Wednesday, August 09, 2006

A Wild Night

There's a lot to digest from last night. Here's a quick run-down:

U.S. Senate: Take Two

Ned Lamont defeated three-term incumbent Joe Lieberman 52%-48%, in a race that was watched all over the country. Lieberman, during what was not really a concession speech, declared that he would fight on as an independent.

The margin was slimmer than recent polls have suggested, but it was a remarkable victory for political newcomer Lamont nonetheless.

Governor: Unions Swing Election to DeStefano

John DeStefano won by a very slim margin (about 4,000 votes). His victory was attributed to stronger union support.

He will face a rested and popular Gov. Jodi Rell.

Lt. Governor: The Revenge of Audrey Blondin

DeStefano's running mate, Scott Slifka, lost to Malloy's running mate, Mary Glassman by a wide margin (57%-43%), despite the fact that DeStefano himself was narrowly victorious.

This has never happened before that I know of. But I will look into it.

Other Primaries

Scott MacLean won (63%-27%) in the 1st Congressional District.

Apparently Rita Schmidt in the 41st House District has won by a single vote.
Incumbent State Reps. Kosta Diamantis and Lydia Martinez have both lost their respective primaries.

Turnout for Democrats statewide broke 40% for the governor's race, and was about 43% for the U.S. Senate race. These are record numbers for a statewide primary. Democracy in Connecticut is alive and well!

Click here for a rundown of all the other races.

What a night! Thanks to everyone who contributed.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do we all think the independent Lieberman run means for other races-- our three close congresssional races and state legislative races. Two theories:

1) Good for Democrats -- Turnout will be higher among D's (whether they are Lieberman or Lamont). If it were just Rell and a two-way senate race, many D's might have stayed home. Now they are not.

2) Bad for Democrats-- Lots of Rs and Us would have voted for Rell, then dropped to the D line to vote for Lieberman...and maybe stayed there. Now, at least 30% will vote for Rell, drop to Lieberman, and then...??? Maybe go back to Republican, maybe to Democrat, maybe just stop there.

What do folks think?

Anonymous said...

Good for Lamont. Old "Hedge My Bets" Lieberman will definitely file his paperwork. He has shown his true colors, an allegiance only to himself and staying on the public dole.
As for the Gov. race, the D's surely lost the general election last night. JDS is an old time labor hack who will get beat like a drum by Rell.
But as a WH resident, I must say the highlight was Slifka's speech. I didn't think anything could be more embarrassing for him than losing the split ticket badly, but his rambling, fumbling bumbling talk was the worst I have ever heard. Three false starts as he struggled with getting one more media microphone on the dais. A pathetic attempt at a rallying cry - We will lead? The use of his handicapped brother as some type of political prop once again ("Look at me, my brother's in a wheelchair"), but the worst might have been his embrace of the labor movement for taking him in - and now, he will be there for him. My WH taxes just went up another 6 mils.....
Has been Kevin Sullivan obviously picked the wrong one of his proteges to back.

Anonymous said...

I suffered through two (or three?) terms of Mary Glassman as Simsbury's first selectman. She was helpless as a manager and there is the mysterious affair of the "waterfall painting" to be explained. Her only advantage was her adoring massess of professional women groupies. This clearly carried her last night because who else would care about Lt Gov?

Genghis Conn said...

Agreed, Chris. A very tough loss for Malloy, who ran a great race. We'll see how DeStefano fares now that he and Glassman are facing Rell.

In worse news, I now owe Bruce Rubenstein breakfast. Rats.

Anonymous said...

Ned and John showed how effective the labor movement and the left wing fringe can be in turning out voters in a closed primary. The November game is entirely different, as will be the results.

Lieberman will get his Democratic support again, together with all of the R's and U's who have voted for him since he beat the fat guy in 1988.

Malloy ran a good race but he used big words and wasn't angry enough to energize the primary voters. His speech last night was well written but literally put me to sleep.

Anonymous said...

Lieberman's decision to stay in the race makes a classic case for a 3-term limit for senators (and 10 terms for reps): He thinks he's indispensible, and that Connecticut and the U.S. can't function properly without him being involved somehow. You did a fine job, Joe. You distinguished yourself in many ways, most of them good. Now go find something else to do.

Anonymous said...

Any chance Diana Urban is dropping off enough signatures today to run?

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Republican's! last night was a huge victory for your party. The liberal wing of the Connecticut Democratic party has officially taken over last night. Moderate Democrats have been kicked to the curb. I will not turn my back on Senator Lieberman and will support his independent run.

I will also be voting against any Democrat who doesn't have the courage to come out and support Senator Lieberman. This is where real leaders need to show their courage and support a man who has been an icon for our party.

My message to any Democrat on the ballot is clear. Support Senator Lieberman or I will vote for your Republican opponent. Don't think that I will be alone with this message!

Anonymous said...

In Wolcott, there was someone collecting signatures for Paul Vance for the 5th Congressional District. Anything on that?

Anonymous said...

more importantly, I think Joe's run as an independent frees up tens of thousands of Republicans who would not have supported him as the "Democratic" candidate and will now pretend Alan Gold doesn't even exist and vote for Joe just to keep Lamont from winning.

Anonymous said...

Something a lot like this happened in 1994. At the convention, a few old pols rigged things so that there was only one nominee for Lt Gov (crooked Joe Ganim) at the end of it. Ganim was Larson's choice. But Curry won the primary (handily) and was then stuck with Ganim on his ticket. A lot of people suspect Ganim actually did what he could to ensure Curry's loss, to win points with Rowland and ensure his return to his corrupt city.

The good news is, this year, the single best candidate on the ticket - in either party, for any office - is Mary Glassman, so Democrats are lucky to have her, with or without Dan Malloy.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said..."
more importantly, I think Joe's run as an independent frees up tens of thousands of Republicans who would not have supported him as the "Democratic"


Nonsense, we had Lieberman signs and bumper stickers available at our Republican headquarters in 1988 and the town committee sent a letter to then Sen Weicker inviting him to stay out of town.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said..."
more importantly, I think Joe's run as an independent frees up tens of thousands of Republicans who would not have supported him as the "Democratic"


Nonsense, we had Lieberman signs and bumper stickers available at our Republican headquarters in 1988 and the town committee sent a letter to then Sen Weicker inviting him to stay out of town.

Anonymous said...

Senator Sore Loserman.

Sorry.

aj

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:08,

Ha! Sure! Because real Democrats like yourself... vote Republican?!?! WTF?

Authentic Connecticut Republican said...

The GOP "won" both statewide Democratic primaries, in fact it's rumored that we're sending Jodi on a much overdue vacation. She'll return in time to vote in November.
We recommend that voters with any questions take a tour of New Haven anytime of the day or night. (Beruit might well be a safer place so be sure to lock your doors.)

My candidate got clobbered however so it's doubtful that we'll be showing any gains in the Hispanic minority area this cycle.

We spent the evening in a Cuban restaurant on Frankin Ave in Hartford where there were also a large number of Democratic CT state employees. They clearly adored Miriam but assured me that my party would reject her because she was Spanish and that rejection was, they explained exactly why they were Democrats.

Unfortunately it looks like they were right.

MacLean, Scott GOP 1,988 63.21
Masullo, Miriam GOP 1,157 36.79

Interestingly, our biggest loss was in Bristol where if you recall 2 decades or so ago there was a fairly substantial KKK movement.

I'm embarassed for my party and to the disloyalty we showed last night to it's Abolishionist founders.

Anonymous said...

The Voters of Litchfield County did the right thing in kicking Scotty too Hotty Slifka to the curb after what DeStefano did to Audrey Blondin at the convention.

West Hartford now doesnt have as much political juice as they once had and their lamo Town Chairwoman I bet is reeling that her boy(Slifka) lost.

Lieberman still rules and I am staying with the True Democrat and staying away from you liberals and Left Said Ned Lamont.

Anonymous said...

Hey Authentic....

Scott MacLean posted this press release today.....

Sounds kinda in your face....

By almost a 2 to 1 margin, Scott MacLean soundly defeated Miriam Masullo in Tuesday’s Republican Primary in Connecticut’s 1st Congressional District. He now goes on to face Democratic incumbent, Rep. John Larson, in November’s general election.

“I want to thank all the people who have supported this campaign,” MacLean said, “because it proves that voters want to embrace a candidate who raises our collective spirit, takes the high road, plays fair and won’t engage in the politics of personal destruction. Thank You, from the bottom of my heart.”

Looking forward to November’s general election, MacLean said, “Voters are fed up with partisan politicians who continue to keep Washington mired in gridlock. The Left Wing of the Democratic party tosses bombs at Republicans while the Right Wing of the Republican Party chucks grenades at the Democrats. Someone from the sane center, the Great American Middle, needs to stand up and say, ENOUGH!!! That’s why I began this campaign and that’s why I’m going to win in November.”

Scott MacLean is perfectly positioned to embrace this new challenge within the halls of Congress. As an Ordained Minister in the United Church of Christ, Rev. MacLean will apply his bi-partisan conflict management skills to Congress in the same way a pastor tries to bring reconciliation to the two feuding sides of a dysfunctional family.

“I want to be the Conscious of the Congress,” he said. “We can’t solve our country’s problems by finger pointing, character assassination and blaming the other guy. We need to find win-win solutions to our problems and rediscover the bi-partisan Spirit that makes America great.”

Lifting a quote from The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s, I Have a Dream speech, Mr. MacLean said, “Dr. King said, ‘Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.’ Those good words are as true now as they were in 1963 and they apply both politically and culturally. But the American mood is pretty sour right now and if we don’t step up and accept Dr. King’s challenge, then our children and grandchildren will pay a steep price for our intolerance.”

Anonymous said...

Well DeStefano should of thought about that long and hard before he picked the weakest link(Slifka) for his ticket instead of Audrey Blondin who had a lot of people lined up to support him But when he started stalling Delegates knew what DeStefano was up to and in the end they were right to switch to Malloy.

DeStefano picked Slifka Because Fred Flintstone oops I mean Kevin Sullivan was given that opportunity due to his endorsement of DeStefano Anyway DeStefano gets what he gets and thats what he gets for screwing Litchfield County.

Anonymous said...

"We spent the evening in a Cuban restaurant on Frankin Ave in Hartford where there were also a large number of Democratic CT state employees. They clearly adored Miriam but assured me that my party would reject her because she was Spanish and that rejection was, they explained exactly why they were Democrats."

That's absurd. They voted against her because (1) she made no effort to get the nomination prior to the convention, (2) spent little or no time in the district during the campaign, (3) bombarded us with rambling emails full of misspellings and bizarre accusations, and (4) lives 100 miles away and would make a laughingstock of the party if we nominated her.

She is a bright woman, an articulate woman, and a solid Republican. MacLean made such a weak impression at town committees throughout the district that, if Miriam had done anything other than call two guys in Southington a week before the convention, the nomination would have been hers.

Trying to spin it as racist and anti-Hispanic is a cop out and a lame rationalization for a loss that was due only to a crappy campaign and the carpetbagging issue that would have been equally applicable to anyone in the same position.

Anonymous said...

Hey Republican From Near Hartford....

You are dead on with your analysis of MacLean and Masullo.