About 23% of registered Connecticut Democrats voted Tuesday, with turnout varying widely across towns and competitive races.
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About 23% of Connecticut’s registered Democrats voted in Tuesday’s election, according to early unofficial results from the Secretary of the State.
The big Democratic races saw former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin upset 14-term incumbent U.S. Rep. John Larson in the 1st Congressional District and Gov. Ned Lamont beat challenger Josh Elliott.
Results for some towns were still pending Wednesday afternoon.
Turnout this year was lower than for the last gubernatorial primary, when Lamont faced a challenge from Bridgeport’s Joe Ganim in 2018. For that primary, 29% of eligible Democrats came to the polls.
But in some towns, Democrats showed up. Turnout was above 41% in Bethlehem, Hartland and West Hartford, a town with traditionally high engagement that delivered 6,150 votes for Lamont, 5% of his total, and 4,369 or 14% of Bronin’s.
The state house primary in Enfield was postponed until Sept. 1 due to a court ruling last Thursday that placed challenger Tom Tyler on the ballot.
Lamont picked up his largest number of votes in West Hartford, Hartford and Stamford, winning a majority against Elliott in all towns but three: Scotland, Chaplin and Woodstock.
Republican turnout was lower, with only 10% of registered Republicans in towns with a primary turning up to the polls, according to the Secretary of the State.
Turnout was higher for Republican primaries in the 5th Congressional District and in General Assembly races than in the 4th District race, which covers Fairfield county.
The 5th District saw more than double the amount of votes cast in its Congressional primary than in the 4th, and the gap in support between candidates was much more decisive.
Most towns saw a decrease in Democratic turnout compared to 2018, but towns with competitive Congressional or state Democratic primaries were more likely to see an increase.
The State Elections Enforcement Commission reported it received 79 calls to its hotline on Tuesday, according to Senior Counsel Joshua Foley.
Hamden, Southington and Norwich reported issues with tabulators, but registrars handled it “properly,” Foley said. There had been no reports of voter fraud.
CT Mirror reporters Sasha Allen and Mark Pazniokas contributed to this report.
