Why Did Connecticut Voters Choose Lamont Again?

Connecticut voters returned Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont to office for a third term, even as taxes, affordability and concerns about state government remained part of the election debate. Why did voters choose him again?

In conversations with voters, some said they disagreed with President Donald Trump and the war with Iran. Others pointed to the price of gas and the pressure of everyday expenses. Those are reasons voters gave in the conversations.

Pre-election polling offers more context. In an October Quinnipiac poll, voters most often named the cost of living and the economy as their top issues in the governor’s race. Taxes ranked third. Lamont led among voters who prioritized the economy or cost of living, while Republican challenger Ryan Fazio led among those who named taxes as their top issue.

A separate University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll found that nearly all Connecticut Democrats, along with more than half of independents and Republicans, thought the Iran conflict was going poorly. The poll also reported that President Trump’s approval had fallen to a new low in Connecticut.

These findings suggest that voters weighed several issues at once: their views of the president and the war, the cost of gas and other expenses, and the candidates’ approaches to the economy and taxes. They do not establish exactly how much each issue affected Lamont’s victory. The polls also do not tell us whether voters set aside concerns about corruption or state government; that would require direct interviews or survey data on those specific concerns.

Lamont’s reelection, then, does not mean Connecticut voters had no concerns about taxes, prices or public trust. It shows that enough voters preferred him in this election, for reasons that varied from person to person.