Voters in the 32nd District- which includes Watertown, Southbury, Oxford, and other sections west of Waterbury- found themselves not voting for a pair of candidates, but rather against major politicians that they flat out disagreed with.
Democratic groups around the country watched the race between Democrat Greg Cava and Republican Rep. Eric Berthel, for the right to replace Republican Sen. Rob Kane in the Connecticut State Senate.
Since the district was so reliably Republican, it could be viewed as a belweather for support of the new president.
“He did better than we hoped but not good enough to get it," said Joan Oshins, who supported Cava.
Cava lost by about 2,000 votes but the vote totals weren't what made the final results interesting; it was the margin of victory.
Cava lost to Rep. Berthel by ten percentage points. When you consider that Kane won reelection with a margin of 35 points, Democrats felt like they earned a moral victory at the very least, and that the president can be used in even the smallest of political races.
Oshins added, "And I think the vote shows the same thing that the marches have been showing, that people are not happy. People who may have even voted for the president that he’s not coming through with the bravado that he said he was going to.”
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However, the turnout was high, 28 percent according to the Secretary of the State. The disdain for Trump may be matched by that for Gov. Dannel Malloy, who has seen very low approval numbers in his second term in office.
Harry Cairns said he voted for Berthel, as a way to vote against Malloy and his recent proposed budget that saddled towns with more expenses for education and pensions.
“Now the plan is to pass it down to the towns and have the taxpayer, the local taxpayer pay for the pensions," Cairns said. "That’s totally wrong. It puts us in a bad light.”
Democrats can take solace however, because they won the other Senate race in Hartford, and a special House election in West Haven.
