Board of Education: Three Return, Four New

A tight race among the lower vote earners in the Board of Education race could result in a recount, Democratic registrar of voters Bill Giesing said on Tuesday.

The candidates who earned the fifth, sixth, and seventh highest vote totals of the 15 candidates were all within 100 votes of one another, and the candidate with the eighth highest tally was within 100 votes of the next candidate.

The candidates elected were:

• Margaret “Peg” Curtin: Democrat and former city councilor, 2,148 votes
• Bill Morse: Democratic incumbent and Spanish teacher, 2,092 votes
• Elizabeth Garcia Gonzalez: Democrat, director of and former board member, 2,043 votes
• Sylvia Potter: Democrat, 1,945 votes
• Barbara Major: Republican incumbent and registrar of voters, 1,720 votes
• Jason Catala: Republican incumbent and elementary school teacher, 1,635 votes
• Delanna Muse: Democrat and epidemiologist, 1,633 votes

Rob Funk, a Democratic candidate, was exactly 100 votes behind Muse at 1,533.

Jane Glover, a former New London mayor, said the board should start holding meetings twice a month and be intricately tied in with the policy of the school system.

"Hopefully there will be harmony," said Glover. "Not that they all have to agree, but I hope they'll do good for the children and and good for the city of New London."

Three Democrats currently on the Board of Education chose not to run for re-election: President Alvin Kinsall, Vice-President Susan Connolloy, and Louise Hanrahan. Ronna Stuller, a Green Party incumbent, received 1,175 votes.

For Catala and Major, the vote was a relief. They are currently the only Republicans on the Board of Education, and the close vote meant absentee ballots could have led to a shift in the vote totals significant enough to remove them from the board.

“I’m happy to being back on the board. I’m looking forward to asking tough questions again,” said Catala.

Newly elected candidates will be sworn in on Dec. 5.