November 5, 2014
Connecticut 2014 Election Results
Federal Congressional Races: – Incumbents John Larson (D), Elizabeth Esty (D), Rosa DeLauro (D), Joe Courtney (D) and Jim Himes (D) all won re-election. There were no US Senate races in Connecticut.
Governor – Governor Malloy (D) won his bid for a second term.
Attorney General – Incumbent AG George Jepsen (D) won his re-election bid.
State Treasurer – Incumbent Denise Nappier’s (D) race against Timothy Herbst (R) is still too close to call although indications are that Napier will win.
Secretary of the State – Incumbent Denise Merrill’s (D) won her re-election bid.
State Comptroller – Incumbent Kevin Lembo’s (D) race against Sharon McLaughlin (R) is still too close to call although indications are that Lembo will win.
State Senate – The Senate Democrats maintain the majority, however they lost one seat, bringing the Democratic majority to 21-15.
Senate Leadership – Senate President Pro Tempore Don Williams (D) did not seek re-election. Current Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney (D) of New Haven is expected to be the new Senate President Pro Tempore. Senator Bob Duff (D) of Norwalk is expected to be the next Senate Majority Leader.
On the Republican side, current Senate Minority Leader John McKinney (R) did not seek re-election. Senator Len Fasano (R) of North Haven is expected to assume that role.
Senate Chairmanships – Five current Chairmen either retired or moved into new leadership roles. As such, we expect a lot of changes in Committee Chairmanships. Chairmanships will be announced in late November or early December.
House of Representatives – The House Democrats maintain their majority but lost ten seats bringing their majority to 87-64.
House Leadership – Speaker Brendan Sharkey (D) and House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz (D) will retain their positions.
On the Republican side, current Minority Leader Larry Cafero (R) has retired and is expected to be replaced by either Representative Themis Klaridis of (R) Woodbridge or Jason Perillo (R) of Shelton.
House Chairmanships – The House Chairs for the powerful Judiciary and Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committees will see new leadership as the current chairs have retired. Other chairmanship changes can also be expected. As with the Senate, House Chairmanships will be announced in late November or early December.
Ballot Initiatives – An initiative allowing the Legislature to amend early voting laws was trending toward defeat.
Local Elections – There were no local elections in Connecticut.
Summary – The Senate Democrats re-elected all of their incumbent Senators who sought re-election, and won four of five open seats vacated by retiring Senate Democrats. The Senate Republicans re-elected all of their incumbent Senators who sought re-election and won both open seats vacated by retiring Senate Republicans. In addition, the Senate Republicans won one of the two open seats vacated by the Senate Democrats, which translates to a net gain of one seat for Republicans in the Senate.
On the House side, the House Democrats lost 10 seats. Eight of the eleven seats lost by the Democrats were incumbents. The remaining three were open seats. The House Republicans lost one seat held by an incumbent.
Note: Registrars are required to submit their voting tallies to the Secretary of the State by 6pm tonight. Official results are expected within a week or so.
All four caucuses are expected to meet tomorrow, presumably to discuss and possibly anoint their leaders. And finally, as mentioned earlier, key committee assignments will likely be announced in late November or early December.
