Connecticut Democrats have picked up seats in both chambers of the Connecticut legislature, despite a disappointing election for the party at the national level.
State Democrats gained four seats in the House of Representatives and one in the Senate.
“We actually picked up a few seats in the legislature,” Gov. Ned Lamont said while talking to reporters on Wednesday morning. “I don't think there's many other states in the country on the Democratic side that are able to say that.”
Senate Democrats now have the largest majority in nearly 40 years, with 25 out of 36 seats in the chamber. The split last session was 24 Democrat and 12 Republican.
Sen. Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) will remain Senate majority leader, and Sen. Martin Looney (D-New Haven) will remain Senate president. Sen. Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield) will stay on as minority leader.
Unofficial House totals have Democrats with 102 seats and Republicans with 49 (last session was 100 Democrat-53 Republican).
House leadership will also stay the same: Rep. Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) as House speaker, Rep. Jason Rojas (D-East Hartford) as House majority leader and Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-Branford) as House minority leader.
State voter turnout was 73.8%, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of the State’s office. There are more than 2.2 million people registered to vote in the state.
More than 750,000 early and absentee votes were cast, and there were long lines at some same-day registration places. Officials said that made it harder to deliver fast results because election officials can not start counting votes until Election Day.
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