Heather Somers Wins GOP Nod for Lieutenant Governor

Groton Town Council member Heather Somers has won the three-way Republican primary for lieutenant governor and will run alongside Tom Foley in the November general election.

State Rep. Penny Bacchiochi conceded the lieutenant governor race Wednesday, according to her campaign staff, after the three-way primary election remained too close to call when the polls closed Tuesday night.

 
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Somers had a slight lead over Bacchiochi with 27,083 votes over Bacchiochi's 26,312, a difference of 771 votes.

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According to the Secretary of the State's office, a recount is required if the margin between the candidates is less than 0.5 percent of the total votes cast and the candidates are not more than 1,000 votes apart.

A recount is also necessary if there's a margin of fewer than 20 votes, the Secretary of the State's office says.

"So while this is an incredibly close result in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor, it is not close enough to trigger an automatic statewide recount in the race.  Therefore, I have determined that there will be no statewide recount of the votes for Lieutenant Governor," said Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, in a statement. 

Bacchiochi received the endorsement of the state Republicans at their convention in May. She has weathered criticism from Somers, who has taken issue with her support for the medical use of marijuana among other issues.

Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker trailed the candidates with 25,162, a 1,300-vote difference from Bacchiochi.

Meanwhile, John McKinney conceded the GOP primary for governor to Tom Foley, who won the race with 44,464 votes to McKinney's 35,563, giving him the nod to take on Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in the November gubernatorial election, according to the unofficial results.

The office of the secretary of the state says an automatic recount is ordered if the vote-getters are within 1,000 votes or a half-percentage point of all votes cast.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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