An early look at statewide primaries
Four competitive primaries for statewide offices have taken shape in the aftermath of this month's Republican and Democratic conventions, where many of the marquee matchups featured little intra-party opposition.
At the top of some voters' tickets on Aug. 9 will be the Republican race to take on U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal in this fall's general election.
Further down the ballot, both parties will have competitive primaries for the open secretary of the state's office, while multiple Democrats will compete to run in the state treasurer's race. For other races such as those for governor, attorney general and Congress, the November matchups are already penciled in barring any late qualifiers who force a primary election by gathering signatures directly from voters.
The weeks surrounding both conventions this year saw little drama, a contrast to 2018 when multiple candidates on both the Democratic and Republican sides skipped the conventions entirely and instead gathered thousands of signatures in order to force two competitive primaries in the race for governor.
Republican Bob Stefanowski was one of those candidates who successfully petitioned his way on to the ballot, and went on to win the primary before falling to Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont in the general election. Both Lamont and Stefanowski earned their party's endorsements at the convention this year without any opposition.
The only candidate to drop out of a primary race so far after qualifying at a convention is Democratic state Sen. Matt Lesser of Middletown, who chose to run for reelection to his Senate seat after coming in second for his party's endorsement in a competitive race for secretary of the state.
Brock Weber, a Republican candidate for secretary of the state, said Monday that he is undecided about whether to remain in the race after qualifying for the primary along with state Rep. Terrie Wood of Darien and Dominic Rapini, who earned the party's endorsement.
“I'm not jumping into a primary campaign without taking into account every aspect of that decision,” Weber said.
Every other candidate who qualified for a statewide primary at their party's conventions has submitted the necessary paperwork to continue to run, according to Gabe Rosenberg, a spokesman for sitting Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.
Weber has until Friday to do so, Rosenberg said. After that point, candidates may drop out of the primary by informing Merrill's office in writing — though how soon they do so may determine whether or not their names appear on the ballot.
U.S. Senate
Three Republicans qualified for the U.S. Senate primary during the party's state convention at Foxwoods Resort Casino earlier this month. After securing her party's endorsement with support from 57 percent of the convention's delegates, former state Rep. Themis Klarides of Madison railed against Blumenthal and the Democratic Party's “failed, radical left-wing agenda.”
Klarides, however, will have to face off against two candidates seen as inhabiting the party's right flank in the primary: immigration adviser Peter Lumaj and Republican National Committee member Leora Levy.
Lumaj and Levy each had support from around onefifth of the delegates, enough to make it onto the ballot. Two other candidates, Robert Hyde and John Flynn, secured less than 1 percent of the votes and failed to qualify for the primary.
Ben Proto, the chairman of the Republican Party of Connecticut, said Monday that Hyde is preparing to gather signatures to petition his way onto the ballot.
Blumenthal, a two-term incumbent, did not face any opposition from within his party at the Democratic State Convention in Hartford, where he received his party's endorsement by acclaim during a largely ceremonial opening night that focused on his reelection.
Secretary of the State
On the Democratic side, state Rep. Stephanie Thomas of Norwalk secured the party's endorsement for secretary of the state in the third round of voting at this month's convention. Lesser's decision to drop out leaves state Rep. Hilda Santiago of Meriden and New Haven City Health Director Maritza Bond as the two other Democrats on the primary ballot.
Weber's looming decision over whether or not to run will determine whether Republicans have a two- or three-way race for the nomination. Rapini, an Apple salesman from Branford, won the endorsement with just over 50 percent of the delegate votes over Wood and Weber.
State Treasurer
Erick Russell, a former vice chairman of the state Democratic Party from New Haven, led the first round of voting at the convention with support from 47 percent of delegates, while rivals Dita Bhargava and Karen DuBois-Walton each earned enough delegate votes to qualify for the Democratic primary.
Both Bhargava, a Greenwich investment manager, and Dubois Walton, the head of the New Haven Housing Authority, agreed to bow out of the endorsement battle at the convention, while promising to compete in the three-way primary.