Voters will go to the polls Tuesday to elect municipal leaders who will set policy, shape budgets, oversee public schools, collect taxes, safeguard records and enforce land-use rules, among other responsibilities.

In 13 local towns, there are six contested races for first selectman, two for mayor, and a host of city and town council, school and finance board, planning and zoning, representative town meeting, and even constable and library trustees to be decided.

In three towns — Lyme, Preston and Ledyard — the top municipal leader is already determined, as two first selectmen and one mayoral candidate are running uncontested. And in Norwich and the town of Groton, the mayors are not up for re-election this year.

Ballot questions will be decided in three towns, with proposed charter changes facing voters in Stonington and Norwich, and in Groton, a request to authorize $8.23 million in bonding for refurbishment of the water pollution control facility effluent pump station and rehabilitation of the Fishtown Road pump station.

Many town clerks, tax collectors and treasurers are unopposed or endorsed by both major parties, but in Waterford, Robert M. Nye, a Democrat who has held the town clerk's position since 1992, is facing a competitive challenge from Republican David Campo.

Another Waterford Democrat, Peter Davis, hopes to unseat incumbent Republican First Selectman Daniel Steward in an aggressive race for the top seat there.

Steward has been the first selectman since 2005 and maintains he has kept taxes in check as the town has rebuilt its public schools and adjusted to the loss of substantial tax revenues with the deregulation of the Millstone Power Station. Davis, who is retiring as the longtime municipal planner in Norwich, counters that Steward has ignored capital improvements, like road work, to hold taxes down. That inattention, he says, will cost taxpayers more in the long run.

Stonington's first selectman contest is also garnering a lot of attention. Incumbent Democrat George Crouse, who has held the position for less than a year after filling the vacancy left by Ed Haberek, who stepped down mid-term, is being challenged by Rob Simmons, a former three-time Republican congressman and a former state representative.

Both Crouse and Simmons are well known in town, and both have been working hard to woo voters to their side. Crouse, a longtime tennis coach and teacher, says he has done a good job since filling the first selectman's post 11 months ago and points to the approval of a bond package to renovate two elementary schools, the passage of the town budget at referendum, an updated Plan of Conservation and Development, and the proposed charter revisions on the ballot, as accomplishments.

Simmons, who is a selectman, takes credit for many of the same accomplishments as Crouse, and says if he's elected first selectman, he will work to fill the job of director of planning and to be more transparent when it comes to Freedom of Information requests. The former Connecticut business advocate, Simmons said luring economic development to town will also be high on his priority list.

In Old Lyme, two women are vying for the town's top elected position. Republican challenger Cathy Carter is trying to knock off Bonnie Reemsnyder, the Democratic incumbent, who is running for a third term. Carter, who describes herself as a "big-picture thinker," said if elected she will make it a priority to have local people collaborate on finding solutions to local problems. Reemsnyder, who served on the Board of Selectmen before being elected to the top post, said her experience and quick response to constituents, among other achievements, make her the better choice.

Another incumbent trying to hang onto his seat is Republican First Selectman Mark Nickerson in East Lyme. Nickerson filled the post in January when Paul Formica left to begin his new role as a state senator. Now Democrat Steve Carpenteri, who sits on the town's Board of Finance and is owner of the Lyme Tavern, is hoping to unseat Nickerson. Both candidates tout many years of public service to the town, but Carpenteri says he will bring a fresh outlook to the position. Nickerson says his business background bodes well for him in the job and said his leadership style is to empower others and lead by example.

New London will elect a new mayor, with Democrat Michael Passero and Republican Bill Vogel competing for the position. Incumbent Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio was bested by Passero in a September Democratic primary and will be replaced by Tuesday's winner.

Passero, a city firefighter who will retire if elected, is a member of the City Council and has pledged to hire a professional chief administrative officer to run the day-to-day operations of the city while he focuses on luring development to the city's business district and Fort Trumbull. Vogel, a retired Navy captain who later put his background in nuclear engineering to use in a job at the former Northeast Utilities, serves as chairman of New London's Republican Town Committee. He has campaigned on a platform that emphasizes transparency, communication with the City Council, and the hiring of qualified department heads.

Montville is also electing a mayor. The incumbent, first-term Democrat Ron McDaniel, is squaring off with Republican Tom McNally, who has questioned McDaniel's commitment to the job. But McDaniel says he's worked hard to bring the community and the Town Council together despite tough economic times.

There are also contested races for the first selectman's job in both North Stonington and Salem.

After a recent legal ruling clarifying the party affiliation of first selectman candidate Robert Testa and his running mate, Timothy Main II, the race for the top job pits Republican Testa against fellow Republican Shawn P. Murphy. Earlier this year Testa had changed his affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated, but the recent ruling stipulates that, if elected, he will count as a Republican for the purposes of determining minority representation. The same is true for Main, who also switched from the GOP to unaffiliated. That leaves one Democrat, Mark Donahue, and two Republicans — Main and Nicholas H. Mullane II — vying with the loser of the first selectman's race for the two remaining seats on the three-person Board of Selectmen. It's confusing. But the main take-away in this race is that for the first time in decades, Mullane, the dean of local first selectmen in the region, is not running for the top seat.

There's also a rare contest for first selectman in Salem, where three-term unaffiliated incumbent Kevin Lyden, who is endorsed by town Democrats, is being opposed by Republican Ed Chmielewski.

In the past three runs, Lyden has been unopposed and endorsed by both major parties. Chmielewski, who serves on the Board of Selectmen, said one focus if he wins will be to work with the Economic Development Commission to combat the challenging economic times that have led to people having to work more for less money. Under his leadership, Lyden said he eliminated unnecessary positions and negotiated a better deal for health insurance for town workers that comes with significant savings.

In Ledyard, the new mayor will be Republican Michael Finkelstein, who is unopposed. A retired Ledyard police lieutenant, Finkelstein will replace John Rodolico, another Republican who has been lauded for accomplishing so much in his single four-year term. There are uncontested races in Preston and Lyme too, where the incumbents Ralph Eno (in Lyme) and Robert Congdon (in Preston), both Republicans, face no opposition.

Both Norwich and Groton will elect councils and school boards, and in Groton, there is an RTM election, too. And both the towns have ballot questions, as does Stonington.

In all the municipalities there are a host of other positions that voters will fill. To view an individual town ballot, visit this link and click on the town you vote in.

Polls are open across the state from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Check the map below to see the polling locations in your town.

a.baldelli@theday.com

Twitter: @annbaldelli