Winners, Losers of State’s Summer Primary
Major-party candidate slates for the Connecticut legislature and statewide offices were settled this week in a summertime primary. Here’s the complete list of primary results.
Republican Tom Foley won the GOP primary to run for governor this fall, defeating State Senate Minority Leader John McKinney. Foley will again face Gov. Dannel Malloy in the gubernatorial contest, while Democrat Jonathan Pelto and Republican Joe Visconti are petitioning to appear on the November ballot as independent candidates.
Former Groton Mayor Heather Somers won a tight primary race against two challengers for the Lt. Governor nod, and Sharon McLaughlin won the GOP primary to run for state comptroller.
Two of 10 legislative incumbents in primary battles lost, with one incumbent House member winning a primary to run for state Senate.
Defeated incumbents were:
- State Sen. Anthony Musto (D-Trumbull), chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee. Democratic challenger Marilyn Moore won the primary in the 22nd Senate District.
- State Rep. Christina Ayala (D-Bridgeport), who lost to challenger Christopher Rosario.
Current State. Rep. Elizabeth Ritter (D-Quaker Hill) won the primary for the Democratic nod for the 20th State Senate District.
Legislative primaries are especially important because most of the decisions that impact employers, employees and all taxpayers are made in the state General Assembly.
This year, many races will settle open seats created by lawmakers who have decided not to run again—which means there is a greater potential for change in the legislature.
While the primaries signify healthy competition within the major political parties, the secretary of the state also announced that 50 legislative incumbents will not be challenged this year—a 56% increase in uncontested seats from two years ago.
Primary Results
*denotes party-endorsed candidate; bold indicates incumbent
Governor
- Republican: *Tom Foley defeated John McKinney
Lieutenant Governor
- Republican: Heather Somers defeated *Penny Bacchioch and David Walker
Comptroller
- Republican: *Sharon McLaughlin defeated Angel Cadena
State Senate
2nd District (Bloomfield, Hartford, Windsor)
- Democratic: State Sen. Eric Coleman (chair, Judiciary Committee) defeated *Shawn Wooden and Len Walker
20th District (Bozrah, East Lyme, Montville, New London, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Salem, Waterford)
- Democratic: *State Rep. Elizabeth Ritter (incumbent 38th House) defeated William L. Satti
22nd (Bridgeport, Monroe, Trumbull)
- Democratic: Marilyn Moore defeated *State Sen. Anthony Musto (chair, GAE committee)
23rd (Bridgeport, Stratford)
- Democratic: *State Sen. Andres Ayala, Jr. (chair, Aging, Regulations Review committees) defeated Scott Hughes
State House of Representatives
7th District (Hartford)
- Democratic: *State Rep. Douglas McCrory defeated Donna Thompson-Daniel
23rd (Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Westbrook)
- Republican: *Devin Carney defeated Vicki Lanier
32nd (Cromwell, Portland)
- Democratic: *Kathleen Richards defeated Anthony “Tony” Salvatore
44th (Killingly, Plainfield)
- Democratic: *Christine Rosati defeated Michael Cartier
47th (Canterbury, Chaplin, Franklin, Hampton, Lebanon, Lisbon, Norwich, Scotland, Sprague)
- Republican (no endorsement): Doug Dubitsky defeated Noah Enslow and Michael Meadows
48th (Colchester, Lebanon, Mansfield, Windham)
- Democratic: *State Rep. Linda Orange defeated Jason Paul
64th (Canaan, Cornwall, Goshen, Kent, Norfolk, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Torrington)
- Republican: *Brian Ohler defeated Mark Lauretano
122nd (Shelton, Stratford, Trumbull)
- Republican: *State Rep. Ben McGorty defeated Michael Vickerelli
124th (Bridgeport)
- Democratic: Andre Baker defeated *Ernie Newton;
128th (Bridgeport)
- Democratic: *Christopher Rosario defeated State Rep. Christina Ayala, Dennis Bradley, and Teresa Davidson
133rd (Fairfield)
- Democratic: *Cristin McCarthy Vahey defeated Matt Waggner
137th (Norwalk)
- Democratic: State. Rep. Chris Perone (chair, Commerce Committee) defeated *David Watts;
140th (Norwalk)
- Democratic: *State Rep. Bruce Morris; Warren Pena
142nd (New Canaan, Norwalk)
- Republican: Fred Wilms defeated *Emily Wilson
On to the Election
Connecticut needs to improve its economy and our standing in many national competitiveness studies. While there has been steadier job creation in the state recently, we still have a way to go to regain all the jobs lost during the recession.
Whom we send to the State Capitol in January will have a lot to say about how to turn around our economy and improve those national rankings.
Be sure to play your part by registering to vote, and then voting on Nov. 4.
For more information, contact CBIA’s Public Outreach Department (Adam Ney 860.244.1933 | adam.ney@cbia.com; Nicole Cline 860.244.1929 | nicole.cline@cbia.com)
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