General Assembly 2006: Races to Watch (May Edition)

Neglected this week has been the many, many legislative races that are kicking off all over the state. These are some of the more interesting ones. If anyone has any information they want me to add to this list, put it in the comments. If it's appropriate, I'll add it. I am posting links to websites and candidate blogs, too, so feel free to post those here.

If you work for a candidate and think your race should be on this list, email me.

Click here to go to the end of this post

Updated 5/23/2006

Senate: 07 ; 09 ; 12 ; 14 ; 16 ; 18 ; 22 ; 31

House: 02 ; 19 ; 30 ; 34 ; 37 ; 38 ; 44 ; 50 ; 59 ; 61 ; 65 ; 79 ; 86 ; 100 ; 101 ; 104 ; 117 ; 120 ; 132 ; 134 ; 136

Senate 07

• Incumbent: Sen John Kissel (R)


• Opponent: Bill Kiner (D) (website)


• Towns: East Granby, Enfield, Granby, Somers, Suffield, Windsor (part), Windsor Locks


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 1.64%


• Notes: Kissel won based on his personal popularity alone in 2004. His district went heavily for Kerry. Kissel was one of the few senators to vote against civil unions in 2005. Bill Kiner is running against him again: break out the bright orange signs.

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Senate 09

• Incumbent: Sen. Biagio "Billy" Ciotto (D) (retiring)


• Challenger 1: Paul Doyle (D)


• Challenger 2: Tom McBride (D)


• Challenger 3: Ralph Capenera (R)


• Towns: Newington, Wethersfield, Cromwell, Middletown (part), Rocky Hill


• Notes: Rep. Doyle (D-Wethersfield) was nominated over former Newington mayor Tom McBride. McBride has been mulling a primary.

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Senate 12

• Incumbent: Sen. Edward Meyer(D)


• Opponent: Gregg Hannan (R) (website)


• Towns: Branford, Durham, Guilford, Killingworth, Madison, N. Branford


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 3.16%


• Notes: This is typically a Republican area. Meyer defeated Bill Aniskovich in an upset in 2004.

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Senate 14

• Incumbent: Sen. Gayle Slossberg (D) (website)


• Opponent: Barbara Lisman (R)


• Towns: Milford, Orange, West Haven (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 3.82%


• Notes: Slossberg defeated a GOP incumbent in 2004.

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Senate 16

• Incumbent: Sen. Chris Murphy (Not Running)


• Candidate 1: Sam Caliguiri (R) (website) ; (blog)


• Candidate 2: David Zoni (D)


• Towns: Cheshire (part), Southington, Waterbury (part), Wolcott


• Notes: A rare open seat in the Senate--this one is being vacated by Sen. Chris Murphy, who is running for Congress. Another candidate, Rep. John "Corky" Mazurek (D-Southington), dropped out due to lack of support. It's unknown whether he's running for re-election in the 80th district.

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Senate 18

• Incumbent: Sen. Cathy Cook (R) (Running for Comptroller)


• Candidate 1: Lenny T. Winkler (R)


• Candidate 2: Andy Maynard (D) (website)


• Towns: Griswold, Groton, N. Stonington, Plainfield, Preston, Sterling, Stonington, Voluntown


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 8.95%


• Notes: Cook is running for comptroller this year, making this an open seat.

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Senate 22

• Incumbent: Sen. Bill Finch (D)(website); (blog)


• Opponent: Robert Russo (R)(website)


• Towns: Bridgeport (part), Monroe, Trumbull (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 7.96%


• Notes: Finch has one of the most active candidate blogs I've seen. Worth checking out. Russo's site doesn't seem to be up, yet.

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Senate 31

• Incumbent: Sen. Tom Colapietro (D)


• Opponent: Beverly Bobroske (R): (website)


• Towns: Bristol, Harwinton (part), Plainville, Plymouth


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 5.14%


• Notes: Colapietro has said homosexuality is a "sickness." Bobroske's website is not yet active, apparently.

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House of Representatives

House 02

• Incumbent: Rep. Hank Bielawa (R)(Not Running)


• Candidate 1: J. Philip Gallagher (R)


• Candidate 2: Jason Bartlett (D)


• Towns: Bethel (part), Danbury (part) Redding (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 0.82% (87 votes)


• Notes: Bielawa won in 2004 because he was cross-endorsed by an Independent party. Very strange stuff. Jason Bartlett, who lost to him in 2002 and 2004, is running again for the seat. Bielawa announced his retirement in May.

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House 19

• Incumbent: Rep. Robert Farr (R) (Running for Attorney General)


• Candidate 1: Beth Bye (D)


• Towns: West Hartford


• Notes: Farr's retirement makes this a possible pickup for Democrats.

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House 30

• Incumbent: Rep. Joe Aresimowicz (D)


• Opponent: Edward Pocock (R) (website)


• Towns: Berlin (part), Southington (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 7.44%


• Notes: Aresimowicz defeated a GOP incumbent in 2004. Pocock has been very popular in Southington, however.

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House 34

• Incumbent: Rep. Gail Hamm (D)


• Opponent: Salvatore Nucifora (R)


• Towns: East Hampton, Middletown (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 9.92%


• Notes: Probably safe, although both towns are unstable for Democrats lately. Hamm irritated her constituents in East Hampton when she pushed for a law restricting development around lakes.

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House 37

• Incumbent: Rep. Ed Jutila (D)


• Towns: East Lyme, Salem


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 8.69%


• Notes: East Lyme is GOP, and Jutila is invisible.

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House 38

• Incumbent: Rep. Elizabeth Ritter (D)


• Towns: Montville (part), Waterford


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 6.61%


• Notes: Waterford is trending GOP

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House 44

• Incumbent: Rep. Michael A. Caron (R)


• Towns: Killingly (part), Plainfield (part), Sterling


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 10.37%


• Notes: Should at least be competitive. This part of the state is trending Democrat.

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House 50

• Incumbent: Rep. Mike Alberts (R)


• Opponent: Sherri Vogt (D) (website)


• Towns: Brooklyn, Eastford, Hampton, Pomfret, Woodstock


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 0.44% (48 votes)


• Notes: Most endangered Republican. Defeated Democrat Reece Painter in general election, but Painter defeated Alberts in special election to fill remaining two months of term vacated by Rep. Jefferson Davis (D-Pomfret), who resigned 8/04. Very strange.

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House 59

• Incumbent: Rep. Steven Jarmoc (D) (retiring)


• Challenger #1: Karen Jarmoc (D)


• Challenger #2: Charles Woods (R)


• Towns: Enfield


• Notes: Karen Jarmoc is Steven Jarmoc's wife. Woods also ran in 2004, but lost to Steven Jarmoc.

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House 61

• Incumbent: Rep. Ruth Fahrbach (R)


• Opponent: Derek Donnelly (D) (website) ; (blog)


• Towns: Suffield, Windsor (part), East Granby (part)


• Notes: Fahrbach hasn't had much opposition in the last few years, but Donnelly has raised a very respectable amount of money and support, and is looking to make a race of it.

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House 65

• Incumbent: Rep. Anne Ruwet (R)


• Towns: Torrington (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 5.1%


• Notes: Ruwet’s son is Mayor Ryan Bingham of Torrington.

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House 79

• Incumbent: Rep. Kosta Diamantis (D)


• Primary Challenger: Frank Nicastro (D)


• Opponent 2: Henry Raymond (R)


• Towns: Bristol (part)


• Notes: This nomination was a bruiser!
  From The Architect:

  Add the 79th onto that list too - Diamantis was defeated last night at the caucus 9-7 by former Mayor Frank Nicastro. The camps then proceeded to get into a fistfight and an older woman was punched out cold. Arrests were made.
  
  A Union member who works at Theiss Steel is running for the Republicans - the bitter primary (with the loser vowing to run in the general by petitioning) makes this an interesting contest.

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House 86

• Incumbent: Rep. Robert Ward (R) (not running)


• Towns: East Haven (part), North Branford, Wallingford (part)


• Candidate #1: Vincent J. Candelora (R)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 13.95%


• Notes: Longtime Minority Leader Ward's retirement makes this an open seat. North Branford, the major town in the district, elected a Democratic First Selectman in 2005. Candelora is a member of the town council.

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House 100

• Incumbent: Rep. Raymond Kalinowski (R)


• Towns: Durham, Middlefield, Middletown (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 2.93%


• Notes: Durham went Dem in 2005, and the margin is small. Kalinowski served on impeachment committee in 2004.

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House 101

• Incumbent: Rep. Deborah Heinrich (D) (website)


• Opponent: Noreen Kokoruda (R)


• Towns: Guilford (part), Madison


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 6.06%


• Notes: Very Republican area. Heinrich defeated a longtime GOP incumbent in 2004.

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House 104

• Incumbent: Rep. Linda Gentile (D)


• Opponent: Joseph Romano (R)


• Towns: Ansonia (part), Derby (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 4.17%


• Notes: This was an open seat in 2004, vacated by a long-serving Democrat.

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House 117

• Incumbent: Rep. Paul Davis (D)


• Towns: Milford (part), Orange (part), West Haven (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 4.73%


• Notes: Milford and Orange trend Republican. Davis is one of the people behind the bill to make assulting umpires a felony.

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House 120

• Incumbent: Rep. John Harkins (R)


• Opponent: Dave Mooney (D) (website)


• Towns: Stratford (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 5.81%


• Notes: Stratford is trending Democratic following gains by Democrats in the municipal elections. Harkins has been in the news for controversial anti-illegal alien stances. Dave Mooney is known around here for his blogging.

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House 132

• Incumbent: Rep. Thomas Drew (D) (website)


• Opponent: Chris DeSanctis (R)


• Towns: Fairfield (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 4.90%


• Notes: Against natural gas terminal in Sound.

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House 134

• Incumbent: Rep. John "Jack" Stone (R)


• Towns: Fairfield (part), Trumbull (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 7.88%


• Notes: Lost the first selectman race in Fairfield to Ken Flatto. Stone was elected to a selectman's seat, but did not take it. Stone is seeking re-election to the House.

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House 136

• Incumbent: Rep. Joe Mioli (D) (website)


• Towns: Westport (part)


• 2004 Margin of Victory: 2.77%


• Notes: Most endangered Democrat. Defeated a GOP incumbent in 2004.

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