FAIRFIELD – Town Clerk Elizabeth Browne has alerted the Board of Selectmen that there will be a special election for Christine Vitale’s first selectman’s seat as allowed by the town charter. A date has not yet been set.
In her short letter, Browne wrote: “Notice is herby given that in accordance with CGS 9-222 petition signatures have been certified by my office for a special election for the office of First Selectman.”
When asked by the Fairfield County Business Journal on Tuesday — the deadline for all petitions to be received — Browne said that while she wasn’t sure when the election would be held, but that by law it had to be 150 days from the certification of the signatures.
State Sen. Tony Hwang had collected enough signatures to force a special election for the first selectman seat currently occupied by Democrat Christine Vitale, who was named to that position last month after filling in for the late Bill Gerber, according to Republican Town Committee Chair Laura Devlin.
The longtime Republican state lawmaker needed about 2,400, or 5% of registered voters in Fairfield, to force the special election.
Vitale could not be reached for comment when news broke about the special election late afternoon Wednesday.
“Tony has a proven record of listening, leading with integrity, and putting Fairfield families first,” Devlin wrote in a recent Fairfield Republicans Facebook post. “His dedication to public service and deep roots in our community make him the right choice to guide Fairfield forward.”
The post also announced the RTC had endorsed Hwang as the Republican candidate for first selectman.
“I am humbled and grateful for the RTC’s unanimous support, and for the incredible engagement we’ve seen from the people of Fairfield during this petition effort,” Hwang said. “Your voices matter, and together we are ensuring that residents have a say in who leads our town.”
A Fairfield PTA president-elect of a local elementary school called the Republicans’ criticism of the town charter provision regarding the process for a successor of a first selectman “undemocratic.”
“The Republicans and Tony Hwang are circulating a petition for a special election to unseat Mrs. Vitale,” Kelly McWhinnie wrote in a recent letter to the editor of Fairfield Patch. “They claim that the process outlined in the Charter is ‘undemocratic.’ This is not correct. … This petition for a special election is absolutely an attempt to overturn the results of the 2023 election, where voters chose Gerber/Vitale (and Christine Vitale earned the most votes of any candidate).
“I hope the voters of Fairfield won’t approve this needless and expensive process. If they do, I have full faith that Christine Vitale is the best person to lead our town.”
Vitale, who was Gerber’s running mate for the Board of Selectmen in 2023 and earned the highest number of votes last election, was appointed first selectman last month by a group of 10 Democratic electors.
The Republicans were able to file a petition (s) for the special election because a 30-day window to replace the first selectman expired from the date of Gerber’s death on July 15. That was because the remaining two selectmen – Vitale and former First Selectman Republican Brenda Kupchick – could not agree on a replacement in time. Vitale attempted to have herself named permanent first selectman during an Aug. 5 meeting, but Kupchick – attending remotely – refused to second the call for a vote.
When that 30-day window expired without an agreement, the vote to fill the vacancy moved to a group of democratically elected town leaders, who gathered to appoint and vote for a new first selectman as outlined in the state statutes governing municipal vacancies. That vote of democratically elected leaders took place on Aug. 25, where Vitale was named first selectman. She had served as acting first selectman in late June after Gerber’s brain tumor diagnosis.
