one day after tallies are complete, in conjunction with the Office of the Town Clerk.