Absentee ballot tally gives Riley win in 46th House District race
Norwich — Absentee ballots tallied late Tuesday turned a close race in the 46th House District into a clear victory for four-term incumbent Democrat Emmett Riley over Republican challenger Robert Bell.
With only late-arriving absentee ballots to be counted Wednesday, Riley held a 1,905-vote lead, after results of in-person voting in the three precincts gave him a much slimmer 335-vote advantage in the district that covers the urban and southern sections of Norwich.
"I am grateful to the people of the 46th District and Norwich for the honor and trust in me to represent them," Riley, 51, said in a text response at 12:30 Wednesday morning. "I want to thank my wife, Melissa and son, Owen. I will continue to work diligently for the betterment of all Norwich residents."
Bell, 46, a real estate property manager who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2019, deferred comment to later Wednesday.
When results were not yet final Tuesday night, Bell said he was not disappointed with his first campaign for legislative office.
"Obviously this is not where I want to be while we're waiting for the rest of the absentee votes to be counted," Bell said, "but no matter what the result is going to be, I had a fantastic team behind me, and I did everything I could and I left nothing on the table."
Bell ran a spirited campaign, knocking on more than 3,000 doors in the relatively urban district, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving written material or stepping back to talk to voters who answered the door. He pegged Riley as an absentee representative and pledged “real representation” for the district.
Riley, however, skipped door-to-door direct campaigning due to the pandemic and relied on telephone calls, sometimes repeat calls to district homes.
Riley said he stood by his record of service and trusted the voters to make their choice.
Bell said during the campaign this wouldn’t be his last bid for public office.
Republican Mayor Peter Nystrom campaigned strongly for Bell this fall, stressing that the candidate already was active at Norwich events and present at key news conferences discussing major issues and cultural events for the past several months.
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