Is Stratford Bored of Voting for Mayor?

It appears that the new car smell of a mayoral form of government in Stratford has worn off on voters.

In 2005, town officials transitioned from a town manager to a mayor, citing, among other factors, accountability reasons.

That fall, more than 50 percent of registered voters – or about 15,500 people – turned out for the town’s first mayoral election, which saw Democrat Jim Miron winning office.

Four years later, when Republican John A. Harkins trounced the incumbent Miron by more than 3,000 votes, turnout was still respectable at 43 percent.

This year, however, only 33 percent of voters – or about 10,500 people – showed up at the polls, as Harkins was re-elected to a second term.

“I don’t know what’s leading to voter apathy,” says Democratic Registrar of Voters Rick Marcone. “As a registrar, I certainly am disappointed.”

Republican Registrar of Voters Lou DeCilio adds that voter turnout is back on levels similar to when Stratford employed a town manager.

Under the old style of government, instead of a mayor on the ballot, residents filled in their choice for councilman-at-large, whose job it was in part to break ties on the 10-member Stratford Town Council, DeCilio says.

The town manager was hired under a three- or five-year contract, DeCilio says. But the position wasn’t wholly involved in municipal affairs, such as the budget process, he says.

“People were looking to have someone accountable,” Marcone, the Democratic registrar, says.

And so Stratford went mayoral.

In all three municipal elections since, registered Democrats have outnumbered registered Republicans by a sizeable margin.

Oddly enough, though, when the advantage was greatest, about 4,000 in both 2009 and 2013, Democrats failed to capture the mayor’s seat. But when the margin was smallest, about 2,000 in 2005, Miron won.

In each of the elections, unaffiliated voters who don’t align themselves with a political party totaled about 16,000, which is about half of all registered voters in town.

Of course, presidential election years – which don’t coincide with municipal elections – are when most people come out to vote. Last year, for example, 71 percent of voters in Stratford voted in the presidential election.

Who did they back? President Barack Obama, a Democrat, who received 59 percent of the vote.