11 Connecticut towns that tell the story of the 2020 presidential election

The town-by-town map of Connecticut looks decidedly more blue in 2020 than it did in 2016, but primary colors don’t give the complete picture.

According to unofficial results, President-elect Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in Connecticut 59-39, eclipsing Hillary Clinton’s 55-41 statewide win in 2016 and Barack Obama’s 58-40 rout of Mitt Romney in 2012.

But Trump still captured 39 percent and managed to rack up nearly 714,000 votes — roughly 40,500 more than he got in 2016 — despite a raging pandemic, a sputtering local economy and bitter social and political divisions across the state.

Municipalities that most heavily went for Biden in 2020 (by percentage) include Hartford, Bloomfield, New Haven, Bridgeport, Salisbury, New London, Mansfield, West Hartford, Windsor and Westport. The towns that went most heavily for Trump are Wolcott, Sterling, Prospect, Thomaston, Hartland, Watertown, Voluntown, Plymouth, Harwinton and Oxford.

Here’s a look at 11 Connecticut towns that tell a more nuanced story of how the 2020 presidential election played out here at home. (All numbers are unofficial and subject to change.)

1. The Darien pivot

Fairfield County continues to morph into a Democratic powerhouse, and few towns demonstrates that shift as clearly in 2020 as wealthy Darien, where Biden defeated Trump 61-38 — a huge turnaround from Romney’s 65-34 win in 2012 in just eight years.

Even as Trump framed the election as a battle over suburbia, Biden flipped three Fairfield County towns (Trumbull, Brookfield and Sherman). But blue-dog conservatism remains in Darien; voters picked Republican Ellie Kousidis over longtime state Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, and also went for Republicans Eva A. Maldonado and Terrie E. Wood in state legislature races.

2. All-in with Democrats in Salisbury

Home to The Hotchkiss School and Lime Rock Park, Salisbury — a Litchfield County town of 3,700 at the northwest corner of the state — was among the top 10 most heavily leaning Democratic municipalities in Connecticut, voting Biden over Trump 79-20. (It’s also the only one in the top 10 with a population under 20,000.)

Salisbury also voted overwhelmingly for U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes in the Fifth Congressional District and for Democrats in state races. Mirroring nationwide trends for Democratic areas, Salisbury was also in the top 10 of Connecticut towns that used absentee ballots (47 percent of voters) in 2020.

3. Thompson, where the GOP delivers

At the opposite end of the state from Salisbury — geographically and politically — is Thompson, a rural Windham County town of 9,300 with one of the highest Republican turnouts by percentage in the presidential race.

Thompson voters chose Trump over Biden 58-40 (almost the mirror image of the statewide preference) and went for Republicans all down the ballot, including GOP challenger Justin Anderson in the Second Congressional District. Similar to other small Republican towns, only 21 percent of voters in Thompson used an absentee ballot.

4. Ticket splitters in Bristol

After Obama victories in 2008 and 2012, Trump narrowly beat Clinton 48-47 in 2016 on ESPN’s home turf, making Bristol the largest Connecticut municipality he won. (Bristol also voted for Stefanowski over Lamont by 10 points in 2018.)

But Biden appears to have won Bristol 52-46 in 2020, while voters also reelected Democratic state Rep. Chris Ziogas. In local races, Bristol preferred Republican incumbents Henri Martin, Whit Betts and Cara Pavalock-D’Amato.

5. Together in Plainville: President Trump and Rep. Hayes

Bordering Bristol in the southwest corner of Hartford County is Plainville — reliable Trump Country (along with Southington and Berlin) in 2016 and this year, when he beat Biden 50-48. Plainville voters also favored Republican incumbents in 2020 state legislative races.

But Plainville, population 17,500, is the only town statewide to vote for both Trump and Democratic Congresswoman Jahana Hayes in the Fifth District, suggesting a little give-and-take on the national level. (Plainville also narrowly went for Hayes and Democratic U.S. Sen. Christopher Murphy in 2018 as well as GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski.)

6. Red and blue in the hometown of Pez

After Trump won 50-46 here in 2016, the town of Orange in New Haven County — the home of the iconic PEZ candy — flipped to Biden 52-47, a significant shift toward the Dems.

Still, deep divisions remain; according to unofficial numbers, Orange voted narrowly — 17 votes — for Republican challenger Margaret Streicker, who ran a law-and-order campaign against longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro in the Third Congressional District. If the vote totals hold, Orange will be the only Biden-Streicker town in the state.

Orange voters also preferred Republican opponent Dan DeBarba to Working Families Party candidate Mary Welander, who won the 114th House District seat formerly occupied by Republican senate minority leader Themis Klarides.

7. Trump thumps in Plainville

At the northern tip of New Haven County, Wolcott represents the biggest statewide Trump win — 65-33 — by percentage in 2020. Though Trump beat Hillary Clinton by an even wider margin in 2016,

Wolcott, along with bordering Southington and Plymouth, remains a red stronghold amid a sea of blue towns, soundly choosing law-and-order congressional candidate David X. Sullivan over U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes as well as incumbent Republicans in the state legislature.

8. In Burlington, they vote

2020 was a good year for voter turnout. Just west of the largely Democratic Farmington Valley, 92 percent of voters in the rural Hartford County town of Burlington voted, topping all Connecticut municipalities.

Though Trump won Burlington 51-44 in 2016, Biden appears to have flipped it 2020 by less than 100 votes. Burlington voters also chose Republican David X. Sullivan over U.S. Congresswoman Jahana Hayes in the Fifth Congressional District, making it one of only two Biden-Sullivan towns in the state (the other is Brookfield in Fairfield County). Burlington also preferred Republican candidates in state legislature races.

9. Westbrook rides the Biden wave on the shore

Westbrook — where former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was pulled from a mega yacht this summer —was one of only two shoreline towns to favor Trump in 2016. (The other was East Haven.) In 2020, Westbrook went big for Biden (53-45) and Congressman Joe Courtney.

Biden performed all over well in Middlesex County, winning every town. Westbrook preferred Republican challenger Brendan Saunders to Democratic incumbent Norm Needleman in the state senate and racked up votes for Republicans in the state house.

10. Building a blue wall in Colchester-Ledyard-Montville

Biden overperformed in the New London-Norwich metro area, flipping three towns — Colchester, Montville and Ledyard — and establishing a blue wall on the western front of New London County. Voters in all three towns preferred Republican Bob Stefanowski for governor in 2018.

Jed Kolko, chief economist at Indeed.com, tweeted Monday that Norwich-New London was among the five biggest shifts away from Trump in 2020 versus 2016 nationwide, along with Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, CO; San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA; and Portland-South Portland, ME.

11. And finally, a Kanye stronghold

Rapper Kanye West got 236 votes in Connecticut, and 12 of them came from Greenwich — more than anywhere else in the state. (New Haven, with 11 Kanye votes, was a close second.)

Michael Hamad may be reached at mhamad@courant.com.

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