1990 Connecticut Senate election

1990 Connecticut State Senate election
November 6, 1990
All 36 seats in the Connecticut State Senate
19 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Cornelius O'Leary Reginald Smith
(retired)
Party Democratic Republican
Leader's seat 7th 8th
Last election 23 13
Seats before 23 12
Seats won 20 16
Seat change Decrease 3 Increase 4
  Third party
 
Leader Emil Benvenuto (lost-reelection)
Party A Connecticut
Leader's seat 36th
Last election 0
Seats before 1
Seats won 0
Seat change Decrease 1
Results:
     Democratic hold
     Republican hold      Republican gain
President pro tempore before election

John B. Larson
Democratic

 Elected President pro tempore

John B. Larson
Democratic

The 1990 Connecticut State Senate elections took place as a part of the biennial 1990 United States elections. All 36 seats were up for re-election. Senators serve two year terms and are up for re-election every election cycle.

The Democrats lost 3 seats, while the Republicans gained 4 seats, with the Democrats ultimately maintaining their majority in the Senate.

These elections also saw the attempt of Greenwich selectman and future governor Ned Lamont's attempt to win in the 36th district, but he lost to Republican William H. Nickerson after Republican Senator Emil Benvenuto, who had switched to the A Connecticut Party, also lost to him.[1][2]

Retirements

Six incumbents did not seek re-election.[3]

Democrats

  1. District 20: Mark H. Powers retired.
  2. District 27: Richard Blumenthal retired to successfully run for Attorney General.

Republican

  1. District 8: Reginald J. Smith retired. (Previously ran for governor)
  2. District 14: Tom Scott retired to unsuccessfully run for Connecticut's 3rd congressional district against Rosa DeLauro.
  3. District 32: James H. McLaughlin retired to unsuccessfully run for Connecticut's 5th congressional district.
  4. District 33: Kenneth T. Hampton retired.

Incumbents defeated

Three incumbents were defeated in general elections.[4][5]

In general election

A Connecticut

  1. District 36: Emil Benvenuto lost re-election to Republican William H. Nickerson after he had switched from Republican to the A Connecticut Party.

Democrats

  1. District 25: John Atkin lost re-election to Robert Genuario.
  2. District 12: Thomas J. Sullivan lost re-election to William Aniskovich.

Results

District 1

Connecticut's 1st State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William A. DiBella (incumbent) 12,363 100.00%
Total votes 12,363 100.00%
Democratic hold

District 2

September 11, 1990 Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Frank D. Barrows (incumbent) 2,655 54.79%
Democratic Wilber G. Smith 2,191 45.21%
Total votes 4,846 100.00%
Connecticut's 2nd State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Frank D. Barrows (incumbent) 10,566 60.6%
Republican Mary K. Drost 6,871 39.4%
Total votes 17,437 100.0%
Democratic hold

District 3

Connecticut's 3rd State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John B. Larson (incumbent) 21,307 68.8%
Republican Debra M. Gaudette 9,672 31.2%
Total votes 30,979 100.0%
Democratic hold

District 4

Connecticut's 4th State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Michael P. Meotti (incumbent) 24,465 65.3%
Republican Sonya "Sonny" Googins 12,998 34.7%
Total votes 37,463 100.0%
Democratic hold

District 5

Connecticut's 5th State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Kevin Sullivan (incumbent) 26,372 65.58%
Republican Douglas T. Putnam 13,421 33.37%
Libertarian Alfred F. Neves 424 1.05%
Total votes 40,217 100.00%
Democratic hold

District 6

Connecticut's 6th State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joseph H. Harper Jr. (incumbent) 14,366 100.00%
Total votes 14,366 100.00%
Democratic hold

District 7

Connecticut's 7th State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Cornelius O'Leary (incumbent) 20,054 90.1%
Libertarian Robert S. Loomis 2,204 9.9%
Total votes 22,258 100.0%
Democratic hold

District 8

Connecticut's 8th State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican James T. Fleming 21,872 59.4%
Democratic David A. Baram 14,981 40.7%
Total votes 36,853 100.0%
Republican hold

District 9

Connecticut's 9th State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic A. Cynthia Matthews (incumbent) 21,094 58.5%
Republican Lawrence J. Ebner 14,958 41.5%
Total votes 36,052 100.0%
Democratic hold

District 26

Connecticut's 26th State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Judith G. Freedman (incumbent) 26,527 100.00%
Total votes 26,527 100.00%
Republican hold

District 36

The 36th district consisted of all of Greenwich and the northwestern parts of Stamford. It hadn't elected a Democrat as its State Senator since its creation in 1942.[6] The last time a Democratic candidate for state senate won a district representing Greenwich was H. Allen Barton in 1930.

On May 23, 1990, Emil Benvenuto endorsed A Connecticut Party candidate Lowell Weicker for governor. This outraged the state Republican Party and the Greenwich Republican Town Committee (RTC), which actively began seeking a candidate to replace Benvenuto. On July 10, state representative William H. Nickerson announced his candidacy for the seat.[7] Benvenuto initially sought to run for re-election as a Republican, with the town convention supposed to take place on July 23. However, Benvenuto needed the support of at least six delegates (or 20%) of the RTC's 27 delegates to force a September 11 primary against Nickerson, but ended up only having the support of four or five delegates. On July 16, Benvenuto announced his withdrawal from the primary and that he would run on Weicker's A Connecticut Party ticket.[8]

Connecticut's 36th State Senate district election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican William H. Nickerson 12,588 42.88%
A Connecticut Party Emil Benvenuto (incumbent) 9,488 32.32%
Democratic Ned Lamont 7,278 24.80%
Total votes 29,354 100.00%
Republican gain from A Connecticut Party

Results by district

Results by district
DistrictNickerson
Republican		Benvenuto
A Connecticut		Lamont
Democratic		Total
Votes % Votes % Votes %
Greenwich 8,59440.39%7,63135.86%5,05523.75%21,280
1 63737.96%57234.09%46927.95%1,678
2 34752.10%16825.23%15122.67%666
2A 21932.06%31646.27%14821.67%683
3 15527.38%23842.05%17330.57%566
3A 6823.53%12543.25%9633.22%289
4 27031.25%30935.76%28532.99%864
4A 16731.27%22642.32%14126.41%534
5 77839.43%69235.07%50325.50%1,973
6 77039.43%64032.77%54327.80%1,953
7 82453.13%39025.14%33721.73%1,551
7A 11839.20%9330.90%9029.90%301
8 75031.32%1,12046.76%52521.92%2,395
9 65335.74%71238.97%46225.29%1,827
10 1,00257.06%39122.27%36320.67%1,756
11 87861.31%29520.60%25918.09%1,432
11A 41457.98%19226.89%10815.13%714
12 24124.49%56957.83%17417.68%984
12A 30327.20%58352.33%22820.47%1,114
Stamford 3,99449.47%1,85723.00%2,22327.53%8,074
Totals 12,58842.88%9,48832.32%7,27824.80%29,354

References

  1. ↑ "Democrats keep control of General Assembly". The Norwalk Hour. November 7, 1990.
  2. ↑ "1990 Nov 6 :: General Election :: State Senator :: District 36". Connecticut Secretary of State.
  3. ↑ Judd Everhart (May 16, 1990). "End of session closes doors on some political careers". The Norwalk Hour.
  4. ↑ "Office of the Secretary of State". Connecticut Secretary of State.
  5. ↑ "1990 Statement of vote". Connecticut Secretary of State.
  6. ↑ "Connecticut State Register and Manual, 1988". Connecticut State Library.
  7. ↑ Christopher Keating (July 11, 1990). "Nickerson to run for Benvenuto seat". Stamford Advocate – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Lesley Clark (July 17, 1990). "Benvenuto to be independent candidate in re-election bid". Stamford Advocate – via Newspapers.com.
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