Connecticut state legislative special elections, 2017

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In 2017, five special elections were held to fill vacant seats in the Connecticut Legislature. All five vacancies were filled.

The February 28 special elections had the potential to reshape the balance of political power in the Connecticut State Senate, though the electoral history of the seats up for election suggested that the chances of the chamber's partisan composition changing were slim. Connecticut Democrats entered into the November 2016 general election with a 21 to 15 majority in the Senate, but Republicans managed to flip three seats, bringing the chamber's partisan balance to an 18 to 18 split. The two Senate vacancies that triggered the February 28 special elections—one Democrat and one Republican—left the chamber with a 17 to 17 split. Democrat Eric Coleman vacated the District 2 seat. Republican Robert Kane vacated the District 32 seat. In elections between 2012 and 2016, District 2 leaned heavily Democratic, while District 32 leaned heavily Republican. The outcome of the special elections returned the chamber to an 18 to 18 split. Read more about the February 28 special elections below.

House special elections called:

Senate special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Connecticut


If there is a vacancy in the Connecticut General Assembly, a special election must be conducted to fill the vacant seat. The governor must call for an election no later than 10 days after the vacancy happens. All special elections must be held no later than 46 days after a governor's declaration. If the vacancy occurs between the 125th day and the 49th day before the day of the regular election, the special election will be held on the same day as the general election. If a vacancy occurs after the 49th day before the general election but before the Wednesday following the first Monday of January of the next-succeeding year, the governor shall not call a special election unless the vacant position is that of a member-elect.[1]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Connecticut Gen. Stat. § 9-215


About the legislature

The Connecticut State Legislature is known as the Connecticut General Assembly (or CGA). It is the state legislature of Connecticut and is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member lower Connecticut House of Representatives and the 36-member upper Connecticut State Senate. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2016 elections. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Connecticut State Senate
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 21 18[2]
     Republican Party 15 18
Total 36 36
Connecticut House of Representatives
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 86 79
     Republican Party 64 72
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 151 151

Connecticut special elections

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These symbols denote the status of each special election:

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February 28, 2017

April 25, 2017

Political context of the District 2 and District 32 Senate races on February 28, 2017

Partisan control of the Connecticut State Senate was at stake in the district 2 and 32 special elections on February 28, 2017, though the chances of these races altering the chamber's partisan composition were slim based on historical results in the districts. In three elections between 2012 and 2016, the District 2 seat—vacated by Eric Coleman (D)—leaned heavily Democratic. Coleman's margins-of-victory ranged from 58 percentage points to 71 percentage points. Hillary Clinton (D) won District 2 over Donald Trump (R) in the 2016 presidential election, 83 to 14 percent.[15] District 32, on the other hand, leaned heavily Republican in elections between 2012 and 2016. Robert Kane (R), who vacated the seat in January 2017, won three elections in this time period with margins-of-victory ranging from 27 percentage points to 35 percentage points. Donald Trump won District 32 over Clinton in 2016, 57 to 39 percent.[15]

Background

Connecticut Democrats headed into the November 2016 election with a 21 to 15 majority but left in an even 18 to 18 split with Republicans. Because the lieutenant governor in Connecticut has the power to cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate, Democrats were able to hold onto a functional majority. Democrat Nancy Wyman won re-election to a second four-year term as lieutenant governor in 2014. In December 2016, Democratic and Republican leadership announced a power-sharing agreement, in which Sen. Martin Looney (D) and Sen. Len Fasano (R) would share the authority that comes with the position of senate president pro tempore and each committee would have Democratic and Republican co-chairs as well as an equal number of Democrats and Republicans.[16]

In early January 2017, two resignations from the Senate—Eric Coleman, a Democrat, and Robert Kane, a Republican—dropped the chamber's partisan balance from 18-18 to 17-17. Sen. Coleman (D) resigned from District 2 on January 4, 2017, to pursue a judicial position in the state.[17][18] Judicial appointments in Connecticut are made by the governor with the help of an independent selection commission. Democrat Dan Malloy won election to a second four-year term as governor in 2014. A report from November 30, 2016, stated that Malloy was preparing to make appointments to the trial court, the Appellate Court and the Supreme Court in Connecticut.[19]

Also on January 4, 2017, Sen. Kane (R) resigned from his District 32 seat to pursue a position with the office of Auditors of Public Accounts, a legislative agency that is responsible for auditing all state agencies in Connecticut. Two legislative appointees oversee that office—one Republican and one Democrat. Senate leadership holds the responsibility for making appointments to the office of Auditors of Public Accounts but legislative approval is also required. The position offered a substantial salary increase for Kane. Starting pay for an auditor position is $150,000. As of July 2016, annual salaries for Connecticut state senators were set at $28,000. The Connecticut General Assembly approved the appointment of Kane to the Auditor's office on February 1, 2017. Kane's predecessor, Republican Robert Ward, retired in December 2016.[17][18][20]

A brief history of Connecticut politics

In elections between the mid-1990s and 2016, Connecticut generally leaned blue. Democrats took control of the State Senate in 1996 and won majorities in the State House in every election between 1992 and 2016. Republicans controlled the governor's mansion between 1995 and 2011, but Democrat Dan Malloy won the office in 2010. Malloy's victory made the state a Democratic trifecta, meaning Democrats controlled both chambers of the legislature and the governor's mansion. At the beginning of the 2017 state legislative sessions, Connecticut was one of six Democratic trifectas throughout the country. There were 25 Republican trifectas and 19 states under divided government. Connecticut voted Democratic in every presidential election between 1992 and 2016. Hillary Clinton (D) defeated Donald Trump (R) in Connecticut in 2016, 54.6 to 40.9 percent.

Partisan control of Connecticut State Senate
Party Before the vacancies Leading up to the election After the election*
Democratic Party Democratic Party 18 17 18
Republican Party Republican Party 18 17 18
Vacancy 0 2 0

*Note: The After the election column reflects the partisan balance of the chamber based on the special election's results. These numbers may not be current. For the most up-to-date numbers, see here and here.

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2017

Between 2011 and 2016, an average of 70 special elections took place each year. A total of 25 states use special elections to fill legislative vacancies. In two other states—Illinois and Indiana—special elections are used in limited circumstances. The rest of the states fill vacancies either through appointments made by the governor of the state or by a commission made up of officials from the former member's party. In 2017, 98 state legislative seats were filled through special elections.

Breakdown of 2017 special elections

In 2017, special elections for state legislative positions were held for a variety of reasons:

  • 46 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 1 due to an ineligible general election candidate
  • 15 due to the incumbent accepting another job
  • 22 due to a retirement
  • 15 due to a death

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. It is not typical to see significant net changes in overall state legislative party composition because of special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2016, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of three seats across the country, although actual races won and lost by each party varied more. For instance, in 2015, Democrats lost nine seats to Republicans but won six different seats in other races, resulting in a net loss of three seats.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not total vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 45 56
     Republican Party 53 42
     Independent - -
Total 98 98

Flipped seats

In total, 17 state legislative seats flipped party control in 2017. Democrats flipped 14 seats and Republicans flipped three seats as a result of special state legislative elections in 2017.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Connecticut General Assembly, "Connecticut General Statutes," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 9-215(a), Connecticut General Statutes)
  2. ↑ Tie-breaking votes are cast by the lieutenant governor.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 WTNH.com, "Special elections planned Feb. 28 for 3 legislative seats," accessed January 19, 2017
  4. ↑ CT News Junkie, "State Senate Remains Tied After Special Election," February 28, 2017
  5. ↑ Hartford Courant, "Douglas McCrory And Michael McDonald To Face Off In 2nd State Senate District," accessed January 23, 2017
  6. ↑ CT News Junkie, "Coleman, Kane Resign Senate Seats," January 4, 2017
  7. ↑ News Times, "GOP’s Berthel narrowly holds on in District 32 special state Senate election," February 28, 2017
  8. ↑ The Waterbury Observer, "Lynch Launches An Outside Bid For Senate," accessed January 23, 2017
  9. ↑ CT Mirror, "Borer keeps 115th House seat in Democratic hands," February 28, 2017
  10. ↑ New Haven Register, "Candidates for 115th District in West Haven earn respective party endorsements," accessed January 23, 2017
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Office of the Governor, "Gov. Malloy Sets April 25 Special Election for Two State House Seats in Districts Covering Hartford, Watertown and Woodbury," March 3, 2017
  12. ↑ Hartford Courant, "City Dems Endorse Military Veteran For Vacant State Rep. Seat," March 20, 2017
  13. ↑ Working Families Party, "Joshua Hall to Run for 7th District House Seat on the Working Families Party Ticket in Upcoming Special Election, April 25th," March 22, 2017
  14. ↑ The Connecticut Mirror, "WFP wins Hartford seat; GOP keeps seat in Watertown," April 25, 2017
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
  16. ↑ CT Mirror, "Deal gives Democrats edge in evenly split CT Senate," December 22, 2016
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 CT Mirror, "Kane, Coleman would resign from Senate under tentative deal," January 3, 2017
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 CT News Junkie, "Coleman, Kane Resign Senate Seats," January 4, 2017
  19. ↑ CT Mirror, "High court milestone in Malloy’s next round of nominees," November 30, 2016
  20. ↑ CT Mirror, "Rob Kane confirmed as Republican state auditor," February 1, 2017
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