August 9th Primary Election Results
United States Senate Race:
Democrats: Senator Richard Blumenthal
In 2010, Senator Blumenthal was elected to represent Connecticut in the United States Senate. He was reelected in 2016. He is chair of the Commerce Consumer Protection subcommittee, a member of the Committee on the Judiciary, Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation, Committee on Armed Services, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and Special Committee on Aging
Senator Blumenthal served an unprecedented five terms, from 1991 to 2011, as Connecticut’s Attorney General, fighting for people against large and powerful special interests. His aggressive law enforcement for consumer protection, environmental stewardship, labor rights, and personal privacy helped to reshape the role of state attorneys general nationwide, and resulted in the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars for Connecticut taxpayers and consumers each year.
His father fled Nazi Germany at age 18, and his mother left Nebraska’s farmland to become a social worker. He was educated at Harvard College (Editorial Chairman The Harvard Crimson, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude), and Yale Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Law Journal. He worked as assistant to Daniel Patrick Moynihan (a Lion of the Senate from New York) when he was Assistant to President Nixon. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserves in 1970, and was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant in 1976.
Republicans: Leora R. Levy
Leora R. Levy: 46,658 votes, 50.63%
Themis Klarides: 36,872 votes, 40.01%
Peter Lumaj: 8,629 votes, 9.36%
Levy was endorsed by Donald Trump last week, and won the race by a 10 percentage point margin. A Greenwich resident. Her family escaped communist Cuba in 1960 and came to the United States. She was a financial trader at Phibro Salomon, she was a philanthropist and political fundraiser for the GOP, and named to the Republican National Committee in 2017. She was nominated by Trump to be the ambassador to Chile, but the Senate never confirmed her.
Stance on abortion
Levy was previously pro-choice, but has changed her position in recent years, and is now opposed to abortion unless the mother’s life is in jeopardy or the pregnancy is a product of rape or incest. She is in favor of allowing anybody to use birth control because it is a private decision.
Stance on school shootings “The answer to stopping school shootings is to secure schools, mental health funding and training local police.”
Primary issues in the U.S. “The issues that are driving this election are the economy, the invasion at the border, the rising crime, the indoctrination of our children with critical race theory and the division of our society between one race and the other.” She also said the U.S. is not systemically racist.
Secretary of the State
Republicans endorsed Dominic Rapini.
Dominic Rapini 51,227 +58.2%58.2%
Terrie Wood 36,808 +41.8%41.8
Total reported 88,035
Republican Dominic Rapini bested Darien State House Rep. Terrie Wood in the secretary of the state race, according to the Associated Press. Rapini is a longtime Apple salesman and a member of the Branford Republican Town Committee. He has testified several times in Hartford about Connecticut’s election system and has said the state needs to update its voter rolls.
Democrats endorsed Stephanie Thomas
Stephanie Thomas 84,291 +75.8%75.8%
Maritza Bond 26,925 +24.2%24.2
Total reported 111,216
Thomas is the state representative for the 143rd House District, which covers portions of Norwalk, Wilton and Westport. Maritza Bond conceded to party-endorsed candidate Stephanie Thomas in the secretary of the state race about an hour after polls closed.
She is a small business owner who has spent three decades advising and problem-solving for nonprofit organizations. In 2020, she was elected to represent Norwalk, Wilton, and Westport as a Representative in Connecticut’s State House, flipping that seat from Republican to Democrat.
She is Vice Chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, and has sponsored and helped pass a variety of voter-focused bills such as automatic voter registration at state agencies and resolutions to advance early voting and no-excuse absentee ballot voting.
Connecticut State Treasurer
Democrats also had a three-candidate race for state treasurer. Current State Treasurer Sean Wooden announced he would not run for reelection in order to spend more time with his family. Democrats endorsed Erick Russell.
Erick Russell: 63,568 57.53%
Dita Bhardava: 25,158 22.77%
Karen Dubois- Walton- Working Party: 21,761 19.70%
Est. rpt >95%
New Haven attorney Erick Russell captured the Democratic nomination for state treasurer in Tuesday’s primary, easily outpolling Greenwich hedge fund manager Dita Bhargava and New Haven Housing Authority President Karen DuBois-Walton.
A partner with Pullman and Comley who specializes in public financing, he focuses on public and private finances. He has represented municipalities and state agencies on projects including schools, affordable housing and restructuring pension obligations. He will face state Rep. Harry Arora, a Greenwich Republican, in the general election in November.
23rd District State Senate Race (The 23rd Senatorial District includes part of Stratford and about half of Bridgeport)
Incumbent Democratic state Senator Dennis Bradley lost his primary challenge against Herron Gaston in the 23rd District in Tuesday’s election, according to the Connecticut Post.
Bradley, who is currently serving his second term, failed to receive the party’s nomination and challenged Gaston – the endorsed candidate. Bradley was indicted last year on federal charges in connection with a campaign fund scheme, according to authorities. He has denied wrongdoing as he awaits trial.
The Post reports Bradley first declared victory around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, but conceded soon after 11 p.m.
District 23
Herron Gaston 1,775 52.2%
Dennis Bradley 1,628 47.8%
