Connecticut residents will join voters nationwide in casting their ballots for the next United States president on Tuesday — but a myriad of other candidates, and a constitutional amendment, are on the state’s ballots as well.
Though Connecticut has voted for the Democratic nominee for president in every election since 1992, parts of the state are majority Republican, making some of this year’s down-ballot races much more competitive. And a ballot provision will ask voters whether the state should change its constitution to allow for universal absentee voting.
Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. For more information on how to vote, visit The Connecticut Mirror’s voter guide.
Here are some things to look out for after Connecticut’s election this week.
Did the no-excuse absentee voting ballot provision pass?
A question on this year’s ballots will ask Connecticut residents whether the state constitution should be amended to allow all voters to vote by mail.
Permitting no-excuse absentee voting, as it’s commonly called, would mark an expansion of state voting laws. Currently, Connecticut residents can only vote by absentee ballot if they meet certain requirements, such as being sick or traveling on Election Day. Many other states already allow no-excuse absentee voting.
Connecticut first put the question to voters during the 2014 midterm elections, grouping it in with early in-person voting. That provision failed by more than 38,000 votes, though voters ultimately approved early voting in 2022, which paved the way for legislators to pass a law allowing it.
What did turnout look like for early voting and on Election Day?
For the first time in state history, this year Connecticut voters had the option to vote in person throughout the two weeks leading up to Election Day.
More than 400,000 voters had already cast their ballots in the first nine days of early voting in Connecticut. That represents around 17% of Connecticut’s active voters.
Connecticut has seen around an 80% turnout among registered voters in previous presidential elections, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of the State’s office said. The 2020 presidential election drew around 1.82 million Connecticut voters.
Who won Connecticut’s competitive 5th District race?
Democrat Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, and her Republican challenger George Logan are facing off in a rematch to represent Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District.
Hayes, who was first elected to the seat in 2018, narrowly beat Logan by fewer than 2,000 votes in 2022.
The two candidates clashed in a contentious debate on Oct. 9, where they touched on each other’s records as legislators, challenged the other’s ability to work in a bipartisan manner and cast each other as deeply entrenched within their own political parties.
Since then, they have tried to define each other over the airwaves, with TV ads that have grown increasingly negative in the campaigns’ final weeks. Hayes’ ads have centered on abortion rights, while Logan’s have focused on crime and immigration.
Did any seats in the state legislature flip?
It’s unlikely that Republicans will gain control of Connecticut’s majority-blue state legislature, but every state senator and state representative is up for reelection, and some races will be close.
A handful of House incumbents, like Rep. Michelle Cook, D-Torrington, and Rep. Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford, have won races with only 51% of the vote — and both outperformed their parties’ national candidates by several percentage points.
House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, told the CT Mirror last month that he “could see a scenario” where his party hits 100 seats, while House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, said he hopes to win back two GOP seats lost in 2022 by narrow margins. There are 151 seats in Connecticut’s House of Representatives.
Over in the state Senate, one of the most competitive races is for the 36th District seat, which encompasses Greenwich, portions of Stamford and most of New Canaan. Its current occupant, Republican Sen. Ryan Fazio, is running for reelection after winning 50.1% of the vote in his initial win and 2022 reelection.
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