GREENWICH — Holiday season nearly over, Greenwich’s second, abbreviated, election season is beginning in earnest.

Republican Harry Arora and Democrat Cheryl Moss have until Jan. 21 to convince voters he or she is the right choice to replace new First Selectman Fred Camillo in the state House’s 151st District.

The timing of the election has been a challenge, according to the candidates themselves.

“It has been very difficult to get people engaged because of the holidays,” Moss said. “Most people have been very nice when I’ve talked to them but they don’t want to hear too much about it now because of the holiday. I heard a lot of people saying, ‘Let’s talk about it in January.’”

Moss, a professional photographer and chair of District 8 on the Representative Town Meeting, said the people she knows through the RTM or through her work in the PTA and high school sports have connected her to bigger networks, through which she’s been getting the word out about her candidacy.

Arora, who owns a Greenwich-based investment firm called AlphaStrat, said he has found the community to be “very energized” for the election, but he and his team are aware of the season and are working to be ready to make a big push at the start of the year.

“At this point I do not want to disturb people while they’re celebrating the best time of the year with their families,” Arora said. “I have been sending a gentle email here and there but I’m not going to bother them quite yet. … I think many residents may not be aware of the special election because everybody thinks elections are in early November, but we have to make people aware and once we get the message out I think there will be good interest in everyone coming out.”

With the calendar about to hit Jan. 1, the two camps are going to have to accelerate quickly and stay at top speed through election day on Jan. 21. Both Moss and Arora said their teams are ready.

“Come the new year I think we’re going to be going hard,” Arora said. “We’re going to be campaigning very aggressively full time 24/7.”

Moss said people are motivated to support her. She qualified for state financing for her campaign by raising $3,600 in donations from 113 people in less than 24 hours.

“I think it’s going to be fun,” Moss said. “I worked on Jill Oberlander’s (Democratic) campaign for first selectman and I’m excited to do this. I like the pressure. I like the fast pace. I like getting it done quickly. The long, drawn-out campaign is actually a little less desirable for me.”

Arora said he also found a flood of donors waiting for him when he officially became the candidate on Dec. 14. He said they collected required individual contributions “in record time” and that he too will be getting state financing once his application isr4 approved, which is expected to happen shortly.

The two will have the chance to debate each other at least once. News Channel 12 will tape a debate, the date of which is still to be determined, and both have been invited to be a part of a League of Women Voters of Greenwich debate. Moss has accepted the invitation. Arora’s team is still in discussions with the league. On Friday they expressed optimism that an agreement would be reached and the debate would take place.

Both candidates expect to be out meeting with voters a lot in the coming weeks, even though it may not be great walking around weather in January.

“It’s going to be a lot of door knocking,” Moss said. “It’s going to be a lot of phone calls and it’s using the networks I have built up over the years to get everybody else out there to get their networks going. With each person I talk to I’m having them talk to every person they know too.”

Arora said his campaign will use social media to get his word out in addition to knocking on doors and hitting the phones to spur voter awareness and participation.

“I am pretty excited to get out there and meet everyone,” Arora, who has name recognition in the district from a run for Congress in 2018 against U.S. Rep. Jim Himes. “We’re going to try and reach out to as many voters and residents as possible.”

Absentee ballots are a focus right now for both campaigns since young voters are home from college and can bring their ballots to Town Hall in person before they go back to school.

Town Republican Registrar of Voters Fred DeCaro said absentee ballots are available now. People can request one online at www.greenwichct.gov/1187/Get-an-Absentee-Ballot. The ballots must be received by Jan. 21 to count in the election and can be dropped off at the Town Clerk’s office or sent in the mail. To make sure they are received in time DeCaro said they should be mailed by Jan. 16.

Once someone sends in a ballot he or she can check its status at www.greenwichct.gov/1191/Find-My-Polling-Place which can also be used by people to see if they are eligible to vote in the 151st District.

DeCaro said typical turnout for special elections over the last five years in Connecticut has been under 20 percent. But he said he and Democratic Registrar Mary Hegarty are hopeful there will be good turnout, citing record participation in last month’s municipal election.

The special election will only be for the remaining year of Camillo’s current term. There will be another election for a full two-year term in the 151st District in November. Arora and Moss both have said they would run again in November if elected in January.

Next month’s election comes after big political momentum swings in Greenwich over the past two years. In 2018, following a strong showing in municipal elections the year before, Greenwich Democrats broke a century-long Republican hold on the town’s seats in the state House with the election of state Rep. Stephen Meskers in the 150th District. And state Sen. Alexandra Bergstein was the first Democrat elected in the 36th District, which covers all of Greenwich as well as portions of Stamford and New Canaan, since the 1930s.

Democrats will be looking to build on that success by capturing the 151st. But Republicans rebounded with decisive wins last month in the townwide elections. Not only did Camillo win the first selectman’s office, Republicans won races for selectman, town clerk, tax collector and majority control of the Board of Estimate and Taxation — a sweep of contested elections.

On Friday, Republican Town Committee Chair Richard DiPreta expressed optimism about the race to come.

“We nominated an excellent candidate in Harry Arora and his campaign team is already hard at work with a united party behind him,” DiPreta said. “Fred Camillo solidly supports Harry and our momentum from last month continues.”

Democratic Town Committee Chair Joe Angland could not be reached for comment.