Connecticut Gov. Primary: Major Party Candidate Advances with 2% Voter Support

image
Published: 16 Aug, 2018
2 min read

Connecticut was one of four states that had its 2018 primary elections Tuesday. Republicans and Democrats went to the polls to decide their party's respective nominees -- though not in high numbers.

According to the election results posted on the New York Times, 355,200 total voters cast a ballot for governor in the Republican and Democratic primaries. That is about 29 percent of total registered Republicans and Democrats, and around 17 percent of total active registered voters.

It's important to note this because Connecticut is a closed primary state, which means only registered members of the Republican and Democratic parties can participate. A large segment of the voting population cannot vote in these taxpayer-funded elections, including the 40 percent of the electorate that is registered unaffiliated.

Thus, the major party candidates all voters have to choose from in November were selected by less than 10% of the electorate. And in one party's case, around 2%.

Democrat Ed Lamont won his primary election easily, carrying 81.2% of the vote. Though when you look at this in relation to the entire registered voting population, that is only around 8 percent of active registered voters.

Source: New York Times

Republican Bob Stefanowski carried the Republican primary with 29.4% of the primary vote. This means 7-in-10 Republican voters didn't cast a ballot for him. It also represents under 10 percent of registered Republicans and approximately 2% of total voters.

Source: New York Times

Connecticut is listed as a "Toss Up" state by Cook Political Report. As voters outside the major parties make up a clear plurality of voters, independents will ultimately decide Gov. Dannel Malloy's replacement.

IVP Donate

The two candidates above will be bolstered by the media as the two viable choices voters have. Yet most voters didn't vote for these candidates or were left out of the process to decide who these candidates would be.

How can voters trust them to put their interests first?

iQoncept / shutterstock.com

You Might Also Like

Why Mathematicians Love Ranked Choice Voting
Why Mathematicians Love Ranked Choice Voting
The Institute for Mathematics and Democracy (IMD) has released what may be the most comprehensive empirical study of ranked choice voting ever conducted. The 66-page report analyzes nearly 4,000 real-world ranked ballot elections, including some 2,000 political elections, and more than 60 million simulated ones to test how different voting methods perform....
11 Dec, 2025
-
4 min read
California flag
Quirk Silva’s Exit Sparks a High-Profile Orange County Clash, Where Independent Voters Control the Math
California’s 67th Assembly District stretches across parts of Orange and Los Angeles counties, connecting some of the region’s most dynamic and diverse suburban communities. It includes the entire cities of Cerritos, La Palma, Hawaiian Gardens, Artesia, Buena Park, and Cypress, as well as portions of Fullerton and Anaheim....
18 Dec, 2025
-
6 min read
Donald Trump
Trump Signs Order to Reclassify Cannabis to Schedule III
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his administration will officially move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act, a decision that marks the most significant change to U.S. drug policy since the early 1970s....
18 Dec, 2025
-
2 min read