UPDATE: Write-in candidate Emily Hunt received just 70 votes, which meant she failed to win a seat on the RTM in District 6 where she was the 22nd candidate in a district with 20 seats.
In district 8 the two write-in candidates Jonathan Perloe and Jonathan Olsson also received the fewest votes, which may say something about being a write-in candidate overall.
Outside Old Greenwich School RTM write-in candidate Emily Hunt, 22, was more than half way through a marathon day on her feet in the parking lot at Old Greenwich School, polling place for District 6.
“I voted at 6:00am and wanted to be present for the train commuters. I know a lot of people take the 7:27am train,” she said, adding, “I’ll be here until 8:00pm when the polls close.”
Hunt, the youngest candidate for RTM, attended Greenwich Schools and graduated from McGill University with a degree in Political Science and History.
She commutes to Brooklyn and said she was taking her first day off work in order to have a presence at the polls.
“I knocked on probably 1,000 doors this weekend, but people have been absolutely wonderful,” she said. “That’s what’s great about the RTM being non-partisan. You can really talk to people about specific issues. That’s how it should be everywhere, but it isn’t.”
“It’s exhausting and I don’t have a team – it’s a lot of work,” she continued. “I went door to door in that Sunday monsoon a couple weeks ago. It was hard to keep my flyers dry.”
Aside from a couple people referring to her as ‘kiddo,’ or asking her if she was even old enough to vote, Hunt said feedback had been positive, and on Tuesday she recognized a number of people as they arrived to vote from having met them at their doors.
Hunt said an important issue for the RTM is educational infrastructure. “It’s essential and it’s underserved – both buildings and facilities – and dealing with the poisonous dirt.”
Then, noting the temporary handicapped ramp at the entrance of Old Greenwich School, which has eight different levels and is not handicapped accessible, Hunt said, “That really bothers me. I’d be curious to know if it’s there tomorrow. Probably not.”