Farmington's Landry Lost 19th By Slight Margin for Placeholder

Brian Becker will serve another term representing Avon, Farmington and West Hartford after winning the 19th District.

"I'd like to thank the voters of West Hartford, Avon, and Farmington for their continued confidence in me. I plan to work hard to justify their trust," Becker wrote to Patch on Wednesday morning. "I'd also like to thank all of the donors and volunteers who made the campaign possible."

Even though Republican Jon Landry was a placeholder candidate who did not campaign, he still got 5,009 votes total in comparison to 8,266 for Becker. That is the combined vote tally for the three towns in the 19th District, including absentee ballots.

Landry called Becker to congratulate him on the win Tuesday evening as vote totals came in.

"I was pleasantly surprised with the results and it confirms that the voters appreciate a choice on the ballot," Landry wrote in an email to Patch. "Going forward I will continue my focus on the Board of Education and do the best that I can for Farmington there."

Becker said he "appreciated [Landry's] call on election night and thanked him when he called" to concede.

Becker, 50, of West Hartford, earned 1,400 votes in Avon, 6,406 in West Hartford and 460 in Farmington, while Landry, 37, of Farmington earned 1,283 in Avon, 3,299 in West Hartford and 427 in Farmington, according official results from Avon, Farmington and West Hartford.

Becker said that he was pleased with the margin, calling it "substantial improvement over the last time when I won by only 622 votes."

Avon Democratic Town Committee Chairman Daryl Worobow said that he was pleased Becker won in Avon.

"A lot of it had to do with increases in Democratic registration in his district and he did campaign well in the district," Worobow said.

Worobow added that he was "surprised at Landry's results" given that he didn't campaign. Fellow Avon Democrat David Peña also said he suprised that Becker's race was so close considering Landry was a placeholder for the Republican party.

As for Becker, now that the election over, he will serve another two-year term in the General Assembly and he said "now it's time for me to get back to work."

"Now that I have been re-elected, I intend to continue focusing on job creation and government efficiency," Becker said. "I also am excited that the state finally is working on a comprehensive energy plan and I hope to help move that plan along. Finally, I want to take a look at our overall tax structure and, in particular, see what, if anything, can be done to reduce the property tax burden on our citizens."