Victories In Connecticut Reduce GOP Influence In New England

By Ana Radelat

©The Connecticut Mirror

Connecticut voters helped Democrats make gains in the US Senate and dimmed hopes of stopping the continued losses of the GOP in New England.

Democrats picked up one House seat in New Hampshire and may pick up a second. In Massachusetts, Senator Scott Brown, a Republican, lost a seat to Democrat Elizabeth Warren.

Former Maine governor Angus King, an independent who will likely caucus with Democrats, won the seat of retiring Republican Senator Olympia Snowe.

Democrats needed a net gain of 25 new seats to take back the House of Representatives, lost to the GOP in 2010.

Late Tuesday, it was unclear how many House seats Democrats would gain. But not likely enough to take back that chamber, lost to the party in 2010.

The election of Democrat Elizabeth Esty to the Fifth District congressional seat helped her party in the search for more House seats.

Esty’s win also means Connecticut’s delegation to the US House remains Democratic.  Representative Chris Murphy’s win of retiring Senator Joseph I. Lieberman’s Senate seat also means Connecticut will send two Democrats to the Senate, the other being Senator Richard  Blumenthal.

Democrats won at least two additional seats in the Senate and possibly three. That still falls short of the 60-vote majority needed to end a filibuster or other parliamentary methods used to block legislation.

Connecticut’s Senate race between Murphy and Republican Linda McMahon was one of about a dozen competitive races that would determine which party would hold control of the Senate. Murphy won the seat.

The continued Democratic control of the Senate allows Blumenthal to remain part of the majority party there and gives him a better chance at promoting legislation. He’ll now be joined by Murphy.

(This story originally appeared at CTMirror.org, the website of The Connecticut Mirror, an independent, nonprofit news organization covering government, politics, and public policy in the state.)