While Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz were disappointed with the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential election, they wanted to reassure residents the values of the state are still the same – to stand up for reproductive rights, health care access and gun safety.
“I’m really proud of Connecticut for standing up (to the chaos) the past 120 days of the presidential campaign,” Lamont said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. “We had a very peaceful election. We even picked up a few seats in the legislature. I don’t think there are many statehouses that can say that.”
The governor emphasized that while he is governor the state of Connecticut will protect children of all kinds, including immigrants. He told a story about his interaction with children on Halloween, where he and First Lady Annie Lamont dressed up as Ghostbusters, where he shared the fears of children of color and transgender.
“A lot of kids came up to me on Halloween,” he said. “They are paying attention to the election. Some kids of color were worried about loose talk about deportation (which Trump has promised on Day 1). Then there was a trans kid … They (the Republicans) spent hundreds of millions of dollars mocking kids like over the last three or four months.”
During the press conference, Lamont, a Democrat, said he wished President-elect Donald Trump, a Republican, congratulations. “As a governor, it’s important that I work with the White House,” Lamont said. “And I have worked with President Trump in the past.”
Bysiewicz reassured the Connecticut people that “our values are still the same.”
“We will continue to stand up for reproductive rights and health care access,” she said. “We will stand up for LGBTQ rights. We will stand up strongly for labor rights. We will continue to lead on gun safety and civil rights.”
As for the outcome of the presidential, U.S. Senate and House elections, Lamont had one comment. “I hope it’s a wake-up call for the Democrats,” he said.
Summary of election
In addition to Trump’s victory over Harris, the U.S. Senate flipped to the Republicans, who have 52 seats as of 5 p.m. EST Wednesday and the House was too close to call. In the state, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat, was reelected and all five Democrat members of the House were reelected.
As for the state legislature, Democrats seemed to add to their majority in the General Assembly and may have lost a seat or two in the Senate. But they are believed to have held on to both majorities.
Senate winners from Fairfield County
District 21: Kevin Kelly (R) unopposed
District 22: Chris Carrena (R) 53, Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox (D) 45
District 24: Julie Kushner (D) 51, Michele Coelho (R) 45
District 25: Bob Duff (D), 60, Martin Tagliaferro (R) 40
District 26: Ceci Maher (D) 62, Kami Evans (R) 37
District 27: Pat Billie Miller (D) 64, Nicole Tarzia (R) 36
District 28: Tony Hwang (R) 52, Rob Blanchard (D) 46
District 30: Stephen Harding (R) 51, Justin Potter (D) 47
District 32: Eric Berthel (R) 57, Jeff Desmarais (D) 43
District 36: Ryan Fazio (R) 52, Nick Simmons (D) 47
General Assembly winners from Fairfield County
District 2: Raghib Allie-Brennan (D) 56, Bradley Koltz (R) 42
District 42: Savet Constantine (D) 51, Kim Healey (R) 46
District 106: Mitch Bolinsky (R) 52, Michelle Embree Ku (D) 46
District 107: Martin Foncello (R) 53, Aaron Zimmer (D) 45
District 108: Patrick Callahan (R) 58, Anne Wesberg (D) 42
District 109: Farley Santos (D) 56, Brenda Santopolo-Hefferon 44
District 110: Bob Godfrey (D) 60, Austin Monteiro (R) 40
District 111: Aimee Berger-Girvalo (D) 60, Colette Kabasakalian (R) 40
District 112: Tony Scott (R) 57, Beth Cliff (D) 43
District 113: Jason Perillo (R) unopposed
District 120: Kaitlyn Shake (D) 54, Laura Dancho (R) 46
District 121: Joseph Gresko (D) 67, Rafael Irizarry (R) 33
District 122: Ben McGorty (R) 58, Dorothy “Dottie” Lerner (D) 42
District 123: David Rutigliano (R) 58, Thomas Tesoro (D)
District 125: Tom O’Dea (R) 56, Jason Bennett (D) 44
District 127: Marcus Brown (D) unopposed
District 132: Jennifer Leeper (D) 58, Alexis Harrison (R) 42
District 133: Cristin McCarthy-Vahey (D) 65, Chris Verras (R) 35
District 134: Sarah Kiett (D) 50, Melissa Longo (R) 50
District 135: Anne Hughes (D) 61, Christopher Peritore (R) 39
District 136: Jonathan Steinberg (D) 68, John Bolton (R) 32
District 138: Kenneth Gucker (D) 51, Rachel Chaleski (R) 49
District 142: Lucy Dathan (D) unopposed
District 143: Dominique Johnson (D) 67, Peter Bang (R) 33
District 144: Hubert Delany (D) 65, Layne Rodney (R) 35
District 145: Corey Paris (D) 73, Fritz Blau (R) 24
District 146: Eilish Collins Main (D) 64, Jim Malerba (R) 36
District 147: Matt Blumenthal (D) 61, Rudy Settimi (R) 39
District 148: Jonathan Jacobson (D) 65, Olga Anastos (R) 35
District 149: Tina Courpas (R) 52, Rachel Khanna (D) 48
District 150: Steve Meskers (D) 56, Paul Cappiali (R) 44
District 151: Hector Arzeno (D) 52, Tod Laudonia (R) 48
The following districts had not fully reported as of Wednesday, Nov. 6 afternoon: state Senate 23, General Assembly 124, 126, 128, 129, 130, 137, 140, 141.
