UConn political scientist Ron Schurin says the results of Tuesday’s municipal elections in Connecticut fit a national pattern. Schurin says reliably Republican suburbs were won by Democrats because many people, disheartened by Republican President Donald Trump, are getting involved in local politics.
“In some towns you’ve had for years the kind of list of usual suspects who will run for office. And now there are new people getting involved and including the one that I’m in, Mansfield, you get new generations of people getting involved. And that is good not only for the Democratic Party in this case but good for the overall political process.”
Several reliably moderate Republican Connecticut suburbs including Farmington, Glastonbury, Southington and Trumbull had Democrats making gains on Tuesday.
Schurin says despite outgoing Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy’s low job approval numbers, Tuesday’s results should be a caution for Republicans in next year’s gubernatorial race.
“The Republicans may still do well but they have got their work cut out for them. The local races are indeed local races and in many cases there are local issues, but overall when you see a trend towards the Democrats that’s got to give the Republicans something to think about.”
Going into next year’s election Connecticut Republicans are tied 18-18 with Democrats in the state Senate and are seven seats shy of the majority in the state House of Representatives.
