Connecticut midterm election candidates and poll hours

CONNECTICUT - Connecticut has several major races but the incumbents were favored to win most of the races.

Republicans, who have had success in local races in Connecticut, hope to make inroads in state and national races this year by focusing on affordability issues in Connecticut, which has some of the highest energy prices in the nation and a relatively high tax burden compared to other states.

Democrats like two-term U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal have been capitalizing on voter opposition to Donald Trump in races, often referring to their opponents as radical or out-of-touch with Connecticut.

Blumenthal is being challenged by Republican National Committee member Leora Levy, a GOP fundraiser who received Trump’s backing days before she won the party primary. Levy also opposes abortion — with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother — another stance that puts her at odds with most Connecticut voters.

Gov. Ned Lamont is seeking a second term in a rematch against Republican businessman Bob Stefanowski.

CONNECTICUT CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

Connecticut has five Congressional Districts.  They are all held by Democrats and they are all considered relatively safe.

Current Connecticut Congressional representatives:

1st district: John B. Larson (D)
2nd district: Joe Courtney (D)
3rd district: Rosa DeLauro (D)
4th district: Jim Himes (D)
5th district: Jahana Hayes (D)

Democrats currently control both the state House and Senate. Given a large number of retirements from the General Assembly this year, Republicans are seeking to pare back those majorities.

Voters are also deciding whether to change the state’s constitution to give state legislators the go-ahead to consider creating an early in-person voting system in Connecticut that could potentially be in place as early as 2024. Connecticut is one of six states with no form of early voting.

WHEN DO POLLS CLOSE IN CONNECTICUT?

Polls close at 8 p.m. across Connecticut.

HOW CONNECTICUT VOTES

The majority of Connecticut votes on Election Day. The state does not allow early voting. In 2020, the state was still counting votes two days after the polls closed. Key areas are Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford and Hartford, the larger cities where most of the population is. Democratic candidates for statewide and federal offices have typically dominated throughout the state.

Connecticut has a mandatory recount law for races in which the lead is tighter than half of 1% of the total vote but not more than 1,000 votes.

As of Oct. 25, unaffiliated voters made up the state’s largest voting bloc, with 921,367 voters. They’re followed by Democrats, with 811,358, and Republicans with 461,782, for a total of 2.2 million registered voters.

With the Associated Press.