Preliminary Simsbury results show incumbents leading as town awaits absentee counts

Simsbury Community Media provided live election-night coverage of the town’s Nov. 4 municipal election, reporting preliminary vote totals and turnout figures while officials finished entering absentee and early ballots.

By the late-evening update, the first selectman race had about 5,400 ballots reported citywide. Wendy Maxidis led with roughly 2,460 votes, Heather Goetz had about 2,000 and independent Eric Wellman trailed with about 800, according to numbers the program read from party sites. The hosts cautioned that absentee ballots were not yet counted and could affect close races.

Hosts and guests framed turnout context: the registrars reported about 18,735 registered voters, and early voting over the preceding 14 days yielded roughly 2,758 ballots (about 14% of registrants). Mary Glassman, a former first selectman, said last municipal turnout typically ranges between 33% and 40%; Simsbury’s final turnout figure would depend on how many remaining ballots registrars enter the following day.

Board of Selectmen tallies showed different leaders by party and suggested the final makeup could hinge on uncounted ballots in tight contests. The program reported several races where margins were narrow and said petition candidates face long odds to displace top major‑party vote getters without a major shift when absentees are counted.

The broadcast emphasized that numbers posted on party websites were preliminary and that the town registrar’s official totals would be the authoritative source once all ballots were entered and certified.

What’s next: registrars must finish entering absentee and early-vote data; hosts expected more definitive, official tallies by the following morning.