The Capitol Beat: August 12, 2014

Republican Tom Foley Defeats McKinney, Setting up Rematch with Malloy in November; Sen. Eric Coleman Prevails; Bridgeport Hands Defeat to Sen. Musto, Rep. Ayala, Newton

Greenwich Republican and businessman Tom Foley defeated Senate Minority Leader John McKinney of Fairfield in Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary, setting up a rematch with Governor Malloy in November. Foley lost to Malloy in 2010 by half a percentage point. Though McKinney came on strong in the last few weeks, he faced an uphill battle against the party-endorsed Foley. Meanwhile, the three-way race for Lt. Governor was still too close to call as of 11:30.

Altogether there were 14 primaries in the House of Representatives and four in the state Senate.

In the Senate primaries, Democratic incumbent Eric Coleman of Bloomfield prevailed against party-endorsed candidate Shawn Wooden. Democratic incumbent Anthony Musto of Bridgeport was defeated by activist Marilyn Moore, while his colleague, Democratic State Sen. Andres Ayala of Bridgeport, won his primary battle against Scott Hughes. Former Democratic House member Elizabeth Ritter of Quaker Hill defeated William Satti in the 20th Senate district being vacated by Democrat Andrea Stillman.

In the House of Representatives, Democratic State Reps. Linda Orange of Colchester, Douglas McCory of Hartford, and Bruce Morris and Chris Perone, both of Norwalk, all won their primary battles. Meanwhile, Ernie Newton of Bridgeport, who previously served in the State Senate before going to jail for corruption, lost his bid to return to Hartford as a State Representative in the 128th district. One-term Democratic State Rep. Christina Ayala, also of Bridgeport, also lost her primary to party-endorsed challenger Christopher Rosario.

More to come as information becomes available and results become official.

In the news