Connecticut is the scene of a nationally significant political upset, as Trump-backed candidate Leora Levy of Greenwich defeated former state House Minority Leader Themis Klarides for the state's Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. Klarides had the endorsement of the state Republican party.
With 98% of the vote counted, Levy had 45,725 votes (50.5%) to 36,275 (40.1%) for Klarides. Peter Lumaj received 8,474 votes (9.4%).
Levy’s general election campaign against Democratic incumbent Richard Blumenthal will likely be seen as another test of Trump’s pull in Connecticut, where Joe Biden took 59% of the vote in 2020, to Trump’s 39%.
"This is just Chapter One," said Levy in a victory speech. "We've got the longer chapter ahead."
The primary was marked by sparse voter turnout. About 20% of registered Republican voters took part, according to the state.
The belief inside the Klarides campaign is that the Trump factor made the difference.
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Democratic state Rep. Stephanie Thomas will face Republican Dominic Rapini for Secretary of the State, the office responsible for state elections.
Rapini defeated state Rep. Terrie Wood for the GOP nomination. Thomas beat New Haven health director Maritza Bond.
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Erick Russell defeated two other Democrats for state treasurer: Dita Bhargava and Karen Dubois-Watson. Russell will face state Sen. Harry Arora in November.
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State Rep. Trenee McGee beat Joe Miller for the Democratic nomination for the House seat she currently holds, based in West Haven.
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In the race for the Democratic nomination to a House seat based in Simsbury, Melissa Osborne beat Eric Wellman by 35 votes—a thin margin that represents increasingly possible results when turnout is low, as it was Tuesday.
Osborne will face Republican Mike Paine.
