Peters Wins

by Julie Weisberg - November 13, 2002

It was a close, issue-orientated race between two well-seasoned Berlin politicians, but Republican Robert Peters won the state 30th House District seat, barely beating out Democratic challenger Frederick Jortner.

Peters finished with a total of 4,160 votes, while Jortner had 4,006 – a difference of only 154 votes.

“I am surprised that we didn’t win by more than we did,” Peters said. “But I’ve always said whether you win by one vote or 1,000 -- you carry the vote.

Peters was Berlin’s last full-time mayor, serving from 1987 to 1995. A revision in Berlin’s charter eliminated the position of full-time mayor in favor of a town manager/town council government.

Peters currently serves as the Chairman of the Police Commission, a position he said he intends on retaining until a replacement for retiring police chief Gerald Charamut is found.

Although Jortner did well in Berlin, beating out Peters by a vote of 2,298 to 2,065, Peters managed to carry the vote in Southington 2,095 to 1,708 -- a wide enough margin to secure the victory.

Peters said he feels he struggled in Berlin because the Jortner campaign may have come across as more “pro-education” than his own.

“I’m glad I worked as hard as I did in Southington,” Peters said. “I’m just grateful that I was elected, and I’m going to work hard for the voters of both towns.”

The 30th District, which has taken on a new look due to redistricting, now includes the northern portion of Berlin and the northern part of Southington.

Before the election results came in, Jortner said he was “cautiously optimistic” of his chances to win the election.

Afterwards, Jortner said he had expected a close race and that, in the end, the election became a “toss up.”

“I’m very proud of the campaign we ran, and I’m delighted the voters of Berlin had so much confidence in me as a candidate,” Jortner said. “We came up a little short, but the voters have spoken.”

Jortner’s political experience includes two terms in the Town Council, five years in the Board of Finance and two years as chairman of the Budget Committee. But this was not Jortner’s first campaign for a spot in the state legislature.

In 2000, Jortner attempted to unseat popular state Rep. Ann P. Dandrow in the 30th, but Dandrow prevailed by a vote of 6,327 to 5,074.

But Dandrow, a Republican, stepped down from her post this year in an attempt to pursue the 16th Senate District seat. Dandrow, however, lost the race to state Rep. Christopher Murphy (D-81) 15,833 to 14,249.

When asked what may have made the difference is such a close campaign, Jortner said it simply came down to numbers.

“They just got more of their people out to vote for them,” he said.

Jortner said he currently has no plans to run for political office in the near future.

“I just plan on catching up on some sleep,” he said.

THIRD PARTY CANDIDATE

Also running for the state 30th House District seat was Working Families Party candidate Lindsey Ellis.

Working Families is a grassroots organization, founded in New York State in 1998, which shares many of the same platforms and concerns as the Democratic Party, such as public housing, health care, education and labor/union issues.

“We are dedicated to organizing in support of pro-worker issues and building grassroots, political activism among labor and community groups across the state,” the organization’s website states.

As a coalition party, it often endorses Democratic candidates in elections where no affiliate of the Working Families Party is running.

Because of this, Jortner said he believes Ellis’ third-party candidacy may have had an effect on the final outcome of the race.

He said “the people who believe in Working Families issues,” most likely would have voted for a Democratic candidate if no liberal third party candidate was on the ballot.

Ellis, a Southington resident, received a total of 164 votes – enough to swing the count back into Jortner’s favor by 10 votes.

“Most would have assumed that I would have captured the majority of those votes,” Jortner said. “Would I have captured all of those votes? We’ll never know, but I think it did have an effect. But what they (Working Families Party) have done here is counter-productive, as they’ve elected a Republican candidate.”

Ellis did not return calls from The Berlin Citizen.