Connecticut Secretary of the State Office
Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas
State Representative Perillo and Stratford Town Councilman Tony Afriyie greeting voters outside Long Hill Elementary School Tuesday.
Unofficial tallies from the Connecticut Secretary of the State website show Perillo earned 53% of the vote, defeating Afriyie 6,839 to 5,950. Perillo won 65% of the Shelton vote, which carried him to victory. Perillo also won in Seymour and Monroe, while Afriyie outpaced Perillo in Stratford by some 900 votes.
State Senate District 21
Democrats hold 25 of 36 seats in the Connecticut State Senate. There are 10 Republicans, and a vacancy to be filled Tuesday. Members serve two year terms; the next regular elections are in 2026.
District 21 stretches northward from the Long Island Sound between Bridgeport and Milford. Republican Kevin Kelly resigned in early January, just before the start of this year’s legislative session. Kelly was first elected in 2010. Unopposed in 2024, he won by 57% to 43% in 2022. There were two candidates on the ballot: Long-time State Rep. Jason Perillo is the Republican nominee; Stratford Town Councilman Tony Afriyie represents the Democrats.
In terms of potential for a party ‘flip’, this election was considered to be the most interesting one to watch on Tuesday. According to calculations by State Navigate, SD-21 was the closest in Connecticut when looking at 2024 presidential results by Senate district. Donald Trump won by 316 votes out of 58,255 cast – a margin of about 0.5%.
State Senator 21
Results by Town –Stratford
CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME VOTES VOTES %
Democratic Party Anthony “Tony” Afriyie 3,174 58.11%
Republican Party Jason Perillo 2,288 41.89%
Write In Matthew Hallock 0
Results by Town – Seymour
CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME VOTES VOTES %
Democratic Party Anthony “Tony” Afriyie 175 35.35%
Republican Party Jason Perillo 320 64.65%
Write In Matthew Hallock 0
Write In Dawson Shyne-Appignani 0 0.00%
Results by Town –Shelton
CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME VOTES VOTES %
Democratic Party Anthony “Tony” Afriyie 1,907 35.17%
Republican Party Jason Perillo 3,515 64.82%
Write In Matthew Hallock 0 0.00%
Write In Dawson Shyne-Appignani 1 0.02%
Results by Town – Monroe
CANDIDATE PARTY / NAME VOTES VOTES %
Democratic Party Anthony “Tony” Afriyie 694 49.22%
Republican Party Jason Perillo 716 50.78%
Write In Matthew Hallock 0 .00%
Write In Dawson Shyne-Appignani 0 0.00%
