Write-in candidate Jill Dillon was elected to a position on the Board of Education in Westport’s 2023 election. The Board Of Education also voted in Lee Goldstein (D), Neil Phillips (D), Camilo Riano (R) and Jamie Fitzgeral (R).
Dillon was elected even though her name did not appear on the ballot. Voters had to manually write her name at the bottom of their ballot on a blank line. This is known as being a “write in”. Dillon did not run with Goldstein and Philips, but the three of them had been running against Riano and Fitzgerald.
This is Dillon’s first time running and getting elected. She ran her campaign from the perspective of a Westport Public Schools parent. According to her website, she ran against the Republicans because of their conservative views.
“Riano and Fitzgerald embrace an extremely conservative national agenda,” Dillon said. “That seeks to control school boards, and take away power from our beloved teachers, administration and us, the parents.”
Steff Bulkley helped Dillon run her campaign. She hosted an informational Q&A over coffee, forwarded emails and texts to our community and communicated via social media in support of Dillon. Bulkley used her connections to different parts of the community to spread information about Dillon’s campaign.
Buckley and Dillon are close friends, but according to Bulkley they have not always had the same political views.
“She always listens and she always is supportive of anyone’s voice,” Bulkley said. “So that is why I wanted her elected.”
