Connecticut GOP endorses Themis Klarides for U.S. Senate, setting up three-way primary against Leora Levy and Peter Lumaj

In a classic battle, former state Rep. Themis Klarides defeated two conservative Republicans to win the party convention’s endorsement Saturday and set up a three-way battle for an August primary.

Klarides supporters said they had been hoping to avoid a primary that would cost time, energy and potentially millions of dollars — making it more difficult to win an uphill battle this fall against two-term incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. The well-known Democrat has been winning statewide elections for the past three decades and has a large war chest of $8.2 million in cash on hand, according to the latest public filing.

The final delegate tally Saturday was 58.96% for Klarides, 20.52% for Greenwich fundraiser Leora Levy and 19.22% for immigration attorney Peter Lumaj of Fairfield. A longtime candidate who talks often about being raised under communism in Albania before moving to the United States in search of the American Dream, Lumaj told reporters he is moving forward with the primary but would eventually support Klarides in November if she wins in August.

Klarides supporters say the two conservative candidates — Levy and Lumaj — could split the far-right vote in the same way that they did Saturday and allow Klarides to win the primary.

“The more, the merrier,” Klarides said after her victory.

“Listen, we agree on way more than we disagree on, and it’s healthy to disagree on some things. If we agree on 70%, you need to focus on the candidate that has the best chance to win in November. I’m the only [Republican] candidate in the race that’s ever won an election. I’ve won 11 elections in a Democrat-leaning district.”

In an internal Republican clash, Klarides has been criticized after saying that she did not vote for President Donald J. Trump in 2020. That led some Republicans to speculate that Klarides had voted for Democrat Joe Biden, which Klarides said Saturday was false.

For the first time, Klarides said she had voted for a write-in candidate for president — her friend, former House Republican leader Lawrence Cafero of Norwalk. Klarides said her vote in 2020 had never been publicly disclosed until Saturday when a Courant reporter asked her directly whom she voted for.

In a deep blue state, Republicans have not won a Senate contest since Lowell P. Weicker Jr. in 1982 as the seat has been dominated by major Democratic leaders such as Chris Dodd, Joe Lieberman, Chris Murphy and Blumenthal.

While Klarides and Levy clashed on their records and multiple issues, they were also split on two of the biggest issues of the day — abortion and guns.

Klarides is a longtime supporter of abortion rights, while Levy is not. Klarides voted for the gun control legislation following the shootings of 20 children and six educators at a public school in Newtown in 2012, while Levy is pushing for Second Amendment rights.

In campaign literature sent to Republicans, Levy describes herself as “the only conservative, pro-life, pro-gun woman in this race!”

Levy has essentially already been running her primary campaign, Republicans said, because she has been mailing two-sided, color fliers to non-delegates who would have no chance of supporting her at the party convention. In particular, she has been targeting Republican women with a history of voting in multiple elections.

Levy’s spokesman, Rick Gorka, had told reporters that Levy would collect signatures if she did not receive 15% of the delegates. Levy and other candidates would have needed 9,273 signatures by June 7 to gain a spot on the ballot, according to Secretary of the State’s office.

Blumenthal, 76, has repeatedly declined to comment about the Republicans, saying that there will be time later in the year to talk about politics.

But in his fund-raising emails, he often refers to his opponents when saying he needs to reach certain money levels.

“I don’t want to begin 2022 by scaling back our campaign efforts — not when I’m up against radical, Trump-loyalist opponents who want to flip this seat,” Blumenthal said in an email to supporters. “With everything from reproductive rights to voting rights to climate justice and more on the line, falling short is not an option.”

Klarides said she would go toe-to-toe with Blumenthal in the same way she battled against the two most recent Democratic governors.

“I don’t think Blumenthal has ever taken a punch,” Klarides told reporters. “As you all know, I punched at [Dannel] Malloy, I punched at [Ned] Lamont, and I will punch at him.”

Republicans were in a good mood Saturday, even though they have not won a statewide race in Connecticut for governor or Congress since 2006. U.S. Rep. Chris Shays of Bridgeport won that year but lost in 2008 — as the state’s last Republican member of Congress.

Party leaders, though, say they have a strong group of candidates this year.

As a well-known insider with 22 years in the state legislature, Klarides was the front-runner going into the convention. After the first round of voting Saturday and before switches, Klarides was leading with 56.34%, compared to 22.4% for Levy and 19.53% for Lumaj.

Klarides supporters said she has the ability and gravitas to defeat Blumenthal, who is known as a powerhouse in Connecticut politics.

As the granddaughter of Greek immigrants in the working-class Naugatuck Valley, Klarides won 11 elections for state legislature in a Democratic-leaning district. During her 22-year career in the state House of Representatives, she because the first female House GOP leader in state history.

She was among the architects of the 2017 bipartisan budget agreement that did not raise taxes and established key caps on bonding, spending and the use of Wall Street money that has led to the state’s large budget surpluses in recent years.

State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, the candidate’s sister, talked about their childhood, saying, “We learned the value of hard work and community.

“There are times when you dig your heels in and times when you work together. Washington is broken. ... Connecticut cannot afford to send the same senator back to Washington and expect a different result.”

Other Senate candidates included Robert Hyde, a Simsbury landscaper who was thrust into the national political spotlight in 2020 at the time of Trump’s first impeachment that was related to a scandal in Ukraine.

In text messages released by the U.S. House of Representatives, Hyde was linked to allegations of an apparent surveillance operation of Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The text messages were released of his interactions with Lev Parnas, a close associate of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer. Parnas was convicted on federal campaign finance charges in October. But Hyde has repeatedly denied that he was ever involved in any surveillance of the ambassador.

Hyde is a Trump financial supporter who maintains a gallery of pictures of himself with members of the Trump family and top Republican insiders from around the nation, including Giuliani, former national security adviser Mike Flynn, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Trump confidant Roger Stone.

Another Senate candidate was John J. Flynn of Norwalk, who had little support among delegates. He was described by supporters as a pro-life Christian and successful businessman who is not afraid to criticize Blumenthal.

In the initial tally, Hyde had 1.34%, while Flynn had 0.33%. After delegates were allowed to switch their votes, Hyde finished with 0.33% and Flynn had one delegate that represented 0.08%.

When Hyde received his first two delegate votes, he shouted, “Let’s keep it going!”

After the Senate race, the delegates had been expecting a contested race for state comptroller. Longtime candidate Mary Fay of West Hartford, who previously ran for Congress and other positions, was running against Patrick Rowland of East Haven, but he suddenly withdrew Saturday.

“He wishes Mary the best of luck and stands in full support,” convention official Paul Formica announced from the podium to loud cheers from the crowd. The cheers came for party unity but also for saving time by avoiding a roll call for 169 municipalities.

Fay, the minority leader of the West Hartford town council, is known for her financial acumen at major corporations in the Fortune 500 before winning three elections in her hometown that is dominated by Democrats.

“Whoa! What a weekend,” Fay said in her acceptance speech. “I’m overwhelmed. ... We’re going to rock this, guys. If you want to get on team Fay, you’re more than welcome.”

The convention stopped shortly after 1:15 p.m. for a moment of silence for three young people who died recently in a car crash, including two sons of television host Tom Dudchik, who served during the administration of Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr.

The three candidates for secretary of the state were Wolcott resident Brock Weber, a chief aide to Republican Mayor Erin Stewart of New Britain who was nominated by conservative Sen. Rob Sampson; longtime state legislator Terrie Wood of Darien, and Dominic Rapini, a Trinity College graduate, longtime Pop Warner neighborhood football coach, and corporate sales executive who is best known statewide for his unsuccessful 2018 race for U.S. Senate. Rapini was nominated by Rep. Kim Fiorello of Greenwich, one of the most conservative members of the House GOP.

“He is a coalition builder,” Fiorello said of Rapini. “How could you not like a man who brings a bunch of cannolis to a meeting?’'

After delegates switched their votes, Rapini gained the nomination with 50.08%, while the two other candidates qualified for a primary to be Connecticut’s chief elections official.

“We know that we have a winnable election here,” Rapini told the crowd. “We have the wind at our backs. We saw it in Virginia. We saw it last November.”

State Republican chairman Ben Proto ended the convention by saying, “That red wave is coming, folks!”

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com.