HARTFORD — Considered for years to be a reliably politically "blue" state, Connecticut this year elected a historic number of Republicans to the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.

The GOP picked up enough seats to create an 18-18 tie in the Senate, which has been controlled by Democrats since 1996. It's the chamber's first partisan tie since 1893. Meanwhile, Republicans significantly pared the Democrats' current 87-64 majority in the House of Representatives to a possible 79-72 majority, a partisan makeup that could change depending on several recounts.

Connecticut's congressional delegation remained all Democratic, though, with Sen. Richard Blumenthal and the five members of the House easily winning re-election on Tuesday night.

That dichotomy is prompting questions about whether the state Democratic Party needs to make changes or risk losing more seats and having Connecticut become a toss-up "purple" state in coming years.

"I think the Democratic State Central Committee, they have to figure out how to remedy this," said Lori Pelletier, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO union organization. "There needs to be a better, coordinated campaign and they need to have a coordinated message."

Pelletier, who campaigned door to door for Democratic legislative candidates, said she found strong support for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Blumenthal and the U.S. House members. Clinton defeated Donald Trump in Connecticut, by about 54 percent to 42 percent.

But she said it was clear many voters, especially the union members she visited, were unhappy with Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The governor, who relied on union support to get re-elected in 2015, has since been at odds with organized labor after laying off thousands of state employees and cutting services.

"In the districts where it's solid blue, if you will, it's because the people who were there have a populist message. They're talking about protecting workers; making sure women have rights; that we're not going after those less fortunate. Those are the folks that win," she said. "It's not being Republican light. You don't win being purple."

Malloy has dismissed the idea the Democrats' legislative losses were a rejection of him, even though critical Republican campaign mailers specifically accused Democratic candidates of backing Malloy and his policies.

"I think overwhelmingly these elections on the legislative side were individual elections and should not be assumed to be part of a collective," said the governor. He said that people who "lost overwhelmingly were outworked by their opponent, regardless of party" and that he's been a political target for a long time.

Nicholas Balletto, chairman of the Connecticut Democratic Party, also doesn't believe Malloy — who wasn't on the ballot this year — affected the races. Rather, he blamed the groundswell of voters who wanted to register their discontent and draw attention to working-class issues. Connecticut had a record number of registered voters this year.

Balletto said he's not sure the party could have done anything differently, noting how a million phone calls were made in the final days. The party didn't, however, coordinate get-out-the vote efforts until late with the unions, which are still smarting over the layoffs.

Despite the legislative losses, he believes Connecticut will remain a blue state, for the most part.

J.R. Romano, chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, contends the Connecticut Democrats misread the electorate, just like the national Democrats with the presidential election.

"When we talk about Connecticut, for example, they're in denial that we are in bad shape. They pretend as though everything is great. They talk about things that most people kind of aren't really that interested in. They want to do the politics of personal assassination, not actually talk about policy," Romano said. "And so, that's being rejected on the national level, and it's being rejected here in the state of Connecticut."