Connecticut

CONNECTICUT

7 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Secretary of State)

Total Population, July 1, 2008 est.	3,501,252
Registration, Oct. 28, 2008 (active)	2,099,021

Dem. 780,338 (37.18%) Rep. 427,110 (20.35%) Minor 7,550 (0.36%) Unaff. 884,023 (42.12%)
Connecticut has: 8 counties and 169 towns.
Largest counties: Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven. >
Largest cities: Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury.

Government
Governor: M. Jodi Rell (R) sworn in July 1, 2004, elected in 2006.
State Legislature: Connecticut General Assembly House: 151 seats Senate: 36 seats
Local: Towns and Cities or More NACO Counties
U.S. House: 4D, 1R - 1. J.Larson (D) | 2. J.Courtney (D) | 3. R.DeLauro (D) | 4. C.Shays (R) | 5. C.Murphy (D).
U.S. Senate: Joe Lieberman (I) re-elected in 2006, Chris Dodd (D) re-elected in 2004.

2008
update
U.S. House: After 21 years in Congress, Rep. Chris Shays (R), a perennial target in recent years, lost his 4th CD seat (Southern tip of CT...Stamford, Bridgeport) to Jim Himes (D), by 149,345 plus 9,130 votes to 146,854 votes and 3,447 for three others. The Connecticut U.S. House delegation is all-Democratic for the 111th Congress.
> Democrats pick up one U.S. House seat. MORE

The Constitution State

State of Connecticut
Secretary of State

Concern'd Citizens Pty (Const)
CT Dem. State Central Comm.
CT Green Party
CT Republican Party
Libertarian Party of CT
CT Working Families Party

Hartford Courant
Media (Newsp.)
TV, Radio

Politics1-CT

blogs
CT Local Politics

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting Eligible Population*: 2,451,296.
Total Registration: 2,099,021 (active).
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 67.2%.

"Between January 1, 2008 and the October 28, 2008 voter registration deadline more than 300,000 Connecticut new voters registered, including more than 130,000 young voters between the ages of 18 and 29."

Official Results >
McCain/Palin (Rep.)	628,873	(38.13)
+Obama/Biden (Dem.)	1,000,994	(60.69)
Nader/Gonzalez (IndPty)	19,113	(1.16)
Baldwin/Castle (w/in)	302
Calero/Kennedy (w/in)	36
McKinney/Clemente (w/in)	63
Moore/Alexander (w/in)	18	(all w/ins 0.03)
Total........1,649,399

2008 Overview
As expected, Obama/Biden handily won Connecticut amassing a plurality of 372,121 votes (22.56 percentage points). Note that Democrats strengthened their registration advantage between the Feb. 5 primary and the general election; the number of registered Democrats increased by 104,775 compared to 18,364 for the Republicans (Democratic advantage from 13.92 percentage points to 16.83 percentage points).
Obama/Allies | McCain/Allies | Nader

Presidential Primary Election -- Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Registration, Jan. 28, 2008 (active): Dem. 675,563 (35.25%) Rep. 408,746 (21.33%) Minor 5,863 (0.31%) Unaff. 826,209 (43.11%) Total 1,916,381

Democrats
60 Delegates (48 Pledged, 12 Unpledged) and 8 Alternates.
1.48% of the 4,049 Delegate Votes.

Clinton | Obama
former
Sen. Chris Dodd (D) ran for the White House in 2008 but ended his campaign after the Iowa Caucuses. >

Official Results

+Barack Obama
179,742

50.69%

Dennis Kucinich
846

0.24%

Mike Gravel
275

0.08%

Bill Richardson
436

0.12%

John Edwards
3,424

0.97%

Chris Dodd
912

0.26%

Joe Biden
440

0.12%

Hillary Clinton
165,426

46.66%

Uncommitted
3,038

0.86%

Total voting
354,539

Active Democratic Enrollment: 695,894
Checked as Having Voted: 355,561
Turnout: 51.1%.

Delegate Allocation: Obama 26, Clinton 22.

Republicans
30 Delegates: 3 RNC; 12 at-large; 15 by CD (3 x 5).
1.26% of the 2,380 Delegates.

Delegate allocation is statewide winner-take-all.

McCain | Romney
former
Giuliani

Official Results

Rudy Giuliani
2,470

1.63%

Fred Thompson
538

0.35%

Mitt Romney
49,891

32.91%

+John McCain
78,836

52.00%

Duncan Hunter
137

0.09%

Ron Paul
6,287

4.15%

Mike Huckabee
10,607

7.00%

Alan Keyes
376

0.25%

Uncommitted
2,462

1.62%

Total voting
151,604

Active Republican Enrollment: 412,592.
Number Checked as Having Voted: 151,605
Turnout: 36.7%.

Setting the Primary Date
Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz and representatives of both parties and several groups joined together for a press conference on March 27, 2007 to support moving the primary from March 4 to February 5. According to a press release, Bysiewicz stated, "In the absence of a rational primary process, we are seeing an ad-hoc national primary take shape.” "Connecticut didn’t start this tidal wave but I cannot stand by and allow our voters to become irrelevant. Ultimately, members of both political parties must come together and enact real reform,” she said. On June 1 the House passed SB-1184 by a vote of 118-29, on June 2 the Senate followed by a vote of 29-6, and on June 25 Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R) signed the measure into law.
See also Mark Pazniokas. "State May Hold Early 2008 Presidential Primary." The Hartford Courant. March 27, 2007.

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voting Eligible Population: 2,429,634.
Names on official checklist: 2,044,181.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 65.0%.

Absentee ballots received: 144,582 ...less 2,787 rejected
Absentee ballots counted: 141,698

Registration Deadline: Oct. 19, 2004.

Official Results

Bush/Cheney (Rep.)

693,826

(43.95)

+Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
857,488
(54.31)

Cobb/LaMarche (Grn.) 9,564 (0.61)

Peroutka/Baldwin (CC) 1,543
(0.10)

Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.)
3,367

(0.21)

Nader/Camejo (Petition)
12,969

(0.82)

Calero/Hawkins (w/in)
12

-

Total........1,578,769

Number checked as having voted: 1,607,808. 2004 Overview
Kerry-Edwards won with a plurality of 163,662 votes (10.36 percentage points). Kerry finished ahead in all counties except Litchfield and in 107 towns to 61 for Bush and 1 tied.
General Election Details

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population: 2,357,687.
Total Registration: 1,874,245.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 61.9%.

Official Results

Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
561,094

(38.44)

+Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
816,015

(55.91)

Phillips/Frazier (CC)
9,695

(0.66)

Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
64,452

(4.42)

Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
4,731

(0.32)

Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
3,484

(0.24)

Write-ins (6)
54

(0.00)

Total........1,459,525

2000 Overview
Sen. Lieberman won twice in his home state. The Gore-Lieberman ticket prevailed with a plurality of 254,921 votes (17.47 percentage points) over Bush-Cheney, and voters handily re-elected him to the U.S. Senate. Ralph Nader, who hails from Winsted, managed just a 4.42% showing. Republicans picked up a U.S. House seat as challenger Rob Simmons narrowly defeated ten-term incumbent Democrat Rep. Sam Gejdenson in the 2nd Congressional District (Groton-New London).
General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992

Clinton (Dem.)......682,318	(42.21)
Bush (Rep.)..........578,313	(35.78)
Perot (Ind.)...........348,771	(21.58)
Others (2+w/ins)......6,930	(0.43)
Total........1,616,332

1996

Clinton (Dem.).......735,740	(52.83)
Dole (Rep.)...........483,109	(34.69)
Perot (Ref.)...........139,523	(10.02)
Nader (Grn.)............24,321	(1.75)
Others (3+w/ins)........9,921	(0.71)
Total........1,392,614