Fairfield County State House Election Results: Polls Close

Rich Kirby
Updated ·8 min read

This story was updated Wednesday at 2:04 a.m.

CONNECTICUT — The polls closed at 8 p.m. in Connecticut for the 2020 presidential election and several important state races. The country is still a ways off from knowing the outcome of the Trump/Biden race, but results for some of the state races are trickling in.

In the 122nd House District, which includes parts of Stratford, Shelton and Trumbull, state Rep. Ben McGorty, a Republican, had a strong lead as of about 1 a.m. Wednesday, with 7,780 votes and 80 percent of precincts reporting, according to unofficial results. His opponent, Democrat Jose Goncalves, had 5,275 votes.

The Democrats in Ridgefield say they flipped a seat:

Aimee Berger-Girvalo defeated Republican Bob Hebert, according to the Democratic Town Committee on social media a little before midnight on Tuesday. Both candidates were vying for the seat in in the House for District 111, formerly occupied by Republican John Frey.

Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan declared victory in his re-election bid for the 2nd House District shortly after 11 p.m. on Twitter. The Democrat defeated Dan Carter, who was elected for three terms to serve in the House for District 2 in 2010, 2012 and again in 2014, before challenging Richard Blumenthal for his Senate seat, and losing. "Humbled and honored to have earned your support for 2 more years as your voice in Hartford! Just spoke with Dan Carter who wants to sit down and discuss ways in which we can work together on the issues that are important to the 2nd District. Now we get back to work!!" Allie-Brennan tweeted.

Incumbent state Rep. Phil Young, a Democrat, is leading in a rematch for the 120th House District against Republican Jim Feehan. With all precincts reporting, unofficial results from the secretary of the state show Young with 6,454 votes to Feehan's 6,122. Both candidates said they are waiting until all absentee ballots are counted Thursday before making any assumptions."We did very well at the polls, but I think the absentee ballots are really going to go for Phil's way," Feehan said. "... I think it's going to be close."Young said he had no plans to declare victory Tuesday."I'm very, very happy, and satisfied that I ran an issues-oriented campaign," he said.

Democrats have declared Stephanie Thomas the winner in the 143rd House District race against Republican Patrizia Zucaro.

Jennifer Leeper will declare victory in the 132nd House District, according to Fairfield Democratic Town Committee Chair Steven Sheinberg. According to preliminary data provided by Sheinberg, Leeper leads incumbent state Rep. Brian Farnen with 7,536 votes to Farnen's 7,267. The 132nd District is a former Republican stronghold and its House seat was held by Fairfield First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick, before she was elected to lead the town in 2019. Tuesday's race between Leeper and Farnen is a rematch after Farnen claimed a narrow victory in a January special election.

Voters in Shelton re-elected Jason Perillo to an eighth term, according to RTC unofficial numbers printed in the New Haven Register.

Republican incumbent state Rep. Stephen Harding claimed victory in the 107th House District race, following the concession of Democrat challenger Kerri Colombo Tuesday night.

Connecticut Democrats have declared Democratic incumbent Patricia Billie Miller the projected winner in the race for the 145th House District over Republican challenger J.D. Ospina. Official results have not been released yet.

Preliminary, unofficial numbers listed on the Secretary of State website early Wednesday morning indicate Republican incumbent Harry Arora has taken the lead in the race for the 151st House District over Democratic candidate Hector Arzeno. The unofficial numbers indicate Arora leads with 7,212 votes, while Arzeno received 6,388 votes.

"We feel comfortable, but we're still going to wait for the numbers to be called," Arora said by phone Wednesday morning.

Republican candidate Joe Kelly confirmed around 10 p.m. he had conceded in the race for the 150th House District against Democratic incumbent Steve Meskers. "The numbers didn't seem to have any path for us to have a victory," Kelly said Tuesday night.

Connecticut Democrats have also declared Democratic incumbent Daniel Fox the projected winner over Republican challenger Wilm Donath for the 148th House District, although official results have yet to be released.

The CT Post reported that four-term incumbent Republican Rep. David Rutigliano defeated Democratic challenger Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox to hold on to his seat in the 123rd House District.

Connecticut Democrats have also declared Democratic incumbent David Michel the projected winner over Republican challenger George Hallenbeck for the 146th House District, however official results have not been released yet.

Democrat Jonathan Steinberg has claimed victory over Chip Stephens in the race for the 136th District of the state house. He will be returning for his sixth term. The website for the Connecticut secretary of state shows Steinberg with 10,446 votes to Stephens' 5,266.

Leading by a strong margin on election night was Democrat state Rep. Joe Gresko, of the 121st House District, who had more than twice the votes of his opponent, according to unofficial results. Gresko received 6,792 votes, compared to 3,064 for Republican challenger and longtime town commission member Ed Scinto.

In the race for the 149th House District, preliminary results on the Secretary of State website showed Democratic candidate Kathleen Stowe rceived 4,057 votes, while Republican candiate Kimberly Fiorello received 4,651 votes plus an additional 185 votes.

Democratic incumbent Caroline Simmons, who ran unopposed in the race for the 144th House District, said Tuesday night she was honored to be re-elected and to have the privilege of serving her constituents for another term.

"I look forward to continuing to work tirelessly for the people of Stamford and to help our state overcome the health and economic consequences of COVID-19," Simmons said in an email, "and to fight for Stamford schools, small businesses and our environment."

These candidates had a relatively stress-free evening, as they all ran unopposed:

Republican/Indepenent JP Sredzinski was re-elected to represent the 112th House District. State house representative from the 125th District, Republican Thomas O'Dea Jr., will also return to Hartford. State representative in the 141st District, Republican/Independent Terrie E. Wood, was re-elected.

Many voters have cast absentee ballots weeks in advance due to the coronavirus pandemic.

All eyes are on the White House race between President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden. Neither Connecticut U.S. Senate seat is up for re-election in this cycle, but all five congressional seats are. All of Connecticut’s state Senate and House of Representative seats are up for election too.

Democrats hold majorities in both the state House and Senate. There are 22 Democratic legislators and 14 Republicans in the Senate and 91 Democrats to 60 Republicans in the House.

(The votes are currently being counted, continue to refresh this article for the latest updates. To receive free, real-time local and state election updates and results from Patch click here.)

Stay on top of all the returns from across Connecticut and our five congressional districts by checking these stories throughout the night.

Connecticut's politics in 2021 will already be different regardless of the election results. Three out of four of the General Assembly caucus leaders didn’t seek re-election this year. House Republican Leader Themis Klarides and Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano announced earlier this year they wouldn’t seek re-election.

House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz announced in 2018 that the two-year term would be his last. He won re-election by a narrow margin in 2018.

Republicans made some gains in both chambers in 2016 and had evenly split the Senate with Democrats. However, 2018’s election shifted 12 seats in the House and five in the Senate from red to blue.

Below are the Connecticut State House races in Fairfield County that are still undecided:

Office: State Representative 106

  • Rebekah Harriman-Stites, Democratic Party

  • Mitch Bolinsky, Republican Party

  • Rebekah Harriman-Stites, Working Families Party

Office: State Representative 108

Office: State Representative 109

Office: State Representative 110

Office: State Representative 124

  • Andre F. Baker, Democratic Party

  • Jasmin Sanchez, Republican Party

  • Wilfredo Martinez, Independent Party

Office: State Representative 127

  • John (Jack) F. Hennessy, Democratic Party

  • Peter Perillo, Republican Party

  • Robert T. Keeley Jr., Petitioning Candidate

Office: State Representative 128

  • Christopher Rosario, Democratic Party

  • Ethan Book Jr., Republican Party

  • Ethan Book Jr., Independent Party

  • Wanda R. Simmons, Petitioning Candidate

Office: State Representative 129

  • Steven Stafstrom, Democratic Party

  • Helene S. Kouassi, Republican Party

  • Robert E. Halstead, Petitioning Candidate

Office: State Representative 130

  • Antonio Felipe, Democratic Party

  • Terrence A. Sullivan, Republican Party

Office: State Representative 133

Office: State Representative 134

Office: State Representative 135

Office: State Representative 137

  • Chris Perone, Democratic Party

  • Ellen G. Wink, Republican Party

  • Ellen G. Wink, Independent Party

Office: State Representative 138

Office: State Representative 140

  • Travis Simms, Democratic Party

  • John J.Flynn, Republican Party

Office: State Representative 142

Office: State Representative 147

  • Matt Blumenthal, Democratic Party

  • Dan Maymin, Republican Party


Patch editors Anna Bybee-Schier, Rich Scinto and RJ Scofield contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on the Fairfield Patch