WESTPORT–Democrats swept the Connecticut legislative races in districts impacting Westport today. With all the votes in–but not all calculated–Westporters overwhelmingly voted for

• Weston First Selectwoman Sam Nestor to represent state Senate District 26,
• Westport Board of Education Chair Lee Goldstein as state representative for district 136, and
• State Representative Dominique Johnson prevailed by a two to one margin in today’s Westport voting for district 143.

Nestor earned 64% of today’s Westport vote over Westport Representative Town Meeting member Alma Sarelli, D-6, who ran on the Republican and Independent Party of Connecticut lines. They were vying for the seat held by Democrat Ceci Maher, who did not run for re-election.

The 26th district also includes Wilton, Ridgefield and Redding and parts of New Canaan, Weston and Bethel. The results across all towns has not been finalized.

Goldstein ran against Douglas Ouellette on the Republican line. She earned 69% of today’s vote and will take the seat being vacated by Jonathan Steinberg, also a Democrat. The district covers most of Westport.

Goldstein says she is feeling “thrilled….Thank you so much. It is overwhelming.. . . I just know that we’re going to celebrate a lot tonight and everybody is going to get up tomorrow and keep working.”

“I can’t wait to get to work for Westport….I’m really happy we had a good voter turnout. Fifty-seven percent. Early voting was a success. Westporters are very engaged.”

A Norwalk resident, Johnson’s career experience includes working as a nonprofit consultant, a college professor and a researcher, according to her campaign website. she’s feeling “resolved and energized”

Johnson’s district includes the west end of Westport, roughly to Wilton Road and Riverside Avenue, between the Merritt Parkway and the Metro-North Railroad tracks.

Affordability dominated the campaign issues.

During the race, Nestor called for holding insurance companies accountable on costs and supported a plan to open the state healthcare partnership to non-profits, small businesses and others. She supports the proposed state child tax credit of $600 per child and the Early Childcare Endowment for greater access to childcare.

Sarelli called for an end to school property taxes for senior citizens and for having the state pick up the public benefits charge on electric bills. She opposed state income tax on social security, highway tolls, new taxes and any steps toward regionalizing school districts. On Tuesday night at Rizzuto’s Oyster Bar & Restaurant on Riverside Ave., Sarelli said about her campiagn: “I’m very excited. I’ve spent the last seven month stalking to so many wonderful people. It has been a wonderful experience.”

Johnson said the state needs to counter funding cuts coming from the federal government, but that it also needs an ongoing “holistic” strategy to address residents’ burdens. She also touted $12 million in state funding she helped secure for the new Long Lots Elementary School in Westport.

In addition to affordability, Goldstein spoke of a need to protect “reproductive freedoms, gun safety laws, voting rights and our environment.”