Connecticut Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont survived a primary test from state Rep. Josh Elliott on Tuesday, fending off a challenge that centered on whether the incumbent has been tough enough in the face of President Donald Trump. The Connecticut primary quickly became a debate over style, strategy and the direction of a state that has settled into the Democratic column after years of more competitive politics.
Elliott, who represents Hamden, argued that Lamont’s approach was too soft and said that being nice to Trump was a liability. He told the Connecticut Mirror that “nice is a problem right now,” adding that niceness does not address affordability or “fascism.” Elliott also said, “[Ned] can be nice all day long, but that’s a liability right now.”
Lamont pushed back by stressing his time in office and casting Elliott as short on substance. He told the outlet that “talk is cheap” and said his challenger had little to offer compared with the record he has built over nearly eight years as governor. Lamont’s camp said it wants to see single-payer healthcare and more funding for early childhood education in Connecticut, reflecting the broader policy fights inside the state Democratic Party.
The race unfolded in a state that has changed sharply over the last generation. Connecticut is now increasingly a bedroom community for the New York City, Providence and Boston metro areas, and its political map has grown more predictable for Democrats. Still, the state once elected Republicans to durable power. GOP governors held the office for much of the period between the Reagan era and 2010, when Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell chose not to seek another term and Democrat Dannel Malloy followed her. The state also once sent Republican figures such as former Sen. Prescott Bush, the father of former President George H.W. Bush, to Washington, and later elected liberal Republican Lowell Weicker as governor under the A Connecticut Party label he created.
