Filed under: general
Connecticut is one of the most interesting states in what promises to be an extremely interesting general election. There are five races to watch in CT, all of which have a Democratic challenger against an incumbent from another party. (disclaimer: I am not making a judgement here on Lieberman’s past performance as a Democrat, but he is technically running as a part of the Connecticut for Lieberman party, so I count him as an incumbent challenged by a Democrat)
CT-Sen: Lieberman (CfL) vs. Lamont (D) vs. Schlesinger (R)
The hottest race in CT, and pershaps the nation is also the one which really has pulled the other races into the national spotlight is this Senate race. Joe Lieberman a 3-term senator and one of the most well known names in the senate has split with the Democratic party after losing against a longshot challenger named Ned Lamont. This race deserves it’s own background post, so I’ll leave out some of the gory details there, but Lieberman is now the favored candidate, with polls showing him holding somewhere near 49% of the vote against Democratic challenger Lamont and Republican challenger Schlesinger (who has not recieved the endorsement of any major Republicans).
Connecticut is considered a reasonably liberal state as a whole, which is why Democratic primary voters revolted against their incumbent in favor of Lamont. The war has been seen as the big issue in this state, where the President’s approval ratings have been in the 30s for more than a year. (2)
Despite the fact that CT is generally tinted blue, 3 of the 5 seats in the House of Representatives are held by Republicans, the newly energized Democratic party has launched strong attacks on all three of these seats, as they could be a key 3 out of the 15 seats Democrats need to win control of the house.
CT-02: Simmons (R) vs. Courtney (D)
CT-02 is said to be the most democratic leaning district in the country with a Republican representative, although Simmons has won three elections with increasing margins and is considered a somewhat moderate Republican. The NRCC and DCCC both agree that CT-02 is one of the most vulnerable seats, and there is no doubt that both are going to spend a lot of time and money campaigning here.
CT-04: Shays (R) vs. Farrell (D)
Several polling sites have suggested that this is one of the Democrats best chances for a high profile pick-up. Republican Shays has been known as one of the more socially-liberal Republicans in office, and was nearly ousted by Farrell in 2004, despite having won by large margins for most of his 10 straight terms in the House. Farrell is running against him again, after an election that was probably too close for comfort, and this time with a strong anti-war platform that seems to be doing well in the state.
CT-05: Johnson (R) vs. Murphy (D)
Early suggestions say that Johnson is the most secure of the three Republicans in Connecticut’s House delegation, she’s held on to her seat for 12 terms, and her challenger is a younger politician who at the moment does not have a strong advantage. The fact that the Lieberman-Lamont race will probably have Democrats out in record numbers is what makes this race a dangerous one for Johnson.
CT-Gov: Rell (R) vs. DeStefano (D)
This race will most likely go to Rell, who after taking office after the resignation of Gov. John Rowland, achieved an astounding 81% approval rating in February 2006. She is one of the most popular governors in the country, and New Haven mayor John DeStefano Jr. currently trails 35-57 (3), although his numbers have been steadily rising.
Indeed, all of Connecticuit’s Republicans would probably be in a more comfortable place if it didn’t seem like Democratic turnout in November, especially in CT is going to be on the surge. The fact that there is little motivation to vote for the Republican Senate candidate seems to suggest the possibility for Democratic gains across the board, with some polls even predicting that DeStefano will be able to overcome Rell.
Sources
1: Information on Senate and House races in this post comes primarily from: http://www.electoral-vote.com:2006/evp2006/Info/hothouse.html#CT
2: http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollTrack.aspx?g=33bc7cbc-7fde-4f35-97d6-50bcb47ca175
3: http://rasmussenreports.com/2006/State%20Polls/August%202006/connecticutGovernor.htm
Filed under: general
This blog will serve to monitor all of the major races in Connecticut in the 2006 general election. It is being done as a class project for Professor Sean Sutton’s Political Parties and Voting class at RIT in Fall of 2006. There will be four editors of this blog, who will be introduced soon.
Please check back soon and we’ll outline the races we’ll be covering as well as who we are.
