Joseph Visconti
Joseph Visconti was a candidate who sought the Republican nomination for governor of Connecticut in the 2018 election. He withdrew from the race prior to the state's Republican Party convention.[1]
Visconti was previously an unaffiliated candidate for Governor of Connecticut in the 2014 elections.[2] Visconti is a former West Hartford Town councilor and former 2008 candidate for US Congress.[3]Joseph Visconti lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Click here for more information on the August 14 Republican primary election. Click here for more information on the November 6 general election.
Biography
Visconti is a native of Hartford, Connecticut, and a graduate of William Hall High School. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Hartford in 1978.
Visconti's career in the construction business spans over four decades. He began by working for his family commercial construction service business and went on to gain substantial management experience in the field. He has overseen a wide range of building projects and contracts through private and public sector clients, such as Pizza Hut and the United States Marine Corps.[4]
Visconti's campaign bio also notes his work in theater, having trained as an actor and mentor in New York and performed for years in children's shows back in Hartford.[4]
Education
- William Hall High School (1974)
- The University of Hartford (1978)[4]
Elections
2018
Visconti withdrew from the race prior to the state's Republican Party convention.[1]
2014
- See also: Connecticut gubernatorial election, 2014
Visconti ran for election to the office of Governor of Connecticut.[2] Visconti and his lieutenant governor running mate Chester Harris faced the Democratic/Working Families ticket of incumbents Dan Malloy and Nancy Wyman and Republican/Independent ticket of Tom Foley and Heather Somers.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Results
| Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Dan Malloy/Nancy Wyman Incumbent |
50.7% | 554,314 | |
| Republican | Tom Foley/Heather Somers | 48.2% | 526,295 | |
| Independent | Joe Visconti/Chester Harris | 1% | 11,456 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 708 | |
| Total Votes | 1,092,773 | |||
| Election results via Connecticut Secretary of State | ||||
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.[5] Early on, Malloy was flagged as one of the most vulnerable incumbents of the 2014 gubernatorial election cycle.[6] 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.[7][8] The Cook Political Report, meanwhile, consistently rated Connecticut as "Lean D," meaning the race was competitive, but the Democrats had an advantage.[9]
Rematch of 2010 campaign
Malloy won the governorship in November 2010 following a hard-fought 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 finally emerged as the victor.[10] At the May 2014 state Republican convention, delegates endorsed Foley for the second gubernatorial cycle in a row, bringing him one step closer to a 2014 re-match against Malloy. Although Foley was the favorite at the convention, fellow GOP hopeful and state Sen. John McKinney managed to garner enough delegate support to remain eligible for the nomination, preventing Foley from running unopposed in the August 12 primary.[11]
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 tight race to Groton Town Council Member and former Mayor Heather Somers.[12][13][14] With 100 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial results provided by the Connecticut Secretary of State showed Somers edging out Bacchiochi by about 780 votes. Third-place finisher David Walker took 32 percent of the vote, roughly 1,000 votes behind Bacchiochi.[15]
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 rejected the ordering of a recount, however, believing it would only waste time.[12] Delegates of the Connecticut Republican Party voted to back Bacchiochi for lieutenant governor at their convention in May, so the result of the primary was a modest upset.[16]
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.[17]
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.[18] 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.[19]
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.
Campaign advertisements
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Visconti has three adult children, Joey, Gabriella and Michael, and resides in West Hartford.[4]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hartford Courant, "Live Coverage: 2018 Connecticut Republican Convention," May 12, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Connecticut Mirror, "Foley keeps GOP off balance with unexpected 'exploratory' announcement," September 10, 2013
- ↑ E-mail communication with Ballotpedia, E-mail to Kristen Mathews, January 24, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Visconti for Governor, "About Joe," accessed January 24, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ Connecticut News Junkie, "Malloy Makes Re-election Bid Official," March 28, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedgoverning - ↑ 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
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 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
- ↑ 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
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