The line at Cross Lane Polling Station at the Firehouse at 7:45 a.m. this morning.  Photo by M. Seidner.

We are receiving numerous accounts of long lines throughout the day and early evening at the Polling Station at the Cross Lane  Firehouse in Old Lyme.  Despite the large numbers, there were many favorable comments on the efficiency of the volunteer election workers.  Old Lyme printed 5,000 ballots but had used over 3,000 of them by around 4:30 p.m.

Emily Berber Bjornberg reports that Lyme passed the 75 percent participation mark just before 5:40 p.m.

Photo by Parker Johnson on Unsplash

In keeping with a long tradition and in the interests of increasing voter knowledge prior to next week’s critically important mid-term elections, we asked all the candidates whose districts include Lyme and/or Old Lyme to send us a brief biography and photo, and answer four questions that we posed to them. The questions came from you — our large and diverse community of readers. We were overwhelmed by the sheer number of questions you sent to us, which we interpret as a clear sign of the level of interest in this election, and are extremely disappointed we could not include more of your questions.

We are delighted to report that all six candidates responded to our questionnaire and are pleased now to publish their responses.  We would like to express our sincere thanks to the candidates for taking the time to answer our questions and for adhering to our strict word deadlines — 100 words for the bio and 300 words for each response.

The questions were:

1. What is the biggest problem facing the state, why is it the biggest problem, and what would you do to help solve it?
2. What do you think of our leadership in Washington?
3. What policies or infrastructure do you support at the state level for fostering or managing growth in you district?
4. Why are you running for this position?

The candidates are:

House District #23 (includes Lyme and Old Lyme)

Devin Carney (R – Incumbent)

Matt Pugliese (D)

Senate District #20 (includes Old Lyme)

Paul Formica (R – Incumbent)

Martha Marx (D)

Senate District #33  (includes Lyme)

Norm Needleman (D) Essex First Selectman

Melissa Ziobron (R) State Rep. House District #34

Click on the candidate’s name above to read their biography and responses to our questions.

For the record and again in keeping with a long tradition, we will not be making any candidate endorsements.

Happy reading … and voting!

The Day and the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut are hosting a series of debates for candidates running for state senate. Those relevant to our coverage area are as follows:

• The 20th Senate District debate will be held Monday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Charter Oak Credit Union headquarters, Waterford, and features incumbent state Sen. Paul Formica (R), who is running for a second term, and challenger Martha Marx (D). The district includes Old Lyme.
• The 33rd Senate District debate will be held Thursday, Oct. 25, at Old Saybrook High School and features state Rep. Melissa H. Ziobron, (R-34th) and Essex First Selectman Norm Needleman, (D). Incumbent state Sen. Art Linares is not seeking re-election in the 33rd Senate District. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to be nominated as the Republican candidate for state treasurer.  The district includes Lyme.

Both debates start at 7 p.m. and are open to the public.  Admission is free.

Visit this link  on the day.com for more information about all the debates.