GREENWICH — As often is the case, lost in the heat of Election Night were races for the Representative Town Meeting. Most of the districts in the town’s 230-member legislature had contested elections Tuesday, a once-uncommon occurrence. There were several notable additions to the body, and at least one surprising departure.

District 8 — Higbie is in in Cos Cob

The successful candidates on Tuesday night included Carl Higbie in District 8. The former Navy SEAL and Trump administration official has been a lightening rod in his first run for Greenwich elected office due to past comments about minorities, Muslims and the LGBTQ community. Two residents came forward as write-in candidates to try to keep Higbie out of the RTM, but he was able to overcome the challenges.

“Internet trolls are dead silent today,” he said Wednesday.

“This is a victory for the people who really know me. This is for the people who look beyond what the negative headlines say and know what I am all about and my love for this community and my desire to serve it,” he said. “They know I’m more than comments I’ve apologized for that I said years ago. This feels really good and I’m going to focus on working on the issues this town faces.”

Higbie was one of the 26 candidates running for 26 spots in District 8, which guaranteed him a spot until two residents, Jonathan Olsson and Jonathan Perloe, mounted late write-in campaigns to try to keep him from being seated. But both were unsuccessful with Perloe getting 301 votes and Olsson 232, far below the other candidates running, including Higbie’s 525.

Higbie has been heavily criticized for racist, sexist and bigoted comments he made while hosting an online radio show in 2013 and for his presence on social media where he has been a vocal advocate of Trump and administration policies. The 2013 comments, which Higbie has apologized for, forced him in early 2018 to resign from the Trump administration, which he had been serving as chief of external affairs for the Corporation for National and Community Service. The comments — which included saying black people had “a lax of morality” — resurfaced in January when Higbie was allowed to hold an event at Greenwich’s Town Hall for online platform America’s Voice News, outraging many residents.

Higbie, who works in works in construction management, said he will focus on issues, particularly town spending, management of capital construction projects and the need to lower taxes on residents.

“I want to wipe the slate clean,” Higbie said Wednesday. “There are a lot of people who said horrible things about me and my daughter got wind of it. I’m willing to wipe the slate clean. I don’t want to have any beefs. I don’t want to fight with anyone. I want to fix problems no one in town has been able to fix.”

Both of the write-in candidates on Wednesday said they were glad they decided to make the run even if they didn’t win.

Perloe noted the challenges of running a write-in campaign in Greenwich, especially one that was launched late. Overall there were 10 write-in candidates for the RTM throughout town, and Perloe and Olsson received the highest vote totals of all of them even though they weren’t elected. Write-in candidates Andrew Leader in District 11 and Frederick Lorthioir in District 12 were elected.

“While Jonathan Perloe and I did not achieve our primary goal of keeping divisiveness out of the RTM, it’s telling that our combined write-in tally of 533 exceeded Carl’s vote total of 525,” Olsson said. “More people oppose Carl’s offensive brand of politics than support it and it is now up to him to prove to Greenwich if he truly is a changed man.”

Perloe said he would consider running again for the RTM in 2021, as it is something he had wanted to do anyway. For now he said he is willing to see how Higbie does as a new member of the District 8 caucus.

“Maybe he will surprise us all and not bring the divisive rhetoric he has shown online to the RTM,” Perloe said. “If that happens I will be very happy. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see how he does.”

District 9 — No go for Kordick in Pemberwick

Another candidate who had received much public scrutiny was not as successful. Greenwich Police Capt. Mark Kordick was defeated in his run for the RTM in District 9. Of the 22 candidates for the 21 RTM seats there, he was the one left out with 279 votes, putting him behind the next lowest total at 318.

Kordick is currently on paid administrative leave at the GPD after he paid for political signs placed around town linking Camillo with Trump. The signs included a website that looked like it was for Camillo but linked to a pro-Trump site. Kordick, a registered Democrat, said he was trying to start a conversation about local Republican support for Trump, but the deceptive signs set off a furor around town as the campaign entered its final weeks.

The GPD is currently evaluating whether Kordick violated department rules with his actions, which he maintains were protected by free speech rights.

Kordick was seeking his first term on the RTM. His wife, Melissa Evans, was elected to the body from District 9 with 407 votes.

District 5 — Frantz wins big in Riverside

One candidate who was enormously successful in her first run for political office was Icy Frantz. Elected in District 5, which covers Riverside, Frantz earned 1,003 votes, which was not only the highest vote total in her district by far, it was also the highest vote total for anyone running for the RTM. The next highest was District 8 member Randy Caravella who got 925 votes.

Frantz has been a high-profile figure in town for years, active with many community groups and in town politics. Her husband, L. Scott Frantz is the former state senator for the 36th District. She said she was “really humbled” by the success she found in her first run for office, which she chalked up to name recognition and the active nature of her district.

“I love our community and it feels very flattering and humbling to be liked back,” Frantz said, adding her focus for the election was on getting people out to vote in all local elections.

District 7 — Recount in central Greenwich

The RTM does have one matter that still has to be decided before the new body is sworn in at its January meeting. In District 7, the final spot in the caucus is locked in a tie between two candidates, James Cecil and Denis Cronin, each with 295 votes and headed to a recount.

Automatic recounts are triggered if the margin of victory is less than 20 votes. Candidates have the option of declining a recount if they wish.

RTM Moderator Thomas Byrne said Wednesday he wishes the size of the body wasn’t limited at 230 as he would like to see as many people participate as possible.

“I remain very proud of the work done by our committees and individual members,” Byrne said. “All signs point toward a continuation of our record of healthy, respectful debate leading to decisions that advance the best interests of the town.”

District 2 — A surprising departure downtown

One of Tuesday’s races saw the defeat of one of the body’s longstanding members. Doug Wells, who is chair of the RTM’s Legislative and Rules Committee and has been on the body for more than 20 years, lost his race in District 2.

“I’m more surprised than disappointed,” Wells said on Wednesday. “I really don’t understand what happened.”

Wells speculated that in District 2 there were groups that ran as blocs based on political persuasions, both on the right and left, and since he wasn’t aligned with either, the votes might have gone elsewhere.

For his part, Byrne said he was sorry to see Wells go.

“Unfortunately, we will lose very good, committed RTM members every election where we have an excess of candidates,” Byrne said. “I am extremely sorry to see Doug Wells go. He has guided one of our most important committees, the Legislative & Rules Committee, for almost as long as I have been moderator. He turned that committee around upon taking over and gave the RTM the internal resource we needed to make sure the resolutions and ordinances we adopted were in good legal order.”

Byrne said he hoped Wells would consider a run in 2021 or would be interested if a vacancy opens in District 2 during the upcoming term.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com