by Brent Addleman
The picture for Connecticut’s November general election cleared with Tuesday’s primary.
The Election Day turnout of 20.37% cast ballots to determine who qualifies for the November election for one U.S. Senate seat, five U.S. House seats, and the state’s secretary of state and treasurer.
In the lone U.S. Senate race, according to Ballotpedia, Democratic incumbent Richard Blumenthal ran unopposed in the primary and advances to November, where he will face Leora Levy, the Republican primary winner, and independents Andrew Hyduchak and Kristi Talmadge.
On the Republican ticket, Levy garnered 46,665 votes (50.5%), besting challengers Themis Klarides (37,017 votes, or 40.1%) and Peter Lumaj (8,643, or 9.4%).
In the U.S. House races, five incumbent Democrats ran unopposed in respective districts and advanced. They are John Larson, District 1; Joe Courtney, District 2; Rose DeLauro, District 3; Jim Himes, District 4; and Jahana Hayes, District 5.
Four Republicans challenged and ran unopposed: Larry Lazor, District 1; Mike France, District 2; Lesley DeNardis, District 3; and George Logan, District 5. In District 4, Jayme Stevenson (9,961 votes, or 60.31%) defeated Michael Goldstein (6,554 votes, or 39.69%).
In the Democratic primary for secretary of state, according to Ballotpedia, Stephane Thomas (82,059 votes, 75.82%) easily outdistanced challenger Maritza (26,169 votes, 24.18%). In the Republican primary, Dominic Rapini (49,742 votes, 58.18%) topped Terri E. Wood (35,759 votes, 41.92%). Democrat Denise Merrill resigned from the post in June.
For state treasurer, in the Democratic primary, Erick Russell (61,961, 57.65%) won over Dita Bhargava (24,480 votes, 22.77%) and Karen DuBois-Walton (21,046 votes, 19.58%). Harry Arora is the Republican candidate in November. Democrat Shawn Wooden chose not to seek reelection.
In November, Gov. Ned Lamont will be challenged by Republican Bob Stefanowski. Stefanowski’s platform includes making the state’s cities stronger. He plans to focus on transportation and the environment. Lamont will be seeking his second term in office.
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Brent Addleman is an Associate Editor and a veteran journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He has served as editor of newspapers in Pennsylvania and Texas, and has also worked at newspapers in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Kentucky.
Photo “Leora Levy” by Leora Levy. Photo “Richard Bluemanthal” by Senate Democrats. CC BY 2.0.
