Leora Levy scored an upset victory in Tuesday”™s primary election for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, breezing past the party”™s choice Themis Klarides after receiving a late endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Levy, a Greenwich resident and longtime Republican fundraiser, had a 10-point lead over Klarides, a former state legislator, with Fairfield attorney Peter Lumaj trailing in a distant third place. Levy will face Democratic incumbent Richard Blumenthal in the Senate race this November.
In the other statewide Republican primary, party-endorsed candidate Dominic Rapini outdistanced Terri Wood to gain the GOP candidacy in the Secretary of the State race. The Democrats also held a primary race for the Secretary of the State position, with Stephanie Thomas defeating Maritza Bond for the nod.
The only other statewide primary race involved the Democratic nomination for State Treasurer, with Erick Russell taking the victory against Dita Bhargava and Karen DuBois-Walton. Russell will face Republican Harry Arora in November.
Within Fairfield County, former Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson defeated Greenwich physician Michael T. Goldstein to gain the Republican nominations for the 4th U.S. Congressional District. Stevenson will face Democratic incumbent Jim Himes.
In the Democratic race for the 23rd District of the State Senate, incumbent Dennis Bradley was defeated by Herron Gaston in the Democratic primary race. Gaston will face Republican Mike Garrett.
Two Fairfield County-based Democratic primaries for State House races have yet to be called as of Wednesday morning due to the tightness in the races ”“ the 16th District race between Melissa Osborne and Eric Wellman and the 127th District race between Marcus Brown and Jack Hennessy.
Voter turnout in the primaries was low, with CTNewsJunkie.com reporting a roughly 20% turnout in the Republican primaries and around 15% and for the Democratic races.
