Ned Lamont cruised to a decisive victory in the Connecticut gubernatorial race, riding a blue wave powered by historic voter turnout in a nonpresidential year. The state’s largest cities—Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford—pushed Lamont over the top, providing him with a larger margin of victory than Dannel Malloy had in either 2010 or 2014.
The results of the election remained uncertain until early Wednesday morning, due to issues with ballot counts in New Haven and other democratic strongholds. When the vote counts from the final precincts began coming in, and it was clear that Stefanowski had no clear path to victory, he called Lamont and conceded.
State House
The Democrats picked up 13 seats, and will continue to hold on to power in the chamber with a 92 to 59 majority. Rep. Philip L. Young, D-120, who won a special election early in 2018 in a red district (a race which many thought was a harbinger of a coming “blue wave”) held on to his seat by less than 100 votes. Democrats won races in rural areas of Connecticut and in Fairfield County, both of which typically trend Republican.
Democratic Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz won a very close re-election race (a 38 vote margin), and is expected to keep his place in leadership, along with Majority Leader Matt Ritter, who ran unopposed. Themis Klarides, the Republican House minority leader, is expected to hold on to her title.
State Senate
The balance of power has shifted back to the Democrats. They picked up six seats in total, and will now control the chamber with a 24-12 majority. Some surprising outcomes from Election Day include a win by 22-year-old Will Haskell, D-26, over incumbent Republican Sen. Toni Boucher; and Alex Bergstein’s, D-36, win over the senator from Greenwich, Republican Scott Frantz.
The outlook for the makeup of the committees and leadership in the Senate is more fluid than in the House. Some democratic members of the Senate may transition into the new Lamont administration, which could bring some significant changes in the Senate. Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano is expected to retain control over his caucus.
Other constitutional offices
Attorney General: William Tong, a Democrat, won the race for attorney general over Republican Sue Hatfield, becoming the first Asian-American elected to statewide office in Connecticut.
Treasurer: Sean Wooden, a Democrat, won the race for the open treasurer’s seat against Republican Thad Grey.
Secretary of the State: Denise Merrill, a Democrat, won re-election decisively over Republican Sue Chapman.
Comptroller: Kevin Lembo, a Democrat, won re-election by a wide margin over Republican Kurt Miller.
U.S. House and Senate
The Democrats held on to all five U.S. House seats, as well as Chris Murphy’s U.S. Senate seat. Jahana Hayes, the Democrat running from the 5th House district, will become the first African American woman elected to Congress from Connecticut.
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