Week in Review: Elections and Homecoming

This week in Ledyard, as with most towns across the country, was marked by the elections. Ledyard voted with the state on the state and national level but on the local level Ledyard residents went with the Republican line, even when the rest of the district did not.

Ledyard voted with the state and re-elected President Barack Obama Tuesday but the Democratic ticket won only by a few more than 100 votes.  The Obama-Biden ticket received 1,844 votes to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s 1,717.

Ledyard elected Democrat Chris Murphy to the U.S. Senate but not by much. In a very tight race against Republican Linda McMahon, Murphy received 1,747 of Ledyard’s votes to McMahon’s 1,689.

In the 2nd Congressional District race, Democrat Joe Courtney squeaked by to first-timer Paul Formica of East Lyme. Courtney received 2,245 votes, only 25 more than Formica, who received 2,124 votes in Ledyard.

Locally, Democrat Tim Bowles defeated Republican Mike France for the 42nd seat in the state House. France won in Ledyard with 1,781 votes to Bowles' 1,584 but ulltimately lost by about 300 votes in Preston, Bowle's home field. 

Republican Chris Coutu won 1,841 of Ledyard's votes to Democrat Cathy Osten's 1,555; Republican Andrew Lavery garnered 520 votes to Democrat Ted Moukawsher's 462.

State Rep. Tom Reynolds said he has a strong relationship with the incoming state representative Tim Bowles and said that Cathy Osten is an aggressive advocate.

Although the national elections were exciting, nothing was more riveting than the showdown on Bill Mignault Field this weekend. The Colonels lost a tight 7-0 game to their longtime rivals, the New London Whalers, to put their chances for a state playoff berth on life support.

The disappointment of the big game was tempered though, as Saturday night marked Ledyard's 2012 Homecoming Dance after an enthusiastic Spirit Week.

Also, residents heard the details of two different plans to renovate and expand Ledyard Middle School. One option is to renovate as new, and the other is to construct an addition only.