Connecticut Primary 2020 Results: Trump, Biden Declared Winners

CONNECTICUT — President Donald Trump and Joe Biden are the presumptive winners of Connecticut's primary, according to early results.

In-person polls have closed for Connecticut's primary. This primary will be a bit different in terms of knowing the final vote count as absentee ballots that haven't been counted yet are still eligible.

A new executive order from Gov. Ned Lamont will allow ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Aug. 11 and received by the town clerk office by Aug. 13. Lamont issued the order due to the state's massive power outages caused by Tropical Storm Isaias.

No surprise here, but the Associated Press has called the presidential primaries for both sides with President Donald Trump winning the Republican primary and Joe Biden winning the Democratic primary.

Biden led with more than 84 percent of the vote compared to Bernie Sander's 11.84 percent and Tusli Gabbard's 1.42 percent as of 10:30 p.m. with 83 percent of precincts reporting results.

For Republicans, the choices were Trump and Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente. Trump received 79.5 percent of the vote with 86 percent of precincts reporting results. De La Fuente had 7.18 percent of the vote and 13.2 percent were uncommitted. Around 74,000 votes were counted.

Connecticut's presidential primary, which occurred months after Biden became the presumtive nominee was mocked on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

“We will cover this Connecticut primary with the same breathless political horse race reporting that the media did back in February for Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina because if we do not, it means our primary system is fundamentally broken and some people’s votes are absolutely worthless,” he joked.

GOP 2nd Congressional District candidate Tom Gilmer ended his campaign after he was arrested Monday night. He was charged with strangulation and unlawful restraint in Wethersfield. His opponent Justin Anderson was narrowly leading him by a little over 100 votes as of 10:30 p.m.

For the 1st Congressional District Mary Fay was leading Jim Griffin by around 730 votes as of 10:30 p.m.

In many ways the primary will be a dry run of the presidential election in November now that absentee ballots will be allowed for anyone due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, there were some issues with the mailing house that sent out absentee ballots missing some deadlines. More than 20,000 voters hadn't received their requested ballots a week before the primary date, according to the Hartford Courant.

Senate Republican leader Len Fasano was critical of Secretary of the State Denise Merrill's request to Lamont for the extension to receive ballots. Previously ballots had to be received by the time polls closed on primary day.

"She’s trying to blame everyone, including the weather, for her errors. This is not the fault of a storm, it’s not the fault of the postal service, and it’s not the fault of town clerks," Fasano said. "Secretary Merrill’s third-party mail house missed multiple deadlines and delayed sending ballots. Instead of recognizing the issues early on, she dismissed and ignored warnings several times and spent more time pointing her finger at others than on fixing the problems."

In addition, there are a handful of other primaries including the 1st Congressional District, the 2nd Congressional District and some state Senate and state House of Representatives seats for both Republicans and Democrats.

The Secretary of the State's Office mailed out absentee ballot applications to all eligible party members. The applications are prepopulated with voter information and a unique barcode. The Secretary of the State's Office is using a portion of the federal CARES Act funding to pay return postage for the applications.

The applications are processed by local town clerks and entered into a statewide database. Again, the postage will be paid to send the ballots to eligible voters and return postage will also be covered.

Any Connecticut resident who is a registered Republican or Democrat can vote in the primary. Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order that allows the pandemic to be a valid reason for voting absentee. The state Legislature also passed the same rules for the general election in November.

Helpful links from the Secretary of the State office:
Check to see if you are registered to vote under a party.
Where and how do I vote?
Register to Vote Online.

Ballots can be returned by mailing them back via the United States Postal Service or via a secure drop box that is being provided to each town outside of town hall. Voters also have the old-fashioned option to vote in-person from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The deadline to transfer from one party to another or for unaffiliated electors to join a party to vote in the primary has already passed.

Below are the contested primary races:

Republican Party

Office: 1st Congressional District Representative with 80% precincts reported

• Mary Fay, West Hartford 5886 votes (57.27%)
• Jim Griffin, Bristol 4,391 votes (42.73%

Office: 2nd Congressional District Representative 88% reported

• Thomas Gilmer, Madison 7,655 votes (49.64%)
• Justin Anderson, Salem 7,767 votes (50.36%)

Office: Registrar of Voters Hartford

• Sheila N. Hall
• Vanessa Garay-Jackson

Office: Registrar of Voters

• Jeffrey Rogers, Oakdale
• Dana McFee, Uncasville

State Senator, District 26, 93% reported

• Kim Healy, Wilton 2,352 votes (58.36%)
• William Duff, Bethel 1,678 votes (41.64%)

Office: State Representative, District 30, 100% precincts reported

• Donna Veach, Berlin 893 votes (59.41%)
• Jim Townsley, Southington 610 votes (40.59%

Office: State Representative, District 82, 100% precincts reported

• Mike Skelps, Middlefield 540 votes (74.18%)
• Ernestine Holloway, Meriden 188 votes (25.82%)

Office: State Representative, District 128 100% precincts reported

• Joseph J. Borges, Bridgeport 20 votes (33.33%)
• Ethan Book, Bridgeport 40 votes (66.67%)

Democratic Party

Office: Registrar of Voters--Vote for One

• James Simon, Stratford
• Richard T. Marcone, Stratford

Office: State Senator, District 17

• Jorge Cabrera, Hamden 3,124 votes (56.4%)
• Justin Farmer, Hamden 2,414 votes (43.6%)

Office: State Senator, District 22

• Marcus A. Brown, Bridgeport 1,426 votes (51.78%)
• Marilyn Moore, Bridgeport 1,328 votes (48.22%)

Office: State Representative, District 05

• Brandon McGee, Hartford 1,686 votes (89.06%)
• Craig T Stallings, Hartford 207 votes (10.94%)

Office: State Representative, District 15

• Bobby Gibson, Bloomfield 220 votes (58.82%)
• Danielle DW Wong, Bloomfield 154 votes (41.18%)

Office: State Representative, District 20

• Sherry Haller, West Hartford 697 votes (27.53%)
• Kate Farrar, West Hartford 1,835 votes (72.47%)

Office: State Representative, District 24

• Emmanuel "Manny" Sanchez, New Britain 652 votes (41.42%)
• Richard Lacourciere, New Britain 922 votes (58.58%)

Office: State Representative, District 28

• Paul Montinieri, Wethersfield 1,189 votes (45.93%)
• Amy Morrin Bello, Wethersfield 1,400 votes (54.07%)

Office: State Representative, District 45

• Mark DePonte, Griswold 828 votes (68.37%)
• Pamela Patalano, Griswold 383 votes (31.63%)

Office: State Representative, District 126

• Charlie Stallworth, Bridgeport 621 votes (66.56%)
• Tony J. Barrl, Bridgeport 312 votes (33.44%)

Office: State Representative, District 130

• Antonio Felipe, Bridgeport 409 votes (49.52%)
• Kelvin Ayala, Bridgeport 417 votes (50.48%)

Office: Judge of Probate Vacancy, District 30

• Beth Ladwig Leamon, Stonington
• Matthew Berger, Pawcatuck
• Sarah D. Moriarty, Groton