Tuesday’s election brought about major changes to Connecticut’s General Assembly and a new administration to the governor’s office. Democrats increased their majority in the House and gained a significant majority in the Senate chambers. The governor’s race was close but in the end the Democrats were able to hold the Executive Branch. All the constitutional officers went Democratic, which has been the case for over two decades. The Connecticut congressional delegation remained all blue with the new addition of Jahana Hayes taking the place of Congresswoman Esty, who choose not to run for reelection. U.S. Senator Chris Murphy handily won reelection and also flexed his political muscle by backing Hayes in the 5th Congressional District primary and leading the statewide effort capitalize on the national “Blue Wave”. The following are unofficial results:
U.S. Senate – Chris Murphy (D) won handedly over Matthew Corey (R) 56%-39%
U.S. House – All the four of the incumbent Democrats won with newcomer Jahana Hayes holding the 5th District in the Democratic Column.
1st Congressional District – John Larson (D) 63% / Jennifer Nye (R) 35%
2nd Congressional District – Joe Courtney (D) 62% / Danny Postemski (R) 35%
3rd Congressional District – Rosa DeLauro (D) 64% / Angel Cadena (R) 36%
4th Congressional District – Jim Himes (D) 60% / Harry Arora (R) 39 %
5th Congressional District – Jahana Hayes (D) 55 % / Manny Santos (R) 44 %
Connecticut Governor - Ned Lamont (D) squeaked out a victory over Bob Stefanowski (R) 49%-46%
The Democrats had major gains in the General Assembly this election; they picked up as many as 12 seats in the house, 6 seats in the Senate. Below are some highlighted races, statistics and some surprise results:
Connecticut Constitutional Officers:
Attorney General – William Tong (D) 52% / Sue Hatfield (R) 46%
Secretary of State – Denise Merrill (D) 55% / Susan Chapman (R) 42%
Treasurer – Shawn Wooden (D) 54% / Thad Gray (R) 44%
Comptroller – Kevin Lembo (D) 54% / Kurt Miller (R) 44%
State Senate:
State Senate was 18-18. Following this election, the Democrats will hold a 23-13 majority.
4 incumbent Republicans lost their bid for reelection.
• Len Suzio (R-13th) defeated by Mary Abrams (D)
• Michael McLachlan (R-24th) defeated by Julie Kushner (D)
• Toni Boucher (R-26th) defeated by William Haskell (D)
• Scott Frantz (R-36th) defeated by Alexandra Bernstein (D)Other Notable Open Seat Races
• Norm Needleman (D) defeated State Representative Melissa Ziobron (R). This seat is currently held by Senator Art Linares (R), who did not seek reelection to the Senate.
State House:
State House is currently 80-71 Democratic Majority. Following this election, the Democrats have gained enough seats to start the new term with a majority expected to be as high as 92-59.
At least 11 Republican incumbents lost reelection to the their Democratic challengers, with that number potentially as high as 13 pending races that were too close to call or with recounts. Most of those losses occurred in the western portion of the state.
Only one seat has definitively switched from D to R with the seat being vacated by Danny Rovero (D-Killingly) to the Republican in the open seat. Incumbent Phil Young (D-Stratford) is still too close to call and likely headed to a recount