Vice President Kamala Harris handily won Connecticut on Tuesday, but the state's seven electoral votes were not enough to defeat former President Donald Trump.
In Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District, incumbent Rep. Jahana Hayes, a Democrat, defeated GOP challenger George Logan in a rematch. It was considered the closest congressional race in Connecticut.
There are also various down-ticket races for state legislative seats, as well as a ballot question on whether or not to change the state constitution to allow no-excuse absentee voting by mail. Polls closed at 8 p.m.
Stay here for live national and state election results.
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Kamala Harris wins Connecticut, loses national race
Vice President Kamala Harris won Connecticut on Tuesday, extending the state's long trend of supporting Democratic presidential candidates and adding seven electoral votes to her tally.
But the victory was not enough to defeat Donald Trump nationally, with the former president scoring a decisive victory in a deeply divided nation. The Republican president-elect exposed a fundamental weakness within the Democratic base and beat back concerns about his moral failings, becoming the first U.S. president with a felony conviction.
This year marked the ninth consecutive presidential election in which Connecticut voters favored the Democratic candidate. The last Republican presidential candidate to win the state was George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Meanwhile, Democratic candidates swept Connecticut's races for Congress, including victories for incumbent U.S. Reps. Jahana Hayes, Rosa DeLauro, John Larson, Jim Himes, Joe Courtney and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy.
Former President Donald Trump has now lost Connecticut three times, first to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then to Joe Biden and now to Harris. The Associated Press declared Harris the winner at 8 p.m.
—The Associated Press
Democrat Chris Murphy wins reelection to U.S. Senate
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy won a third term representing Connecticut in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. Murphy defeated Republican small business owner Matt Corey in a repeat of their matchup in the 2018 election.
Murphy thanked supporters alongside fellow Democrats Gov. Ned Lamont and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal at Dunkin’ Park in Hartford.
“My mother grew up in public housing in New Britain, Connecticut, and she thinks it's such a miracle that her son, one generation removed from poverty, gets to be a United States senator, and so I'm here to say thank you,” Murphy said.
Murphy said he is ready to continue representing all of Connecticut, "not just the people that voted for me. Anybody that chose to cast a vote today for Matt Corey, I’m your senator. I want to hear from you," he said.
In his victory speech, Murphy highlighted his work to pass the Safer Communities Act, which helps prevent gun violence.
Connecticut hasn't elected a Republican to the Senate since Lowell Weicker won in 1982. The Associated Press declared Murphy the winner as the polls closed at 8 p.m.
—Abigail Brone
Jahana Hayes wins 5th District race early Wednesday morning
U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, the first Black woman to represent Connecticut in Congress, defeated Republican George Logan in a rematch. The Associated Press declared Hayes the winner at 2 a.m. Wednesday.
Over 120 supporters from the 5th Congressional District showed up to incumbent Hayes’ election night watch party in her hometown of Waterbury Tuesday night.
The room buzzed with tempered excitement as the votes for the race between Hayes and Logan rolled in slowly after polls closed. The group roared when Hayes joined shortly before midnight to thank them.
"For continuing to trust me with your vote, which fundamentally is just your most precious right. And you are trusting me to be your voice for that vote," Hayes said.
Logan and Hayes also squared off in 2022, but Hayes kept her seat by a narrow 2,000 votes.
Most of western Connecticut falls in the 5th District, which Hayes, the former national teacher of the year, has represented since 2018.
—Michayla Savitt
CT voters approve constitution change to allow no-excuse absentee voting
Connecticut voters approved an amendment to the state’s constitution that could make it easier to cast ballots by mail or through drop boxes in future elections.
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The amendment lifts long-standing restrictions that only allowed people in the state to vote by absentee ballot if they were going to be out of town, are sick or disabled, or couldn’t get to a polling location because of religious restrictions.
While voters approved the question, the constitution change still needs to go through the state legislature. The question appeared as a public referendum because Connecticut’s election laws are embedded in its constitution, which means changing how elections are conducted includes a years-long process involving lawmaker and voter approvals.
—Michayla Savitt
Courtney wins reelection to U.S. House in CT's 2nd Congressional District
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, a Democrat who has represented the district since 2007, declared victory late Tuesday night over Republican challenger Mike France, a former U.S. navy officer and Connecticut state representative who waged an unsuccessful campaign against Courtney in 2022.
The Assocaited Press called the race for Courtney at 11:55 p.m.
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In a statement Courtney said France "graciously" congratulated him "on a hard fought victory." Courtney said he thanked France for his service to the nation and that he looked forward to heading back to Congress to continue working for eastern Connecticut.
—Patrick Skahill
Greenwich GOP state senator re-elected in close race
In Greenwich, Republican Ryan Fazio has been re-elected to the state senate.
He defeated Democratic challenger Nick Simmons, who had attacked Fazio during the campaign for his stances on reproductive rights and gun laws.
Fazio on Tuesday night thanked his supporters for their support.
“I feel very thankful to my district — Greenwich, Stamford and New Canaan —- for all of their support and for the honor of representing them,” Fazio said. “It’s the greatest honor of my lifetime. This is my home district and they are very special people so that’s what’s foremost in my mind."
Elsewhere in Fairfield County, Republican State Sen. Tony Hwang had a lead over his Democratic opponent, Rob Blanchard, as of Wednesday afternoon.
— Eddy Martinez
Killingly Republicans express doubt over election security at watch party
Some Republicans gathered in the Danielson borough of Killingly expressed doubt Tuesday night about the legitimacy of national election results if the presidential race is called for Kamala Harris.
"I've lost a lot of faith in our democracy and if Kamala Harris wins, I guess we'll just have to accept it, but I won't believe it was completely true," Heather Shedd said.
Attendee LeeAnn Ducat also expressed doubts about the legitimacy of a Harris win.
"Frankly, I lost faith in the integrity of our elections and do believe we should go back to paper ballots forever," Ducat said.
In the run-up to this election, former president Donald Trump once again claimed without evidence that if he loses, it would be because Democrats cheated. Trump was unable to prove similar claims in court after the 2020 presidential election, which he lost.
—Matt Dwyer
Republicans in West Hartford await election results
Republicans gathered in West Hartford monitoring election results, hoping Donald Trump and Connecticut 5th Congressional District candidate, George Logan, claim victory.
Shawn Daly is chairman of the West Hartford Republican Town Committee.
“A lot of families have been hurting the last four years and they need to see change in government. Specific policies tied to our federal offices have made it more difficult," Daly said.
Daly also thinks people should be allowed to vote on certain days, as long as the process is fair and without fraud.
—Greg Little
Election Day operations relatively smooth, CT official says
Connecticut’s top election official said late Tuesday morning that Election Day operations were going mostly without incident across the state.
“It's just a product of so many people working so hard to make sure this year went smoothly,” said Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas at an 11 a.m. press briefing at the state Capitol. “We have certainly been on high alert making sure that some of the things we've heard about in other states aren't happening here, and everyone has been prepared, and I think it's going smoothly because of that preparation.”
Thomas said there had been some reports of tabulators failing, but poll workers had successfully set up backup machines and votes were not impacted.
The secretary said she had not heard any reports of security issues at polling locations around the state.
Prior to Election Day, Thomas said more than 740,000 Connecticut residents had voted early and an additional 120,000 had cast absentee ballots, representing a combined 37% of eligible state voters.
—Chris Polansky
In New London, a desire for a change at the top
In New London, Karen Terry said reproductive rights was one of the reasons she voted Tuesday. The economy is also top of mind. Terry said some New London residents can’t afford to live there.
“You have to go out and vote because our votes do make a difference, especially being of color, so being a single parent, divorce,” Terry said. “I think voting matters.”
This was Camelia Garcia's first time voting in a presidential election. She hopes younger people turn out to cast their ballots.
“I'm about to turn 20 years old, which is so sick,” she said. “And why I'm voting is because I want to see my generation progress and I just want to see change. And I think change is very important and I think that we shouldn't go back.”
—Terell Wright
Stonington early voting mishap 'unfortunate,' elections official says
Connecticut Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas says the recent early voting mishap in the town of North Stonington was “unfortunate.”
“Whenever humans are involved, human error is possible,” Thomas told reporters at an 11 a.m. press conference at the state Capitol in Hartford.
According to town officials, for the first 10 days of early voting, poll workers had wrongly instructed voters not to sign the backs of their ballot envelopes as required by law. The town announced on Saturday that those who had not signed their envelopes should return to the town education center to correct the mistake over the weekend or on Election Day.
“Of those some odd 1,100 voters impacted, I know as of Sunday night about 900 of them were accounted for — either they had already come back or they had scheduled that they would be back today,” Thomas said Tuesday.
Thomas confirmed that those voters who were unable to return would not have their votes counted.
—Chris Polansky
Minor voting issues fixed in South Windsor and Ansonia
Voters encountered some equipment issues at polling spots in parts of Connecticut on Election Day.
In South Windsor, Democratic Registrar Sue Larsen said she received a report around 8:30 a.m. that a tabulator at one polling location was rejecting paper ballots after they were put into the machine. Officials brought in a second tabulator to fix the issue shortly after.
“We got it working and everything’s fine now,” Larsen said.
South Windsor is among a small group of cities and towns in Connecticut using new voting machines during today’s election as part of a pilot project to upgrade voting equipment.
A separate voting issue was reported in Ansonia, where older machines are still in use. Republican Registrar David Papcin said he received a report at 6:30 a.m. that a voter noticed their vote hadn’t been counted after putting their ballot through the machine.
Officials brought in a second machine and encountered the same issue, Papcin said. A third machine brought in by 6:50 a.m. worked smoothly, Papcin said.
“Everything has gone smooth since and the ballots have been rectified,” he said.
—Maysoon Khan
As polls open, voters express concerns with economy
Several voters Tuesday morning said it was the economy that was motivating them to get out to the polls and cast their ballot.
In Glastonbury, Andrew Draghi said high prices were motivating his vote.
"Every time you go to the grocery — or wherever you go, or whether it's car insurance — prices are up," Draghi said.
Kennard Ray, an entrepreneur who voted at the Hartford Public Library, said reproductive and racial rights were both slipping away.
"Across the gamut we’ve lost rights," Ray said. "Elections are about policy as much as they are about the people who live through them and by them."
In East Hartford, Tikia Brownel, 27, a fine arts instructor at a school in Newington, said she currently lives with her parents and hopes this election will bring down prices.
"Donald Trump, he has had experience in the office and during his term, obviously, prices were a lot lower — so I would like to see those go down, no matter what candidate wins," Brownel said.
"Being a woman of color, I don't want to just pick someone just because of the color of their skin," Brownel said. "Because skin color is not something that should really matter when picking a candidate — how I am going to live is important."
—Sujata Srinivasan
New voting machines
Voters in nine Connecticut towns used brand new voting tabulators on Tuesday as part of the state’s efforts to upgrade its aging election equipment.
Funds from a $25 million bond helped officials purchase nearly 2,700 paper-based tabulators from vendor Election Systems & Software (ES&S). The new machines are the state's first equipment upgrade in nearly 20 years, according to the secretary of the state’s office.
“I am confident. I don’t think we're gonna have a problem,” said Tom Pugliese, the Republican registrar in Rocky Hill, ahead of Election Day. “We went from having eight machines to having 14 machines and all 14 machines worked flawlessly in the test anyway.”
Rocky Hill is one of nine towns that received new tabulators.
In Southington, which also got the new tabulators, Republican Registrar August Palmer said ES&S officials would be on-site on Election Day for unforeseen mishaps or troubleshooting.
Officials hope to upgrade tabulators in the rest of the state by the summer of 2025.
—Maysoon Khan
Turnout could be higher this year than in 2020, CT Secretary of the State says
Nearly three quarters of a million people in the state had already cast their ballots before Election Day, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas told Connecticut Public's "Where We Live" Tuesday morning.
"To match turnout that we had in 2020 we still need over a million people to vote," Thomas said. "We're not done by any means, so I think we'll see slightly higher than that, but maybe not much."
Election officials across Connecticut are required to submit unofficial vote tallies by midnight tonight. The official tally is due by Friday.
—Jim Haddadin
CT governor touts ballot security as fire suppression devices sent to town clerks
Connecticut elections officials say election security is their top priority — and they’re taking extra precautions. That means extra security and police presence in towns across the state. Fire suppression devices have been sent to town clerks to place inside absentee ballot drop boxes.
Speaking in Torrington on Sunday, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said he’s confident the election process is secure.
“I look around the country, I think [former President] Donald Trump’s definition of a free and fair election is one that he wins. So it could be a contest after Election Day,” Lamont said. “But I’m feeling pretty good about Connecticut. People know we have integrity in our elections. We’ll get it right.”
The Secretary of the State’s office says it has been meeting regularly with federal, state and local agencies to collaborate and strategize. Election officials also launched a social media campaign to help voters pinpoint misinformation and disinformation.
—Lisa Hagen
Attorneys general issue statement condemning election violence
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is calling for people to remain peaceful in response to the election. Tong is part of a bipartisan coalition of state officials condemning political violence.
Tong and attorneys general from 47 other states issued a statement on Monday reaffirming their commitment to safeguard democratic principles.
In addition to Tong, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach are helping to lead the coalition.
“A peaceful transfer of power is the highest testament to the rule of law, a tradition that stands at the heart of our nation’s stability,” they said in a statement.
Officials warned they will enforce the law against any illegal acts that threaten it.
National polls show widespread concerns among Americans about potential unrest following the election.
—Maysoon Khan
Early voting turnout surpasses 740K ballots cast
Connecticut’s early voting days for the general election have wrapped up. Numbers show that hundreds of thousands of eligible voters took advantage of the new voting method.
Across Connecticut, 741,895 voters submitted a ballot early and in-person at polls, according to the Secretary of the State’s office. The 14-day early voting period began on Oct. 21, and wrapped up Sunday.
Although the method was new to Connecticut for a general election, numbers show eligible voters flocked to the polls throughout the entire two weeks of early voting. A week into early voting over 300,000 voters cast ballots.
—Michayla Savitt
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
