Connecticut is pretty blue. The state PVI is D+7— same as Illinois and Delaware, bluer than New Jersey and Oregon. In 2016, Hillary beat Trump there, 897,572 (54.6%) to 673,215 (40.9%) and in 2020, Biden won, 1,080,6890 (59.2%) to 715,291 (39.2%). Both Connecticut’s U.S. Senators and all 5 Members of Congress are Democrats. So are the 6 partisan executive officeholders— governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and comptroller. The state Senate has 24 Democrats and 12 Republicans and the House has 98 Democrats and 53 Republicans. The GOP isn’t dead, but it’s on life-support.
There are 2 red counties— Litchfield and Windham, each of which gave Trump around 51% of the vote in 2020 and there’re little pockets of red strength all over the state. I mean, Trump did get 715,291 people to vote for him. In fact, New Haven County is one of the bluer counties in the state— right after Hartford and Fairfield counties. Trump only managed to get 35.4% of the vote there in 2020. And the city of New Haven itself as very blue. 8 miles away, though, is Derby, not as blue. Obama won there both times he ran, but Trump won the town with 51.5% in 2016 Biden won in 2020 with 51.3%. The mayor, Richard Dziekan, is a Republican. The state senator representing Derby, Jorge Cabera is a Democrat and so are 2 of the 3 state reps. And the town board of aldermen is split as well— 4 Democrats and 5 Republicans. The 3rd ward is the red ward.
On Tuesday one of the aldermen, Gino DiGiovanni Jr.— who is primarying Mayor Dziekan-- was arraigned for illegally entering the U.S. Capitol during the J-6 insurrection. He remained inside the building for around 25 minutes. He’s facing 4 counts and is pleading innocent though the evidence is incontrovertible. Mayor Dziekan said that “When an individual is observed potentially breaking the law, they can expect to be called upon to account for their actions.” The primary is Sept. 12 and the town Republican Party has endorsed DiGiovanni, Dziekan not seeking their support.
DiGiovanni, a MAGAt admits he went for Trump’s rally and then broke into the Capitol but said “I didn’t damage or break anything.” He isn’t pulling out of the mayor’s race, although as a result of his arrest he can’t travel to DC (except for his court case) or outside the U.S. Nor is he allowed to get drunk or use drugs. He was ordered to turn over all guns he owns to someone licensed to accept weapons.
On Wednesday the House minority leaders, Vincent Candelora didn’t call on DiGiovanni to drop out of the race but said all candidates should do some “soul searching” before entering the public arena. “For me, personally, I wouldn’t run for office under those kinds of circumstances… Certainly, everyone has a right to run for office, but there should be some consideration for what impact that could have on your community and yourself.
There were dozens of Republican insurrectionists who ran for office during the midterms. The Washington Post reported that at least 7 of them won, 3 to the Virginia House of Delegates, Dave LaRock, John McGuire and Marie March. Others who won included Christine Ead for the Watchung, New Jersey, city council; Natalie Jangula for the city council in Nampa, Idaho; Matthew Lynch for the local school committee in Braintree, Massachusetts; and Susan Soloway for reelection to the board of directors in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. The Post missed DiGiovanni because he hid his participation, which seems to me to indicate he knew he was doing wrong. The Post also neglected to mention congressional candidates, one of whom won, Derrick Van Orden, an abusive drunkard from western Wisconsin, now a violent, right-wing member of Congress. Far right nuts who were there, JR Majewsky (OH), Sandy Smith (NC), Leon Benjamin (VA), Jeff Zink (AZ), Tina Forte (NY) and Joe Kemp (WA) all lost, Majewsky and Kent in very red districts, Smith in a swing district and Zink, Forte and Benjamin in solid blue districts.
Statewide, there were crackpots like Doug Mastriano (PA), Mark Finchem (AZ), and Dan Cox (MD). At least those three high profile insurrectionists all lost.
Let's keep in mind that some of these candidates are running again this cycle.