Jean Cronin, Executive Director, CT Package Stores Association
By Jean Cronin, Executive Director, CT Package Stores Association
Every November here in Connecticut, we are lucky enough to have Election Day. The ability to participate and decide on decision-makers in Hartford who will pass legislation is a privilege we should not take lightly.
With that being said, the flurry of political ads for the constitutional offices such as governor, comptroller, attorney general, and secretary of state can get overwhelming when watching any major channel online. In recent years, the ads have shifted to social media and streaming services to capture a wider audience of potential voters.
Gov. Ned Lamont is running for a third term against Republican State Sen. Ryan Fazio. The race is centering on affordability and taxation in the state. Both are running on their voting records over the past few years with different ideologies on how to interact with the current federal administration. Lamont seems to have a double-digit lead over Fazio, according to polls done in the state.
Governor Lamont recently had a primary challenger, Rep. Josh Elliott from Hamden. Rep. Elliott argued that Lamont has not done enough to help working families and tried to run a more left-leaning campaign than Governor Lamont. The primary occurred in August for the Democratic nomination, with Lamont winning 68% of the vote.
Breaking down the elections in Connecticut, every political office at the state level is up for election. All 187 legislative seats, 36 in the Senate, and 151 in the House of Representatives, are all up in the 2026 election. There are quite a few of these seats, mostly in the House, that only have the incumbent running for reelection with no opponent. Each House district represents roughly 22,600 residents in their area. Each State Senate district represents roughly 99,280 residents.
Currently as of the 2024 elections, Democrats have a supermajority in each chamber. In the House, they control 102 of the 151 seats. In the Senate, the Democrats control 25 of the 36 seats. With the current numbers in both chambers of the majority party, they have the votes to override a veto if the governor chose to veto a bill. The needed amount of legislators in each chamber to override a governor’s veto and make it law is a vote of two-thirds to overcome a veto. Two-thirds in the House is 101 and two-thirds in the Senate is 24.
It is widely projected by those that are in the political world that there is a possibility for the Democratic majority to increase their numbers in this cycle.
According to polls, the president is trending in a quite low trajectory that is hurting Republicans in many state and national races. Here in the House, there are projections that show Democrats possibly gaining five to eight more seats.
The projections for the Senate also are looking optimistic for Democrats as they could gain one to three more seats. Many of these opportunities for seats that could flip control from one party to another are located in the southwest corner of the state in Fairfield County.
Many of these motivating factors have to do with the affordability of everyday life. The cost of groceries, energy, and everyday products seems to be weighing on the minds of voters. Another thing too, which those who have been door-knocking for different campaigns are encountering as an issue, is the desire for moderate candidates on both sides. Bipartisan compromising seems to be something voters are looking for as well, with negative ads painting opponents as people who would put ideology before the needs of their districts.
Find out more about any of these issues and the benefits of membership at ctpsa.com.
