Connecticut Republicans are celebrating Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the possibility of an economic resurgence following Tuesday’s national election against Vice President Kamala Harris, who carried the state by a smaller margin than Trump’s previous two runs for President of the United States.
“Obviously we are ecstatic that President Trump was elected to the White House. It’s going to be good for Connecticut and good for the country,” said Ben Proto, Connecticut Republican State Chairman.
“You are going to see an economic resurgence, a job resurgence,” Proto said. “Home ownership will be in the grasp of the middle class again and the border will be protected. All in all, it’s a very good thing for Connecticut and America.”
Trump narrowed the margin of defeat in Connecticut compared to 2020. President Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by 20.1 points. As of Wednesday afternoon, Harris led Trump by 12.3 points in Connecticut.
“The people in Connecticut didn’t want four more years of President Biden or Vice President Harris’ policies. They were concerned and were looking for a better tomorrow. They remember how well they were doing the last time Trump was in office,” Proto said. “People voted with their pocketbooks and with their children’s and grandchildren’s futures in mind.”
Proto said he always believed Trump would win. He said Trump was a better candidate than Harris, and was critical of Harris’ choice for vice president, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“Politicians are made by their bad decisions, and she made some really bad ones,” Proto said.
Connecticut House GOP leader Vincent Candelora said he was a little surprised at how well Trump did in the state compared to his two previous appearances on the ballot.
“I was also surprised to see in Connecticut but there were no coattails to the under ticket. Obviously, we were looking at state races and are really concerned with that. We didn’t see the carryover of the Trump votes,” Candelora said.
“There’s always headwinds for Republicans in Connecticut, and I think it really comes down to candidates continuing to push retail politics and trying to get the messaging out. But our state is poised a little bit differently in that we’ve had a healthy economy. The budgets haven’t been out of whack so there wasn’t a lot of reason for voters to think they need change.”
Candelora also pointed out that Trump brings out people who don’t normally vote and they were “bullet voting” for him in the presidential race.
“It’s hard to get people to pay attention down ticket,” Candelora said. “There were a lot of close races. Eastern Connecticut has only gotten redder. We still struggled with Fairfield County, and along the shoreline, we continue to lose margins.
“We tend to be the land of steady habits,” he added. “This region tends to put the incumbents back into office.”
He pointed to state Rep. Joe Canino’s strong performance in Torrington against Rep. Michelle Cook.
He noted that Republicans were disappointed in a pair of incumbent state House of Representative losses in the eastern part of the state. Democrat Nick Menapace unseated incumbent Republican Holly Cheeseman in East Lyme. Democrat Nick Gauthier defeated incumbent Republican Kathleen McCarty in Waterford.
“We lost two very good incumbents who were well respected on both sides of the aisle,” Candelora said. “They both narrowly lost, and that was tough. Most of the races we won or lost we anticipated.”
Former state Sen. Len Fasano said he doesn’t always agree with Trump’s rhetoric, delivery and name-calling but said there could be some important takeaways from his campaign that other Republicans can use. Fasano referred to Trump’s message to urban voters. Fasano said he wants to see more Connecticut Republicans reaching out to the state’s cities.
“I agree with his policies and how he brings the message to the cities,” Fasano said. “I think our message should be more uplifting.”
One issue Fasano raised was school choice.
“Parents shouldn’t have to send their children to the school across the street because they live there. It gives them no choice,” he said. “The government is choosing. If another school in another neighborhood is better, they should be able to go there.
“Our system in Connecticut also doesn’t allow people to escape poverty,” he added. “At a certain level of income, you start losing your benefits. It should be more gradual as you improve in your job and excel. We should reward you and not take all of the benefits away right away. Republicans have a philosophy that you should be what you dream to be.”
Fasano also takes exception to shootings in cities like New Haven, Hartford and Bridgeport that aren’t drawing the same outrage as school shootings.
“We need the same services that wrap around school shootings with boots on the ground and grief counseling and find out what happened and prevent it from ever happening again,” Fasano said. “We don’t do that. That (city shooting) story usually follows the weather on the news and that’s insane.
“We need to talk about that and bring our message to the cities. Some of the dialogue from the Democrats talk about in Hartford doesn’t match the needs of the cities,” he added. “I think the state depends on the strength of our cities. We just can’t throw money at them. That is not the solution. We may feel good about giving them money, but the solution is helping people.”
He said some of his Republican colleagues disagree with him on engaging with cities.
“There are some that say you are wasting time in the cities,” Fasano said. “I think those people don’t realize a couple of things. No. 1 is you are never wasting your time when you improve the State of Connecticut, never. No. 2, a healthier city with young kids being able to reach their ambitions and prosper means you are spending less money on social services. Because they are self-sufficient and on their own. We may have to give a big hand up to help them get out there. We need to recognize that’s part of what we need to do and part of who we are.
“Sometimes I think some Republicans don’t think broadly, but very narrowly,” he added. “If it’s Hartford don’t talk to them. If it’s New Haven don’t talk to them. I think that is extraordinarily short-sighted. It has not served our party well. Those would be the people I would have to convince. This win is a boost to Republicans in the state and we need to capitalize.”
