This year, the Connecticut Working Families Party had our best showing at the polls yet — by a lot.
Our statewide vote total has more than tripled since 2006 — we pulled in a remarkable 75,000 votes. For the hundreds of campaign activists, allies, contributors, candidates, community and labor leaders who worked with us this campaign season, your support had an impressive impact. An unprecedented number of voters joined the call to “vote for change like you really mean it,” by voting on the Working Families line.
Of course, a few more specific results merit reporting, so here are a few details:
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Jim Himes, the new D/WFP Congressman in CT-4
Our top priority race this year was electing Jim Himes to Congress in the Fourth Congressional District. We endorsed Himes all the way back in February and were among his earliest backers. We knocked on thousands of doors in some of the tough suburban communities in this district, focusing on unaffiliated voters who mostly supported Chris Shays two years ago. The hard work truly paid off as Himes defeated 21-year incumbent Chris Shays. From what we’ve seen, Himes he can be counted on to be a progressive voice on our issues.
- We also cross-endorsed scores of State Legislative candidates and put boots on the ground in several of these as well. Here the results were mixed, but there were several bright spots:
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- Anthony Musto re-claimed a Democratic State Senate seat in Bridgeport.
- Mary Ann Handley survived a tough challenge from Republican David Blackwell.
- Cross-endorsed Democrats running for State Representative won some close elections in traditionally conservative districts: Michelle Cook, Matt Conway, Annie Hornish and Matt Lesser (the last three won their races with a margin of victory on the Working Families Party line).
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Urania Petit, Hartford Registrar of Voters (WFP)
In Hartford, the Working Families Party made history by electing Urania Petit to the office of Registrar of Voters. Read more about it in the Hartford Courant here. This continues a series of elections in Hartford in which we have outperformed the GOP and have essentially established the Working Families Party as the minority party in Hartford. This is also, according to the Secretary of State’s office, the first time a minor party candidate has won an election for Registrar of Voters in the history of Connecticut. Congratulations, Urania. (If you don’t know her, she’ll be fantastic.)
- We also supported three other “stand-alone” Working Families candidates who were not cross-endorsed by a major party, and did not fare so well. This speaks as much to the energy and enthusiasm about the top of the Democratic ticket (which I think most of us at the WFP share) as it does to the inherent challenges facing minor party candidates challenging incumbent legislators. Bottom line: it’s tough going. But Deborah Noble, Cicero Booker and Brian Petronella showed the courage to be standard bearers for our party and our values. They worked hard and certainly deserve our appreciation. Voters should always have an option on the ballot who truly support the values of working families.
