Connecticut’s Aug. 11 primaries — delayed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic — offered little in terms of unexpected results, but the election was an important step toward preparing for the high-stakes presidential contest this fall. The avalanche of absentee ballots cities and towns saw on Tuesday is going to be magnified in the general election. And making in-person voting safe will pose a larger challenge with greater turnout. Complicating things further, the U.S. Postal Service recently told Connecticut election officials to prepare for potential delays in ballots mailed ahead of the November election.
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The big story
Primaries an important dry run for November: There were few surprises regarding the outcomes of Tuesday’s primaries — Connecticut voters overwhelmingly backed former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump in the presidential contests and legislative incumbents swept their respective races — but the elections have already provided key information about what can be expected of the general election in November. For starters, it may take days to get a complete picture of the results. An order by Gov. Ned Lamont to expand absentee ballot access due to the coronavirus pandemic meant town clerks and registrars were dealing with a crush of ballots that was unlike anything they’d seen before. Vote counting was further delayed by Tropical Storm Isaias and a complete picture of the results did not become clear until Thursday afternoon or Friday. On the bright side, in-person voting Tuesday went off without a hitch. Turnout was lower due to the enormous number of absentee ballots but voters wore masks and practiced social distancing and poll workers frequently sanitized the voting locations. “Between a global pandemic, a historic storm right before it, power outages throughout the state and polling places run by generators … that’s a plague of locusts away from a biblical disaster,” Gabe Rosenberg, a spokesman for Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said Wednesday. “We still had hundreds of thousands of people participate in the process safely.”.
Five things you may have missed
Congressional candidate arrested on eve of primary: A low-profile Republican congressional primary in eastern Connecticut was thrown into disarray when the party-endorsed candidate announced he was dropping his bid the morning of the election after he had been arrested the evening before on domestic violence charges. Thomas Gilmer of Madison faces felony charges of first-degree unlawful restraint and second-degree strangulation related to the 2017 assault that involved a former girlfriend. By the time Gilmer said he was leaving the race, many voters had already cast absentee ballots for him and given the late notice his name remained on the ballot for voters who went to the polls on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the 2nd Congressional District primary between Gilmer and Justin Anderson of East Haddam is likely to head to a recount. If Gilmer, who was clinging to a small lead Friday, wins, he must formally notify the secretary of the state’s office that he’s withdrawing so the state GOP can replace him.
Lamont off to Maine for weeklong vacation: After months of near-constant crises, Lamont left the state Wednesday evening for a weeklong vacation at his family’s summer compound on North Haven, a rocky island off the coast of Maine. The governor squeezed the getaway in between the extended cleanup following Tropical Storm Isaias and the start of what promises to be an unprecedented school year with strict COVID-19 precautions. “We are trying to find the least disruptive time as possible to take some much-deserved days off,” Lamont spokesman Max Reiss said. Lamont has vacationed in North Haven since he was a child and his family has owned land on the island for more than a century. “I grew up here. My kids grew up year. My dad grew up here,” Lamont told The Courant last year. “I emphasize family because that’s what I love about it in particular.” Reiss said Lamont will remain in frequent communication with his staff.
Casinos still struggling amid pandemic: Connecticut’s two tribal casinos reopened June 1 after shutting down in March due to the coronavirus, but they’ve continued to struggle financially as concert venues and buffets remain closed and some gamblers remain hesitant to return. Mohegan Sun said Friday it was laying off an unspecified number of employees who were furloughed in March and have not returned to work. Foxwoods Resort Casino meanwhile saw its revenue for the second quarter of the year plunge 71% over the same quarter in 2019. News of the layoffs at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods’ second-quarter struggles comes after promising slot machine revenue numbers for June that showed the pandemic’ impact on the casinos may not have been as bad as had been feared. Those numbers showed slot machine revenue down only 4.9% at Foxwoods and 3% at Mohegan compared to June 2019. Both casinos send 25% of their monthly slot revenue to the state.
Connecticut Democrats praise Harris as VP pick: Democratic leaders in Connecticut Tuesday applauded Biden’s selection of California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate in the presidential election. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal called his colleague Harris “tremendously incisive and insightful” and someone who “really connects with people in a way that’s very rare.” Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee with Harris, praised her “masterful” interrogation of witnesses there. “I think that this is a powerful, historic ticket,” U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, told WTNH-TV. “I’ve worked closely with Sen. Harris and she leads with her brain and her heart. … I think that type of empathy and compassion is just what we’re going to need moving forward.” Dita Bhargava, a former candidate for state treasurer and a strong supporter of Harris’ presidential campaign, said she had “tears of joy” to see Harris at Biden’s side. “If you’re in a fight, you want her in your foxhole,” U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted.
Virtual conventions force Connecticut politicos to stay home: Attending a Republican or Democratic national convention is a rite of passage for many hardcore political junkies but it’s one most will have to take a pass on this year with the events becoming largely virtual. State Republicans will send three national committee members to the abbreviated GOP event in Charlotte, North Carolina, while state Democrats don’t plan on sending anyone at all to the Democratic convention in Milwaukee. “Am I disappointed? Absolutely,” state Democratic Party Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo told Hearst Connecticut Media. “Conventions are fun, but not at the risk of people getting sick.” Biden said recently he plans to accept the Democratic nomination for president from Delaware rather than traveling to Wisconsin. The Democratic convention begins Monday and wraps up Thursday. No members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation are scheduled to speak. Republicans will hold their convention from Aug. 24-27.
Odds and ends
Rep. Jesse MacLachlan of Westbrook, the sole Republican to vote in favor last month of comprehensive police accountability legislation, announced Tuesday that he won’t seek reelection after three terms in the state House of Representatives. MacLachlan said the vote on the bill — and subsequent criticism he faced from police and fellow Republicans — played no role in his decision. Elected to the legislature at the age of 24, MacLachlan said he wanted to focus on his career and starting a family. … Mark Ojakian plans to retire as president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities System on Jan. 1, it was announced Wednesday. Ojakian, who turns 66 in October, has had a decadeslong career in public service including stints as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s chief of staff and as a top official in Malloy’s budget office. He took over the CSCU system, which includes the state’s regional universities and community colleges, in 2015. … Renee Coleman-Mitchell, who was fired as state public health commissioner in May amid the coronavirus pandemic, has accused the Lamont administration of racial discrimination related to her termination. In a five-page statement released through her attorney, Coleman-Mitchell, who is Black, said she was effectively replaced before her firing by Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer. “My leadership responsibilities were taken away in favor of a young white male with no public health practice or experience,” the statement read. Lamont, at a news conference Wednesday, declined to comment. … Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and other municipal leaders are considering legal action against Eversource for its handling of Tropical Storm Isaias. Customers in parts of the state hit hardest by the storm were without power for nine days. “Eversource has no plan, they’ve broken promise after promise to our residents, the subcontractor crews are not working or dispatched with any sense of urgency,” he said recently. Three customers have filed a lawsuit in Superior Court seeking class action status over the lengthy outages. … The Hartford City Council will hold a public hearing Monday to discuss renaming downtown’s Columbus Boulevard after local civil rights leader Frank T. Simpson. The hearing comes a month after Rep. Brandon McGee, D-Hartford, wrote to Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin suggesting the change. “As nationwide calls for the removal of statues glorifying colonialism and white supremacy have now reached our city … we believe that the renaming of Columbus Boulevard must be a part of the conversation and that the new name should reflect a true champion for change,” McGee said at the time.
Russell Blair can be reached at rblair@courant.com.
