National governor races

Connecticut’s gubernatorial race was too close to call early Wednesday, with Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski locked in a bitter duel to replace a deeply unpopular incumbent.

With 74 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, Stefanowski had a less than three-point lead over Lamont, 48.8 percent to 46.6 percent.

But half the precincts in Bridgeport and New Haven — both Democratic strongholds — had not reported results.

And Secretary of State Denise Merrill told supporters at a Democratic reception in Hartford that thousands of ballots may have to be hand-counted, the Connecticut Post reported.

“We are in the back room still counting numbers because so many people voted,” Merrill said.

“A lot of cities are still counting. We have, believe it or not, wet ballots. We are telling them get out your hair dryer. Dry them out.

“But in some cases thousands of ballots may have to be hand-counted.”

Things also got more complicated when Republicans sought a court injunction to disqualify votes of many college students who registered Tuesday in New Haven, home to Yale and four other colleges, and Mansfield, home to one of UConn’s campuses.

The candidates were battling to replace two-term Gov. Dannel Malloy, who decided not to run for reelection after leaving the state billions in debt despite the two largest tax hikes in Connecticut history.