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    Saturday, December 07, 2024

    What was Conn.'s reddest town? Its bluest? 10 facts you might not know about the 2024 election

    You know that Democrat Kamala Harris won Connecticut's seven electoral college votes but that Republican Donald Trump captured the presidency.

    You likely know that Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy won reelection, as did the state's five members of the U.S. Congress. You may even know that Democrats picked up several seats in the Connecticut legislature, extending their majority.

    Here are 10 facts about the 2024 elections in Connecticut you might not know.

    Murphy outran Harris by two points

    Across the country, Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate outran Harris, and Connecticut was no exception.

    As of Friday afternoon, with more than 97 percent of expected votes tallied, Murphy led 58-40 over Republican Matthew Corey, about two points better than Harris' margin over Trump, which stood at 56-42. Even on a good night for Republicans nationally, Murphy's victory was only about a point narrower than his previous win in 2018, also against Corey.

    Most of Conn.'s U.S. Reps improved their margins from two years ago

    Even as each of Connecticut's five congressional districts shifted toward Trump in the presidential race, three of the five Democrats representing those districts — Jahana Hayes, John Larson and Jim Himes — won their reelection races by larger margins in 2024 than they did in 2022.

    Rosa DeLauro and Joe Courtney saw their margins shrink slightly from two years ago, though in DeLauro's case thousands of votes remained to be counted as of Friday afternoon. Both nonetheless won reelection by double-digit margins.

    Democrats have veto-proof majorities in both Conn. legislative chambers

    Though votes in some races are still being tallied, Democrats appear to have picked up a seat in the state Senate and four or five seats in the state House of Representatives, giving them a likely 25-11 edge in the Senate and at least a 101-50 advantage in the House. In both chambers, Democrats now have majorities large enough to override any veto from Gov. Ned Lamont.

    Still, it's unlikely these veto-proof majorities will matter much in practice, as Lamont would need to convince only a few fellow Democrats to side with him to avoid having his veto overridden.

    Bloomfield was the state's most Democratic town

    Bloomfield, a Hartford suburb with one of Connecticut's largest Black populations, voted for Harris over Trump 84-15 and for Murphy over Corey 85-14.

    Both margins marked the largest share of Democratic support in those races in any Connecticut town or city, just ahead of Hartford and New Haven.

    Sterling was the state's most Republican town

    On the other end of the spectrum, the small, almost entirely white town of Sterling, located along the Rhode Island border, voted for Trump over Harris 69-29 and for Corey over Murphy 65-33, making it the state's most Republican town.

    Runners up included Bethlehem, Thomaston, Wolcott, Hartland and Prospect.

    Andover was the state's closest town in the presidential race

    If you and a few friends went together to vote for Trump in Andover, congratulations, you flipped the results there.

    Unofficial tallies show Trump with 1,035 votes in Andover and Harris with 1,032, making it the closest town in the state. Other municipalities with razor-thin margins include Ansonia (Harris by 22 votes), Middlefield (Harris by 38), East Hampton (Harris by 55), Orange (Harris by 57), and Montville (Trump by 81).

    Ledyard's predictive streak ends, New Milford's continues

    Entering this election, only two Connecticut towns, Ledyard and New Milford, had voted for the winning presidential candidate in each race since 1996.

    Ledyard's streak ended this year, as the town voted for Harris 53-45, but New Milford remained a bellwether, voting for Trump 53-46.

    Andover was a red island, Norwich and Pomfret were blue ones

    Andover, with its 3-vote margin for Trump, was a red town surrounded by blue ones in the presidential election. Norwich and Pomfret, meanwhile, were Harris-supporting towns surrounded on all sides by those that voted for Trump.

    Those three towns were the only ones in Connecticut that voted differently from each of their neighbors.

    East Haven breaks up the all-blue coast

    Speaking of breaking trends, all but one of Connecticut's two dozen coastal towns — from Fairfield County all the way to the Rhode Island border — voted for Harris.

    For the second straight presidential election, the one exception was East Haven, which went for Trump over Harris 55-44.

    Three towns still have some work to do

    Of Connecticut's 169 towns and cities, 166 of them have reported at least 95 percent of votes as of Friday afternoon.

    The three that haven't: Salisbury, with 88 percent of its vote counted; Hamden, with 40 percent of its vote counted; and Torrington, which has tallied only 2 percent of its votes and is headed for a full recount amid an array of election-related issues. Counting in Torrington will help decide a close contest for state representative between Democratic incumbent Michelle Cook and Republican challenger Joe Canino.

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