Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Primary preview: Connecticut state executive elections, 2014
August 11, 2014
| August 11, 2014 Election Preview |
|---|
 |
HARTFORD, Connecticut: Six state executive positions are up for election in 2014 in the state of Connecticut: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer and state comptroller. All six seats are currently held by Democrats.
Of the six state executive incumbents facing re-election this cycle, every one is running for another term and will go unchallenged in the primary. They are: Gov. Dan Malloy, Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, Secretary of State Denise Merrill, Attorney General George Jepsen, Treasurer Denise Nappier and Comptroller Kevin Lembo.[1][2][3][4][5]
On August 12, Republican voters will nominate candidates in three contested primary races to send to the general election. Winners will join the unopposed major party candidates and third party candidates on the November 4 ballot.[6]
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate whom they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Connecticut utilizes a closed primary system, in which only registered party members may vote in a party's primary. However, Connecticut state law allows parties to decide whether unaffiliated voters can vote in their primary before each election.[7][8][9]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
Below, Ballotpedia has put together a preview of those upcoming elections.
Connecticut Governor
- See also: Connecticut Gubernatorial election, 2014
General election
Running mates listed together in order of "Governor/Lieutenant Governor"
Dan Malloy/Nancy Wyman (Democrat, Working Families) - Incumbent
Tom Foley/Heather Somers (Republican, Independent)[11]
(Unaffiliated) Joseph Visconti/Chester Harris[12]
Lost in the Republican primary
Race background
Close race ratings in Connecticut
On March 28, 2014, Democratic incumbent Gov. Dan Malloy formally announced his bid for re-election to a second term. He again teamed up with 2010 running mate and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman for the 2014 race.[1] As the campaign season progressed, the Daily Kos labeled the race a toss-up. The rating was assigned in consideration of a series of polls showing Malloy behind or rivaling Republican nominee Tom Foley in potential general election match-ups.[15][16] The Cook Political Report, meanwhile, consistently rated Connecticut as "Lean D," meaning the race was competitive, but the Democrats had an advantage.[17]
Rematch of 2010 campaign
Malloy won the governorship in November 2010 following a general election campaign against Republican Tom Foley, a businessman and former U.S. ambassador to Ireland under former President George W. Bush. The contest ended over a week after the general election took place. There were several reversed calls on the outcome of the race before Malloy was announced as the winner.[18] At the May 2014 state Republican convention, delegates endorsed Foley for the second gubernatorial cycle in a row. Fellow GOP candidate and state Sen. John McKinney also garnered enough delegate support to remain eligible for the nomination, preventing Foley from running unopposed in the August 12 primary.[19]
Lieutenant gubernatorial primaries
Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman (D) was first elected in 2010 and sought re-election in 2014 alongside Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy. Wyman and Malloy were uncontested in their respective primaries on August 12 and ran together in the general election.
The outcome of the August 12 Republican primary for Connecticut lieutenant governor remained unknown until Wednesday afternoon after election day, when state Rep. Penny Bacchiochi conceded the race to Groton Town Council Member and former Mayor Heather Somers.[20][21][22] With 100 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial results provided by the Connecticut Secretary of State showed Somers defeating Bacchiochi by about 780 votes. Third-place finisher David Walker took 32 percent of the vote, about 1,000 votes behind Bacchiochi.[23]
Under Connecticut election law, an automatic recount is triggered if the margin separating the highest vote-getters falls within 0.5 percent of the total number of ballots cast; for Somers and Bacchiochi, that meant a difference of 1,000 votes. Bacchiochi did not want to order a recount, however, stating it would only waste time.[20] Delegates of the Connecticut Republican Party had voted to back Bacchiochi for lieutenant governor at their convention in May.[24]
Somers went on to share the ticket with GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Foley in the general election battle against Democratic incumbents Gov. Dan Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and the unaffiliated ticket of Joe Visconti and Chester Harris.[25]
Independent candidates
One independent candidate, Joe Visconti, appeared on the general election ballot along with Malloy and Foley. Former state Rep. and career political operative Jonathan Pelto also petitioned to run as an independent but failed to collect the minimum 7,500 signatures required to qualify for the race.[26] Pelto backed Malloy's 2010 gubernatorial campaign before breaking with the governor during his first term over his policies on education and taxes. Pelto's 2014 bid gained media attention in August when his candidate petition was signed by Ralph Nader. Nader's involvement in the Connecticut gubernatorial race raised concerns for Malloy and Democratic strategists, who accused Pelto of running in order to impact the election's outcome, not to win office.[27]
Polls
| Governor of Connecticut: All candidates | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Dan Malloy* (D) | Tom Foley (R) | Joe Visconti (I) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University October 28-November 2, 2014 | 43% | 42% | 8% | 7% | +/-3.2 | 926 | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University October 22-27, 2014 | 43% | 43% | 7% | 7% | +/-3.4 | 838 | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University October 14-20, 2014 | 43% | 42% | 9% | 7% | +/-3.1 | 1,010 | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University October 1-6, 2014 | 43% | 43% | 9% | 5% | +/-3 | 1,085 | |||||||||||||
| Public Policy Polling October 2-5, 2014 | 43% | 35% | 9% | 13% | +/-3.3 | 861 | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University September 3-8, 2014 | 40% | 46% | 7% | 6% | +/-2.7 | 1,304 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 42.5% | 41.83% | 8.17% | 7.5% | +/-3.12 | 1,004 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Governor of Connecticut: Malloy vs. Foley | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Dan Malloy* (D) | Tom Foley (R) | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS News/YouGov October 16-23, 2014 | 40% | 40% | 20% | +/-4 | 1,267 | ||||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Reports October 14-16, 2014 | 43% | 50% | 6% | +/-3 | 980 | ||||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS News/YouGov September 20-October 1, 2014 | 41% | 41% | 18% | +/-3 | 1,284 | ||||||||||||||
| Gravis Marketing August 4-7, 2014 | 38% | 46% | 16% | +/-5.0 | 440 | ||||||||||||||
| Vox Populi July 27-28, 2014 | 35% | 34% | 27% | +/-4.2 | 550 | ||||||||||||||
| CBS/NYT/YouGov July 5-24, 2014 | 42% | 49% | 5% | +/-5.0 | 1,149 | ||||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University May 1-6, 2014 | 43% | 43% | 10% | +/-2.4 | 1,668 | ||||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University February 26-March 2, 2014 | 42% | 42% | 11% | +/-2.3 | 1,878 | ||||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University June 12-17, 2013 | 40% | 43% | 14% | +/-2.9 | 1,154 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 40.44% | 43.11% | 14.11% | +/-3.53 | 1,152.22 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
- Note: An asterisk denotes incumbent status.
Connecticut Lieutenant Governor
General election
Nancy Wyman - Incumbent[28][29]
Heather Somers - Groton Mayor, marketing executive[30]
- Unaffiliated, Chester Harris[25]
Lost in the Republican primary
Penny Bacchiochi - State House Republican Caucus Chair[31]
Connecticut Secretary of State
General election
Denise Merrill - Incumbent
Peter Lumaj - Attorney, 2012 GOP U.S. Senate candidate[33]
Mike DeRosa
Connecticut Attorney General
General election
George Jepsen - Incumbent
Kie Westby[35]
Stephen Fournier
Connecticut Treasurer
General election
Denise L. Nappier - Incumbent
Tim Herbst - Attorney, Trumbull Town First Selectman[36]
Connecticut Comptroller
General election
Kevin Lembo - Incumbent
Sharon McLaughlin[37]
Rolf Maurer
Lost in primary
See also
- Connecticut elections, 2014
- Connecticut Gubernatorial election, 2014
- Connecticut Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014
- Connecticut attorney general election, 2014
- Connecticut secretary of state election, 2014
- Connecticut down ballot state executive elections, 2014
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Connecticut News Junkie, "Malloy Makes Re-election Bid Official," March 28, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "SEEC Form 1: Registration by Candidate: Denise Merril," December 18, 2013
- ↑ WNPR.org, "Connecticut Attorney General Jepsen Announces Re-election Bid," April 7, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "SEEC Form 1: Registration by Candidate: Denise Nappier," December 13, 2013
- ↑ Kevin Lembo for Comptroller 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed March 31, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "List of Candidates for August 12 Primary Election," accessed August 11, 2014
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Primary Election Types," accessed July 23, 2024
- ↑ Connecticut General Assembly, "Major Party Nominating Procedures in States With Conventions," accessed July 23, 2024
- ↑ Connecticut General Assembly, "Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9-431," accessed July 23, 2024
- ↑ General Statutes of Connecticut, "Title 9, Chapter 146, Section 9-174," accessed January 3, 2014
- ↑ NewsTimes, "Foley: Woman would have helped ticket," January 4, 2013
- ↑ Connecticut Mirror, Foley keeps GOP off balance with unexpected 'exploratory' announcement, September 10, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedctgov - ↑ CT Post, "McKinney announces run for governor," July 23, 2013
- ↑ The Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections gubernatorial race ratings (2013-14)," accessed August 11, 2014
- ↑ Only in Bridgeport, "Latest Polls Show Challenging Reelection For Malloy," July 28, 2014
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2014 Governors Race Ratings," June 26, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedhour - ↑ The Wilton Daily Voice, "Wilton Republicans Head To Polls Tuesday To Pick Gubernatorial Candidate," August 11, 2014
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Eyewitness News 3, "Bacchiochi concedes GOP race for lt. governor to Somers," August 13, 2014
- ↑ The Associated Press, "Connecticut - Summary Vote Results," August 13, 2014
- ↑ NBC Connecticut, "Race results: Connecticut Primary Election," August 13, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State, "Statement of Vote," accessed August 13, 2014
- ↑ Washington Times, "Lieutenant governor GOP primary too close to call," August 12, 2014
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Connecticut Secretary of State, "Candidate List, 2014 General Election," accessed October 13, 2014
- ↑ theday.com, "Petition process not easy, but works," September 7, 2014
- ↑ The Hartford Courant, "Nader Signed Pelto's Petition To Get On Ballot," August 6, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "Candidate Committee Registration Statement," April 7, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "Candidate Registration List for Election Year 2014," accessed April 28, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "Candidate Committee Registration Statement," January 27, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "Candidate Committee Registration Statement," April 1, 2014
- ↑ Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "Candidate Committee Registration Statement," April 9, 2014
- ↑ Peter Lumaj for Colorado Connecticut Secretary of State 2014 Official Campaign Website, "Homepage," accessed September 3, 2013
- ↑ WNPR.org, "Connecticut Attorney General Jepsen Announces Re-election Bid," April 7, 2014
- ↑ The Bulletin, Hackett on Politics: Do you know this year’s candidates? March 23, 2014
- ↑ Tim Herbst for Treasurer 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed May 8, 2014
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission, "Candidate Registration List for Election Year 2014," accessed May 23, 2014
| |||||
