Dems Sweep Elections; Urban Vote Plummets

Democrats elected to fill all of Connecticut’s statewide elected offices for the next four years — including the first New Havener to win one of those offices in 36 years — claimed a mandate Wednesday to continue and build on the policies of the previous four.

Gov. Re-Elect Ned Lamont, Lt. Gov. Re-Elect Susan Bysiewicz, Treasurer-Elect Erick Russell, Secretary of the State-Elect Stephanie Thomas, Comptroller-Elect Sean Scanlon, and Attorney General Re-Elect William Tong delivered that message at press briefing held outside the state Capitol.

Russell is the first New Havener elected to a constitutional office since Henry ​“Hank” Parker retired from the treasurer position in 1986. 

He is also on tap to become the nation’s first Black openly gay state official.

“My standing here as the treasurer-elect is an unlikely story. I plan to bring that perspective every day to this job,” Russell said.

The Democrats won their elections by as much as 15 percentage points in numerous cases. The state-office victors, along with reelected U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, echoed each other at the press briefing in arguing that voters ​“gave us a mandate” to continue on the policy direction set since 2018, as Scanlon put it.

Lamont described that course as pursuing ​“more taxpayers” rather than ​“more taxes” — meaning that members of the progressive wing of his party might expect him to continue opposing efforts to raise marginal income tax rates on the wealth. The governor spoke specifically of continuing to maximize rain day fund-reserves in anticipation of tough economic times and to pay down accumulated long-term debt. He and Bysiewicz also mentioned a ​“bipartisan” approach to increasing funding for child care, early education, and mental health care.

“We also heard loud and clear from the voters of our state that they want all of us to stand up for women’s reproductive rights,” Bysiewicz added.

Secretary of the State-Elect Thomas promised to focus on ​“civic education” and ​“civic engagement” in addition to ensuring that people’s voting rights are protected and encouraged on Election Day.

Lamont acknowledged that turnout dropped significantly in Democratic-dominant cities like New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport compared to the last mid-term election 2018. He also noted new strength for Democrats in ​“suburban communities.” 

“New Canaan and Bridgeport are voting for the same team. Madison, Hartford, Killingworth, Kent. All these artificial blue-red divisions out there — suburbs versus city, labor versus business — don’t exist in Connecticut. I saw a state that came together,” the governor said.

New Haven Delivers 80+% Margins

True-blue New Haven did deliver 80-plus percent of the vote for Democrats on the ballot Tuesday — but with far less enthusiasm than in 2018.

In New Haven, tallies from the voting machines showed city voters selecting Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, and fellow Democrats running for constitutional offices and probate court by more than a 4 – 1 margin.

The tallies, collected by the New Haven Independent, do not include the 2,788 absentee ballots submitted, which will not be tallied until hours after the polls close.

Lamont collected 17,329 machine votes in New Haven. The Republican running against him in a rematch, Bob Stefanowski, picked up 3,117. The Independent Party’s Rob Hotaling received 185 votes on the machines, with 41 write-ins recorded. That total of 21,721 falls far below the roughly 34,000 New Haven votes cast in the 2018 governor’s race. Turnout ran especially high in 2018 in blue states where Democrats lined up for hours to cast de facto votes against Republican President Donald Trump, even though his name wasn’t on the ballot. This year, Republican candidates made a point of avoiding discussion of President Trump and succeeded to steer public debate to issues of the economy and crime, while Democrats focused on abortion rights and the stewardship of state finances by Gov. Lamont.

New Haven also came out strong for U.S. Rep. DeLauro, who was seeking a 17th two-year term: She picked up 16,884 votes, or 83.46 percent, on the city voting machines. Her Republican opponent, Lesley DeNardis (daughter of the last Republican to hold the seat, Larry DeNardis, who served from 1981 – 1982), picked up 2,723 city machine votes, or 13.46 percent. DeLauro’s 2020 Republican opponent, Margaret Streicker, picked up 13.31 percent of the city that year (and 39.83 percent of the district vote).

The first New Havener on a statewide ballot since 2006, treasurer candidate Erick Russell, picked up 83.14 percent of the vote on the machines in his hometown.

And New Haveners overwhelmingly — by 85 to 15 percent on the machines — voted in support of a referendum that would have Connecticut join 46 other states in allowing early voting.

Westville’s Ward 25, meanwhile, saw the largest turnout of the day, with 1,655 people voting in person. Upper Westville came in second with 1,334 in-person votes; Morris Cove’s Ward 18, 1,382; East Rock’s Ward 10, 1,341; and Downtown/East Rock’s Ward 7, 1,152.

DeLauro: "These Are Tense" Times

DeLauro claimed victory at 10:30 p.m. in a speech to roughly 50 supporters gathered in the lobby of the Shubert Theatre on College Street. 

She said her figures showed her coasting to an approximately 18 percent victory margin in the Third U.S. Congressional District race.

Her Republican opponent, Lesley DeNardis, told the Independent at 11:30 p.m. that her campaign had not yet received enough information from the towns in the district to know the outcome.

If DeLauro’s victory holds — and if, as expected, Republicans nationwide win back control of the House of Representatives — then the election offers her a mixed result.

On the one hand, it sends her back to D.C. for a 17th two-year term, where she will continue to play an influential senior role in legislation.

But she would no longer serve as the chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. A Republican would replace her.

Surrounded by red and purple balloons, she promised in her remarks at the Shubert to continue to advocate for a permanent child tax credit, paid family and medical leave, ​“equal pay for equal work,” access to childcare, abortion access, gay rights, union power, and reining in corporate monopolies.

“Inflation, the rising cost of living, is still a daily assault on every working person,” DeLauro said. ​“People today are struggling day in and day out to make ends meet, to put food on their table.”

“Because of you, Congresswoman!” a heckler shouted from the back of the room in the sole tense moment of an otherwise celebratory affair. ​“Because you sold us out, you are corrupt! … Change is coming to America!”

DeLauro’s supporters began to chant ​“Rosa, Rosa” in response, the heckler was removed from the gathering, and within moments, the interruption died down. 

“These are tense moments, tense moments in our society,” DeLauro said quickly. She called on Americans to ​“disagree, but do it in a civil way.”

“Across the country, we are seeing increasing numbers of extremist voices where we don’t just disagree on policy, we disagree on facts,” DeLauro said. ​“Democrats will always respect the outcomes of a democratic election.”

Another New Haven Democrat — State Senate President Pro Tem Looney — also stated late Tuesday night that numbers he received showed him winning reelection by a large margin. No official numbers had yet been released.

Looney said that in his 16th two-year term in the Senate, he and his colleagues will focus on continuing to increase funding for early education, day care, mental health, and municipal aid; and incentives for buying electrical vehicles and switching to renewable energy sources.