Rigby wins 63rd district over write-in Bill Riiska


 

WINSTED — After two terms of Democratic representation, the 63rd District has elected a Republican to serve in the state House of Representatives, giving the nod to John Rigby of Colebrook.

Facing what turned out to be insurmountable odds, Democratic challenger William O. Riiska of Norfolk was unable to succeed in his write-in candidacy for the seat after incumbent Democrat George Wilber resigned amid revelations that he paid a woman $100,000 in 2005 to settle a sex abuse claim.

Outside the Winsted polls at Pearson Middle School on election night, Rigby said he had been out campaigning since 6:30 a.m. and could not tell who was winning the race. "We don’t have any indicators at all," he said.

An hour later, with the Winsted polls in, the Republican picked up a better than 2-1 margin of victory over Riiska, who also said late Tuesday that he was just happy to be able to make a showing and see all of his old friends, who referred to him as "Billy."

"We’ve had a tremendous amount of support and we’re really happy with the effort," said Riiska, who is the son of the late William T. Riiska, a former Winsted mayor and town clerk. "We’re reveling in the success of a campaign we put together in a a short period of time. If we lose, it doesn’t change the success of the effort."

Rigby was practically assured a win after the news of Wilber’s sex-abuse settlement came out last month. The timing strongly suggested someone in the Republican party was involved with the leak of documents pertaining to the settlement. An anonymous man reportedly dropped the paperwork at the offices of the Torrington Register-Citizen last month. Wilber denied allegations that he had sexually abused a woman, now in her 40s, from the time she was 11 until she was 18, but resigned from his seat days later, with no time left in the campaign season to put an official Democratic candidate on the ballot.

Shortly before noon last Tuesday, Oct. 28, the state attorney general’s office and Democratic attorneys agreed to let Riiska petition as a write-in candidate after he faxed his paperwork the week before to the secretary of the state’s office. Riiska was informed that a fax was not acceptable, but that decision was overturned. During the past week, signs popped up on lawns throughout the Winsted area encouraging voters to write him in on the ballot.

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