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Two Hartford Primary Recounts

Green Leads Ritter; Roldan Leads Morales

By Jeff Cohen

August 11, 2010

Two of the four Democratic primaries in Hartford have margins so close that there will be a state-mandated recount. WNPR’s Jeff Cohen reports.

One race saw incumbent state Representative Ken Green facing a challenge from Matt Ritter – a Hartford city councilman and the son of the former state house speaker. The district straddles Hartford and Bloomfield. Roughly 2,300 people voted. At last count, Green led Ritter by just three votes.

“We know it’s about record close.”

That’s Matt Ritter.

“There will be a recount. If there were errors, both sides are going to say, ‘Count it correctly.’ And if there were no errors and it’s certified the way it is today, then, it is what it is.”

Efforts to reach Green were unsuccessful.

The other recount race is for the seat of state Representative Kelvin Roldan. Roldan was challenged by Angel Morales. And in this district, the vote totals were about as high as a student government election at a mid-sized university. With about 750 votes cast, Roldan is ahead – by nine votes.

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz says that state law mandates a recount in the two races because they were both decided by fewer than 20 votes. She says she’s confident the Hartford Democratic Registrar of Voters can complete the recount by next Tuesday’s deadline.

Ritter says he’s counting on it.

“The good news is that the recount has to occur before my wedding, which is on Saturday August 21. And, so, that is a unmoveable date.”

And the other piece of good news for Ritter is that he only needs one vote to get married. He needs four times that to win the primary.