District 4 Residents Elect Florio to School Committee Seat

Despite a scarce turnout at the polls during Tuesday's Dist. 4 School Committee Special Election, 208 voters cast their ballot to fill the Committee seat made vacant by the unexpected passing of Vice-Chairperson Nancy Sprengelmeyer in March. 

Once the four polling locations closed at 8 p.m., members of the Board of Canvassers announced that candidate David Florio came out the victor, earning 130 votes to opponent David Ritchotte's 78. There were no write-ins.

The 208 ballots cast amounted to just 4.39 percent of the 4,742 registered voters in the district.

Florio, a current member of Coventry's Planning Commission, explained Tuesday night that he will kick off his term by working towards the two goals he considers to be his first priorities.

"My biggest issue to start with is re-opening Oak Haven Elementary School. Even if it's not an early learning center, we are going to need the additional space in our classrooms soon enough," he said. "My other goal is to work towards better communication between the School Committee, Town Council, administration and teachers. Those are my first priorities that I will work towards and they're promises that I won't break."

When asked his opinion about the low voter turnout, Florio said that it's a common occurrence in special elections, but that his weeks of campaigning proved to be a valuable and enjoyable experience.

"The entire process was great. I loved meeting all of the people in my district," he said. "I enjoyed every walk and every phone call. It was fun for me!"

He went on to thank his campaign staff, including his wife Maggie, Town Council President Gary Cote, Sen. Lou Raptakis, Donna Raptakis and Dottie Sprague, among others.

"I had a great campaign staff and I thank them for being such a big help and wonderful to work with," Florio said. "I really have to thank the senior community for their support, too. This win was a multi-generational effort. I had support from parents, grandparents, young single parents - it was great to see."

He also expressed his gratitude to Ritchotte for "running a good, clean race".

"Dave is a really nice guy and I wish him the best," he said. "He put himself out there and ran a good race and I respect that. He's a good person, an excellent father from what I've been told, and an all-around great guy."

Florio will begin his duties after being officially sworn into his new position at a future School Committee meeting.

"It was a fun campaign, but now is when the real work starts," he said. "I'm going to work hard to get things done and not going to take any more excuses. What I'm interested in is results. You can promise the world to people, but results are what they will really look for."