In the early evening of Election Night, State Representative Mitch Bolinsky spoke with confidence that he would win, and if he left office it would be at a time of his choosing.

As November 3 rolled on, however, and numbers started pouring in to the respective Democratic and Republican Town Committee Election Night headquarters, it became increasingly obvious that his challenger, Michelle Embree Ku, had ended Bolinsky's 14-year run in the seat. Newtown's final numbers showed Embree Ku won the 106th District, 6,633 to 5,483.

CT Mirror reported early Wednesday morning that Democrat Rob Blanchard defeated Republican Amybeth Laroche for the State Senate 28th District seat. Newtown voted for Blanchard, 7,574, over Laroche, 5,451.

CT Mirror also showed that in the state representative 107th District race, Democrat Julie Kerton beat incumbent Republican Martin Foncello. Newtown's District 1-7 favored also Kerton over Foncello, 514 to 463.

Preliminary numbers show that Newtowners favored Democrats over Republicans in every race, with Ned Lamont and Sue Bysiewicz favored for governor, 7,410 to 5,741; for US 5th District representative, Jahana Hayes beat Chris Shea, 7,557 to 5,504; for secretary of state, Stephanie Thomas defeated Peter Lumaj, 7,418 to 5,620; for treasurer, Democrat Erick Russell defeated Republican Fred Wilms 7.413 to 5,628; for comptroller, Democrat Sean Scanlon beat Republican Jennifer Tooker, 7,385 to 5,643; and for attorney general, William Tong defeated John Bolton, 7,765 to 5,292.

For Judge of Probate, Democrat Steven Boa DeMoura ran unopposed and received 8,411 votes.

Turnout showed 13,208 voters of 18,808 registered Newtown voters cast a vote, a 70% turnout.

According to CT Mirror, in the Connecticut Senate, only three of the Senate’s 11 Republicans were clear victors: Senator Eric Berthel of Watertown, Senator Henri Martin of Bristol, and Senator Rob Sampson of Wolcott. Democrats currently have a 25-11 majority. The Republicans may have a Senate Caucus as few as three in the upcoming term. CT Mirror also projected the Republicans may have lost at least nine seats in the Connecticut House of Representatives.

Election Night In Newtown

Members of Newtown's Democratic Town Committee gathered at Reverie Brewing for their election night watch party. Before the polls closed, members of the DTC were still calling voters, encouraging them to get out and vote until about 7:45 pm. When the polls closed at 8 pm, more people began to populate the Church Hill Road microbrewery.

Before polls closed, Newtown DTC Chair Alex Villamil told The Newtown Bee he was "cautiously optimistic." Villamil added the DTC supported its candidates and that it could not "have done anything else."

Michelle Embree Ku, the democratic candidate for state representative for the 106th district, agreed with Villamil on the cautious optimism.

"I'm feeling ... good about seeing all the voters at the polls today," she said. Embree Ku added there were a lot of neighbors and people she saw "way back in June" at the polls giving her a thumbs up.

At around 9 pm, Embree Ku, Villamil, and Campaign Manager Eric Paradis all went outside to count the votes and write them down. After about 20 minutes, some volunteers posted the votes on the windows of Reverie. Shortly after, Paradis walked back inside and yelled to the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, your new state representative!"

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. The joy was palpable. People ran to hug friends and fellow volunteers, and, of course, Embree Ku.

After a few minutes of celebrating, Embree Ku shared a speech she said she had waited two years to say.

"Are you ready for a new voice in Hartford?" Embree Ku asked, to which the crowd shouted "Yes!"

"I am filled with gratitude and hope," Embree Ku continued. "And I want to start by thanking each and every one of you. Your hard work, your belief in this campaign, and your commitment, you made this victory possible here today.

"I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Mitch Bolinsky for his many years of dedication to this community. This campaign was by and large civil, and, in this current political environment, that is an achievement," the State Rep-elect continued.

Embree Ku thanked her family for their understanding, patience, support, and advice. Other people in her campaign were thanked for their encouragement because it "helped [her] realize that [she] could do this again."

Embree Ku thanked her campaign team, including Paradis for "never giving up on winning this seat every two years for more than a decade." Embree Ku offered thanks to the volunteers because "democracy depends on our volunteers.

"This election was more than just about winning, it was about standing up for our values and fighting for the country that we know is possible. For fairness and justice, and I encourage everyone in here to stay engaged and continue advocating for change," Embree Ku told the crowd. After her speech, there were more cheers, claps, hugs, and toasts.

Following the announcement of Embree Ku's victory, Villamil shared he was feeling "elated" and "extremely proud" of Embree Ku and Rob Blanchard, the Democratic candidate for state senator.

"The voters spoke, and spoke very, very loudly for these two. We have new representation in Hartford, we have what we need in Newtown as far as representatives who will work for our community and represent each person, regardless of party, to the best of their ability," Villamil said.

Paradis shared similar feelings. He said he was "feeling great." Paradis added that "nobody has worked harder than Michelle at this campaign." He explained that she has been out talking to voters since December, listening to people who "may not always agree with her." He is looking forward to seeing the work Embree Ku is going to do "on behalf of all of us."

Embree Ku said she felt "good." She added that it has been a lot of work, that it has felt like a "village," and she feels like she's "going to Disney."

She said she has a lot of thank you letters to write, and that she is looking forward to that, as well as getting to work on "all the things that [she has] heard at the doors, ideas to work on legislation to make them happen."

Embree Ku, again, recognized Bolinsky's service and dedication to Newtown.

Cautious Optimism

Meanwhile, over at the Republican headquarters at Newtown Community Center, cautious optimism was also the tone of the night, at least in the early going. Bolinsky arrived and recounted his day at the polls, saying many people had told him that he had their vote, and he received "many hugs and handshakes but only one or two frowns." He described his day greeting constituents at the polls as uplifting and promising.

Bolinsky also said Democrats had outspent Republicans in the area "four to one," with money pouring in from outside the area from Chris Murphy's PAC and the Connecticut Educator's Association. He said his own campaign was only supported by local donors and that he had stayed within the $42,500 from the state, even returning $2,500.

"The difference in integrity and wannabe is quite large," said Bolinsky.

Laroche offered thanks to Bolinsky and Foncello for their guidance and mentorship, and noted that even before the campaign started they had gotten together to discuss campaign ideas.

She said she was running for the purpose God put before her: "To stand up and say enough.

"My opponent has a machine behind him and all my money came from this district," said Laroche. "His money came from lobbyists, Lamont, and Eversource.

"Newtown does not have to worry about me driving this district into a hole," she added.

As the night wore on and national numbers filtered in, news of Republican Byron Donalds beating Democrat David Jolly by a slim margin to become that state's governor elect provided one of the few moments Republicans had to celebrate that night.

Around 9:30 pm, Michelle Buzzi took Bolinsky and Laroche outside to break the news to them. When Bolinsky returned, he had a resigned smile on his face.

"I subscribe to the theory that all politics are local," Bolinsky said during his concession speech. "I put every ounce of myself into the community and the individuals living in it. I came up short because of national headwinds. We had an unpopular president that saw turnout [among Republicans] weaker than normal. People will get what they voted for."

Bolinsky spoke about his past achievements and awards, especially his work to pass bills to help seniors age in place as well as protecting homeschooling, and his pride in all his accomplishments and time in the House.

He said he was one of the "most non-partisan" representatives in Hartford and that even though his opponent said he had no seat at the table as a member of the minority, he "always had a seat at the table" in the Aging, Education, and Finance committees.

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Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com. Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.