It was not until over twelve hours after the polls closed that voters in Connecticut found out who their next Governor would be. After hours of waiting due to issues with voter registration in New Haven and wet ballots across the state, Ned Lamont won the election to be Connecticut’s Governor. With 95% of the vote in Lamont beat Bob Stefanowski 48.6% to 46.9%. Lamont was likely elevated by the extremely high turnout. 65.6% of eligible voters voted. Turnout was up almost 10% from the 2014 Gubernatorial race.
Bob Stefanowski called Ned Lamont to concede Tuesday morning and then publicly conceded on “Chaz and AJ” on WPLR. Stefanowski thanked his supporters and congratulated Ned Lamont on a fair and square and well-fought race. Stefanowski also offered to help Lamont in any way to get the state back on track. Ned Lamont first appeared publicly as the Governor-Elect at noon at Dunkin Donuts Park. In a brief speech, Lamont thanked his supporters, campaign staff, and Bob Stefanowski for a well-run campaign. Lamont said he would take Tuesday to reflect and relax but would be up early on Wednesday to begin the transition.
The Democrats managed to keep control of all of the state’s constitutional offices. William Tong was elected Attorney General, Shawn Wooden was elected State Treasurer, Denise Merrill was re-elected as Secretary of State, and Kevin Lembo was re-elected as Comptroller. In what seemed to be a good opportunity for Republicans to take the Governor’s mansion and the State Legislature, the Democrats maintained control of both branches. The Democrats broke the 18-18 tie in the Senate and now control 24 of the 36 seats. In the House, the Democrats picked up 12 seats and now control 92 of the 151 seats.
Lamont will take office on January 9th and is expected to begin the transition soon. Governor Malloy congratulated his former 2010 opponent and said he plans to meet with the Governor-Elect later this week.
Raving Ryan 