New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Lamont inching closer to a state record for vote totals
Governor is close to M. Jodi Rell’s winning count
Can Gov. Ned Lamont find 264 more votes, for the win?
Sure, he snagged a reelection victory with ease over Bob Stefanowski with 56 percent of the vote on Tuesday. Now he moves on the the champions round, gunning for the all-time record set by former Gov. M. Jodi Rell in 2006.
With votes still trickling in, Lamont remains just short of the benchmark. As of Friday afternoon, it’s Rell with 710,048, Lamont at 709,784.
“I think he should at least equal mine,” Rell said. “I wish him well.”
The former governor — the last Republican elected to statewide office — wondered whether votes could still come in.
It’s possible but the window is narrowing. Late Thursday, the secretary of the state’s office posted a few thousand more votes. That should be a wrap, but the tally doesn’t become official until later in November. Can it happen? Two words: Bridge. Port.
Lamont still has hope for the record.
Rell, the popular pol from Brookfield, took office in 2004 after her predecessor, former Gov. John G. Rowland, ran into a federal indictment problem and had to move out of the governor’s mansion. Rell won her race for a full term in 2006 over New Haven Mayor John DeStefano by a 63.2 percent margin — edging out Rowland ‘98 for the modern margin record.
The all-time record for any Connecticut office is probably Sen. Richard Blumenthal, running in 2016, a hot presidential year. He garnered 1,008,714 ballot marks with a tally of 63.2 percent — same as Rell’s percentage record.
Lamont isn’t close to that mark, with 53.9 percent. But of course, he’s close to the vote record because the state is gaining population and the share of eligible adults who vote is generally rising — although turnout in Tuesday’s election fell far short of Lamont’s turnout in 2018.
In New Haven alone, Lamont collected 11,000 fewer votes this year than he did in 2018, as turnout in cities cratered.
Is there a box of ballots in a hallway someplace? It doesn’t work that way. So it looks like Rell’s record is safe.