General Assembly Incumbents Face Primary Battles

07.25.2016
Issues & Policies

Connecticut voters will go to the polls in a series of primary elections August 9 to determine party candidates in at least 12 General Assembly races.
Ten incumbent lawmakers—eight Democrats and two Republicans—face primary challengers.

2016 Connecticut General Assembly

All 187 General Assembly seats are in play this November.

Bridgeport hosts four of those primary races, with two Democrat senators and two Democrat House members at risk.
Senator Marilyn Moore, who defeated incumbent Anthony Musto in a primary two years ago, faces Bridgeport City Council president Tom McCarthy, the party’s endorsed candidate for the 22nd Senate District.
And Senator Ed Gomes will now appear on the Democratic primary ballot for the 23rd Senate District after a Superior Court judge ruled he was eligible despite a paperwork issue.
Gomes lost the party endorsement to Bridgeport Board of Education chair Dennis Bradley in May.
He held the seat from 2005 to 2012, losing a primary to then-State Representative Andres Ayala and returning three years later when Ayala was appointed commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
School board member Maria Pereira is challenging three-term representative Charlie Stallworth to be the Democratic candidate in the 126th House District race. Stallworth is the party’s endorsed candidate.
Also in Bridgeport, one-term Democrat representative Andre Baker is opposed by primary challenger Charles Coviello, a realtor and former mayoral candidate, in the 124th House District.

New Britain Primary

In New Britain, incumbent Democrat Senator Terry Gerratana faces a primary challenge from Board of Education chair Sharon Beloin-Saavedra.
Gerratana, co-chair of the legislature’s Public Health Committee, has held the 6th Senate District seat since winning a special election in 2011.
House Speaker Brendan Sharkey’s retirement set up a Democratic primary in the 88th House District between Hamden Legislative Council President James Pascarella and Democratic Town Committee member Joshua Elliott.
Six-term state representative Ernest Hewett (D-New London) faces a primary challenge from non-profit leader Chris Soto after narrowly winning party endorsement.
In the 116th House District, 12-term state representative Louis Esposito Jr. lost the Democratic nomination to New Haven city employee Michael DiMassa and had to petition his way onto the primary ballot.
In Stamford’s 146th House District, one-term Democrat representative Terry Adams faces a primary challenge from attorney Dan Dauplaise.
In Bristol, University of Connecticut student Christy Matthews petitioned her way onto the Democratic primary ballot alongside social worker Laura Bartok, who won the party’s endorsement.
The winner of that primary will challenge first-term Republican incumbent Cara Pavalock in the 77th House District election in November.

Republican Primaries

State Representative Jay Case is one of two Republican incumbent legislators facing primaries, with former Winsted Board of Education member David LaPointe challenging him in the 63rd House District.
In Shelton, town Planning and Zoning Commission chair Ruth Parkins is running against five-term Republican incumbent Jason Perillo in a 113th House District primary.
The deadline to register to vote in the August 9 primaries is August 4 for mail-in applications and August 8 for applications submitted in person to town clerks.

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