Election 2025: New Canaan Hub [UPDATED]

[Election results can be found here.]

New Canaan voters will take to the polls Tuesday to decide contested races for the Board of Education and Town Council.

Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. (find your polling place here).

Here’s a sample ballot. (Uncontested races in this municipal election include first selectman, Board of Selectmen, town clerk, town treasurer, Board of Assessment appeals and constables.)

More than 1,000 electors took advantage of early voting in New Canaan, officials say.

Board of Education

In New Canaan, Republicans hold a 6-3 majority on the nine-member school board. Five seats are up for election: three currently held by Republicans, two by Democrats. There are three Republicans and three Democrats running for Board of Ed, in addition to one write-in candidate who is unaffiliated. Here are Q&As that we ran with each of the candidates (*indicates incumbent):

• Hugo Alves* (R)
• Kate Brambilla (D)
• Josh Kaye (D)
• Phil Hogan* (R)
• Giacomo Landi (U)
• Erica Schwedel* (D)
• Julie Toal* (R)

Town Council 

The GOP holds an 8-4 majority on the 12-member Town Council, New Canaan’s legislative body. Six seats are up for election: four currently held by Republicans, two by Democrats. There are five Republicans and four Democrats running for Town Council.

Here are Q&As that we ran with each of the candidates (*indicates incumbent):

• Arvind Bajaj (R)
• Scott Gress (R)
• Lina Lee (D)
• Pavla Levin (R)
• Kim Norton* (R)
• Hilary Ormond* (D)
• Mike Rodgers (D)
• Heather Russell (D)
• Penny Young* (R)

Giacomo Landi, an unaffiliated write-in candidate for the Board of Education, greeted voters outside the polling place at New Canaan High School. 

“It’s a wonderful day to be out here campaigning and talking to all of the people of New Canaan,” he said on a sunny, windy fall morning. “It’s great.”

Kim Norton, a Republican incumbent seeking re-election to the Town Council, said she was feeling “very good” on Election Day.

“I had some nice interactions with people over at Saxe, who told me that many different parties are voting for me today, which is really what New Canaan is about—it’s about unity,” Norton said. “Bringing people together and doing what’s right for New Canaan. So I’m super excited about that.”

Republican Board of Education incumbents Hugo Alves and Phil Hogan also spent part of Tuesday outside the polling place at NCHS.

Asked how he’s feeling about the election, Alves said, “We were just having a conversation about it. We’ve been working really hard. We’ve been on the Board for four years now and the people speak today. We feel confident that we’ve done a good job and that they’ll want us and expect us to continue in our efforts.”

Hogan said he was feeling “great” on the day.

“This has been a very different campaign from the one that we were in four years ago,” he said. “This feels like a much more muted one. I think we have a pretty good record that we ran on. It’s been a great Board, so I’m excited for the outcome and grateful for the support.”

Town Council incumbent and Democrat Hilary Ormond said she felt the party had “campaigned well.”

“I think that the Democrats have a great message,” she said. “So we’re just hoping we have a great turnout today.

Erica Schwedel, a Democrat and Board of Education incumbent who is seeking re-election, said, “We put a lot of work into this cycle and I feel like it’s a good day to be out here.”

Josh Kaye, a Democrat seeking election to the school board, said he’s feeling “optimistic.”

“We spent a lot of time over the last eight weeks or so, out talking to voters about our schools and about our town and what’s best for our community,” Kaye said. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm. People care deeply about our schools, and we want to make sure that we stay on track.That we keep our eye on the ball and we make sure that our schools stay strong. We’ll see what happens today. I hope I have the opportunity to do that.”

Standing outside the polling place at Saxe Middle School, where the morning winds had already knocked down tents, Town Council incumbent Penny Young said “cold” when asked how she was feeling.

“I’m always very positive,” she told NewCanaanite.com. “You know I’m an optimist. I think we’re going to bring good things to the community, which is what all of this is about.”

Scott Gress, a GOPer seeking election to the Town Council, said he was feeling “hopeful.”

“It looks like it’s been a good turnout,” he said. “We’re working and we’ll see what happens.”

Here’s a running tally of voter count on Election Day that we’ll update:

New Canaan Election 2025: Voter Turnout, Hourly Count

Hour	Votes 2025
7 to 8 p.m.	237
6 to 7 p.m.	366
5 to 6 p.m.	346
4 to 5 p.m.	299
3 to 4 p.m.	281
2 to 3 p.m.	267
1 to 2 p.m.	278
12 to 1 p.m.	248
11 a.m. to 12 p.m.	296
10 to 11 a.m.	265
9 to 10 a.m.	308
8 to 9 a.m.	247
7 to 8 a.m.	170
6 to 7 a.m.	111
Early voters	2,313
Premarked absentees	112
Total*	6,144

Source: Voter Checklist website
*cumulative percentage tracked throughout the day

Here’s an updated voter count from the Registrars of Voters:

New Canaan Voter Count—Nov. 2, 2025

	Democrat	Republican	Unaffiliated	Other	Total
Nov. 2, 2025	3,839	5,143	5,632	152	14,766
% of total	26%	34.8%	38.1%	1%
% of total July 2023	27.0%	36.2%	35.5%	1.2%
% of total Nov 2021	26.4%	38%	34.4%	1.2%
% of total Nov 2019	23.2%	43.6%	32.5%	1.3%

Source: New Canaan Registrars of Voters

Here’s how many people voted in recent municipal elections in New Canaan (source: VoterChecklist):

• 2023 — 6,783
• 2021 — 6,824
• 2019 — 5,680

Endorsement letters can be found here. Here is the town’s election resource page.