At the East Lyme High School polling place, party-line Republican Paula Beckwith ticked off her reasons for voting: gas prices, food costs and a generally bad economy. “People can’t live this way anymore,” she said. You’re kicking the hardworking people in the gut.” The Day

Jo-el Fernandez, an East Lyme Democrat, voted to preserve democracy and abortion rights. “I’m happy we don’t have a lot of extremism in CT, it seems, compared to the rest of the country.” While she voted for candidates other than Dems in the past, she didn’t this time. The Day

US Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd, makes a stop at New London High School with fellow Dems including Stephanie Thomas for SOTS, Martha Marx for 20th district state Senate and state Rep. Anthony Nolan for re-election in the 39th. Here’s what Courtney had to say about Marx The Day

The numbers are preliminary and missing Montville, but it looks like the third time’s the charm for Martha Marx. The numbers have her at 17,530 votes to Jerry Labriola Jr’s 15,571. The Day

Fire at a salon on Green Street was pouring smoke onto Broad before firefighters began to get it under control this afternoon.

Kayaker Matt Stone of Chester caught this footage from the water near the Gold Star Bridge boat launch The Day

An overnight fire at CT Scrap in Montville was the third multi-alarm fire at the business in less than 3 years, says Chesterfield Fire Co PIO Steve Frischling. His video shows what they found on arrival. Tankers came from at least 6 towns. The Day

State Rep. Holly Cheeseman stands with state transportation officials for groundbreaking of the $148 million, 4.5-year I-95 reconstruction project, citing it as an example of towns east of the river finally getting some much needed respect and attention from the state.

State Sen. Martha Marx talks about driving-induced anxiety on I-95 at the groundbreaking for the $148 million, 4.5-year highway reconstruction project in East Lyme The Day

The Board of Trustees in charge of the private, nonprofit library in Old Lyme refused to remove two books from the young adult shelves, telling parents it’s their job — not the library’s — to limit access to content they may find objectionable The Day theday.com/local-news/202…

In what turned out to be a referendum on overdevelopment, voters in East Lyme voted decisively to purchase 255 acres of open space (1,450 to 167) and to bond up to $2.35 million to pay for it (1,530 to 116). About 12% of registered voters came out to the polls. The Day

Turnout in East Lyme by 11 a.m. was 11.3%, said Democratic Registrar Wendi Sims. The last municipal election garnered about 43% of registered voters by the end of the night. #ctelection The Day

Dem Registrar Wendi Sims said morning showers may have kept people away. Also, those who left for work before polls opened or just arrived home after a long night - like those tending to Millstone’s intensive outage operations - may mean more voters later. #ctelection The Day

Turnout by 2 p.m. reached 20.4% in East Lyme, where voters throughout the election season have expressed concerns about the pace of business and residential growth in town. It's a sentiment expressed across party lines, though solutions differ #CTElection The Day

Based on SOTS statistics through Oct. 31, unaffiliated voters make up 47.9% of registered voters in East Lyme. On the ballot, only five candidates - or 12.5% - are unaffiliated, and all of them have aligned themselves with a major party #CTElection The Day

Absentee ballots were in at 10:30, but totals remain unofficial. It looks like Democrat Dan Cunningham will end the Republicans’ 16 year reign with 2,747 votes to Republican Anne Santoro’s 2,654. #CTElection The Day

East Lyme election officials said 27 or fewer votes would trigger a recount of the first selectman’s race based on state law. The difference this time, with results still unofficial, is 93. #CTelection The Day

Santoro, after conferring with election officials after 10:30 p.m., said she would wait for official numbers in the morning to find out how close the race is and how to proceed. #CTelection The Day

A roughly 6-acre brush fire in East Lyme’s Friends of Oswegatchie Hills Nature Preserve is contained after crews from about a dozen agencies, including the Maine Forest Service, responded. The chopper from Maine flew in to help amid rampant brush fires statewide.

An East Lyme man already barred by a judge from harassing town employees was arrested at the polls Tuesday after police say he acted in a belligerent manner toward a registrar of voters and then refused police instructions to leave. theday.com/local-news/202…