Blue wave crashes over CT General Assembly
Republicans lost at least six and as many as eight seats in the Connecticut Senate and at least nine in the House, with some races still to be determined early Wednesday morning, leaving the GOP with its smallest-ever presence in the upper chamber.
Democrats projected likely majorities of 32-4 in the Senate and at least 111-40 in the House, with House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, saying if other close races fall their way the House Democratic advantage could be as much as 115-36.
In the Senate, only three of the Senate’s 11 Republicans seemed assured of victory: Sen. Eric Berthel of Watertown, Sen. Henri Martin of Bristol and Sen. Rob Sampson of Wolcott. Democrats currently have a 25-11 majority.
Incomplete results showed Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, trailing.
In the 34th Senate District, with 100% of the vote counted, Sen. Paul Ciccarella, R-North Haven appeared to have to lost by about two dozen votes to Democrat Brandi Mandato. In the 21st District, unofficial results showed Carolann Reid unseating Sen. Jason Perillo, R-Shelton, with 50.87% of the vote.
Democrats said they also unseated three other incumbents: Sen. John Kissel of Enfield, a state senator for 34 years, lost to David Kiner in the 7th District; Sen. Heather Somers of Groton lost to Joe de la Cruz in the 18th; and Sen. Jeff Gordon of Woodstock lost to Ethan Werstler in the 35th.
Democrats also won two open seats in Fairfield County. Rob Blanchard of Newtown won the 28th District seat that had been held by Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, and Democrat Jill Oberlander of Greenwich captured the 36th District seat held by Sen. Ryan Fazio, the GOP nominee for governor.
The Republican base in Fairfield County continued to erode Tuesday, with Democrats also flipping state House seats in Newtown and Shelton, Democrats said.
House Democrats claimed early victories in the 106th and 113th House district, with Michelle Embree Ku unseating Rep. Mitch Bolinsky of Newtown and Bryan Lizotte winning the open seat in Shelton.
Democrats did not lose a seat in either chamber.
According to Democrats, other Republican incumbents to lose included Rep. Cara Pavalock-D’Amato of Bristol, who was a strong public supporter of Trump and ICE’s enforcement of immigration law, Rep. Steve Weir of Hebron, Rep. Carol Hall of Enfield, Rep. Chris Aniskovich of Clinton and Rep. Greg Howard of Stonington.
In the 77th House District of Bristol, unofficial results showed Democrat DeWayne K. Wynn, Jr. easily beating Pavalock-D’Amato with 56% of the vote. Rick LeBorious beat Hall in their rematch in the 59th House District. With 80% of the vote counted, Democrat Cinzia Lettieri was far ahead of Aniskovich in their 35th District rematch. Ellen Paul defeated Weir in the 55th House District with 53% of the vote.
Other Democratic gains came in open seats.
In the shoreline 23rd House District of Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook and Westbrook, Democrat Jane Wisialowski won in making another run after getting 48.5% of the vote in a close loss to Rep. Devin Carney, R-Old Saybrook. Carney did not running this year.
In the 8th House District, where Rep. Tim Ackert, R-Coventry, is quitting after an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor, the GOP nominee was Will Gifford, a 21-year-old UConn journalism student who posted a video in December in which he nods in seeming agreement as a white Christian nationalist figure tells him Judaism is “evil.” He lost to Democrat Francis Lombard.
Democrats retained the 31st House District seat in Glastonbury, where Moise “Moses” Carelus defeated Rep. Jill Barry, a Democrat who ran on the Republican and Independent ballot lines after Carelus won the Democratic nomination in a caucus. He won with 58% of the vote.
