1982 Connecticut Senate election

Not to be confused with 1982 United States Senate election in Connecticut.

1982 Connecticut State Senate election

← 1980 November 2, 1982 1984  →
All 36 seats in the Connecticut State Senate 19 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Richard Schneller George Gunther Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat 20th 21st Last election 23 13 Seats won 23 13 Seat change Popular vote 574,592 468,465 Percentage 54.98% 44.82% Swing 4.42% 4.61%
Results:      Democratic hold     Democratic gain      Republican hold     Republican gain
President pro tempore before election James J. Murphy Jr. Democratic Elected President pro tempore James J. Murphy Jr. Democratic

The 1982 Connecticut State Senate elections took place as a part of the biennial 1982 United States elections. All 36 seats were up for re-election. Senators serve two year terms and are up for re-election every election cycle.

While both parties gained and lost seats, neither had a net-change, leading to the Democrats maintaining their 23-13 majority over the Republicans. ^[1]

Immediately following the elections, Republican Senate minority leader George Gunther was ousted and replaced with Philip S. Robertson.

Retirements

Eight incumbents did not seek re-election.

Democrats

1. District 5: Clifton A. Leonhardt retired to run for Connecticut's 6th congressional district. (Later withdrew). ^[2]
2. District 9: Bill Curry retired to unsuccessfully run for Connecticut's 6th congressional district against Nancy Johnson.
3. District 11: Anthony M. Ciarlone retired.

Republican

1. District 6: Nancy Johnson retired to successfully run for Connecticut's 6th congressional district against Bill Curry.
2. District 8: Russell L. Post Jr. retired to run for governor. (Later withdrew). ^[3]
3. District 15: Gerald Labriola retired to unsuccessfully run for lieutenant governor of Connecticut.
4. District 25: Alfred Santaniello Jr. retired.
5. District 28: Myron R. Ballen retired.

Special elections

On December 31, 1980, Connecticut Governor Ella Grasso was forced to resign due to health issues after she was diagnosed with cancer. Her lieutenant, William A. O'Neill succeeded her as governor. According to Connecticut law, the President pro tempore of the Senate, at the time of which was Joseph J. Fauliso, would automatically assume the office of lieutenant governor once vacant. This left his seat, the 1st district, vacant, creating a special election.

On February 17, 1981, freshman Democratic state-representative William A. DiBella beat Republican Donald B. LaCroix, 76.8% to 23.2%, holding the seat Democratic. ^[4]

Incumbents defeated

In primary election

Democrats

1. District 3: Marcella Fahey lost re-election to John B. Larson.

In general election

Democrats

1. District 33: Frederick R. Knous lost re-election to Kenneth T. Hampton. ^[5]

Results

Senate seats

Democratic			63.89%
Republican			36.11%

Popular vote

Democratic			54.98%
Republican			44.82%

District 1

Connecticut's 1st State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William A. DiBella (incumbent)	16,767	100.00%
Total votes			16,767	100.00%
	Democratic hold

District 2

Connecticut's 2nd State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wilber G. Smith (incumbent)	14,049	69.0%
	Republican	Hendrik Eleveld	6,328	31.0%
Total votes			20,377	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 3

Connecticut's 3rd State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John B. Larson	18,402	62.5%
	Republican	Kevin H. Norige	11,047	37.5%
Total votes			29,449	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 4

Connecticut's 4th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Carl A. Zinsser (incumbent)	17,429	50.6%
	Democratic	Stephen T. Penny	17,024	49.4%
Total votes			34,453	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 5

Connecticut's 5th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Anne P. Streeter	24,274	56.9%
	Democratic	Gerald A. Roisman	18,092	42.4%
	Libertarian	Dana L. Downing	313	0.7%
Total votes			42,679	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 6

Connecticut's 6th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joseph H. Harper, Jr.	17,859	66.1%
	Republican	William M. Buzanoski	8,823	32.6%
	Solidarity Party	Joseph K. Pac	358	1.3%
Total votes			27,040	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 7

Connecticut's 7th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Cornelius O'Leary (incumbent)	20,290	66.7%
	Republican	John C. Hinchliffe Jr.	10,150	33.3%
Total votes			30,440	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 8

Connecticut's 8th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Reginald J. Smith	19,808	55.5%
	Democratic	John D. McKeon	15,893	44.5%
Total votes			35,701	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 9

Connecticut's 9th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	A. Cynthia Matthews	19,902	54.3%
	Republican	Charles E. Alfano	16,738	45.7%
Total votes			36,640	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 10

Connecticut's 10th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John C. Daniels (incumbent)	16,823	74.4%
	Republican	Thomas E. Mansfield	5,794	25.6%
Total votes			22,617	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 11

Connecticut's 11th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Anthony V. Avallone	17,421	69.4%
	Republican	Martin L. Rudnick	7,692	30.6%
Total votes			25,113	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 12

Connecticut's 12th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Regina R. Smith (incumbent)	17,151	54.9%
	Republican	Jay Cretella	14,080	45.1%
Total votes			31,231	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 13

Connecticut's 13th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Amelia P. Mustone (incumbent)	18,672	67.3%
	Republican	Louis Maleto	9,087	32.7%
Total votes			27,759	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 14

Connecticut's 14th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Thomas Scott (incumbent)	16,355	52.9%
	Democratic	Joan P. Abeshouse	14,541	47.1%
Total votes			30,896	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 15

Connecticut's 15th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert G. Dorr	15,231	50.5%
	Republican	Thomas F. Upson	13,823	45.9%
	Independent	Jo-El McGuinness	1,093	3.6%
Total votes			30,147	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 16

Connecticut's 16th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William J. Sullivan (incumbent)	16,850	61.5%
	Republican	Joseph J. Stango	10,549	38.5%
Total votes			27,399	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 17

Connecticut's 17th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Eugene A Skowronski (incumbent)	19,723	61.3%
	Republican	George R. Temple	12,461	38.7%
Total votes			32,184	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 18

Connecticut's 18th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mary A. Martin (incumbent)	13,026	54.3%
	Republican	Victor T. Boatwright	10,976	45.7%
Total votes			24,002	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 19

Connecticut's 19th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James J. Murphy Jr. (incumbent)	17,150	64.5%
	Republican	Peter J. Reenstra	9,461	35.5%
Total votes			26,611	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 20

Connecticut's 20th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard F. Schneller (incumbent)	18,214	60.3%
	Republican	Henry J. Wyatt	11,998	39.7%
Total votes			30,212	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 21

Connecticut's 21st State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George Gunther (incumbent)	19,454	63.7%
	Democratic	Virginia M. Chittem	11,097	36.3%
Total votes			30,551	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 22

Connecticut's 22nd State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Howard T. Owens Jr. (incumbent)	17,739	56.6%
	Republican	Dale W. Radcliffe	13,361	42.6%
	Conservative	Fred Radford	263	0.8%
Total votes			31,363	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 23

Connecticut's 23rd State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Margaret E. Morton (incumbent)	10,351	70.1%
	Republican	Joseph Haschak	4,424	29.9%
Total votes			14,775	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 24

Connecticut's 24th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Wayne A. Baker (incumbent)	13,212	51.6%
	Republican	Martin J. Smith Jr.	12,388	48.4%
Total votes			25,600	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 25

Connecticut's 25th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Andrew J Santaniello	13,678	51.3%
	Democratic	Andrew A. Glickson	12,965	48.7%
Total votes			26,643	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 26

Connecticut's 26th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John G. Matthews (incumbent)	21,924	67.4%
	Democratic	Eugene E. Cederbaum	10,602	32.6%
Total votes			32,526	100.00%
	Republican hold

District 27

Connecticut's 27th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thom Serrani (incumbent)	16,652	64.5%
	Republican	Mac Marshman	9,166	35.5%
Total votes			25,818	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 28

Connecticut's 28th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fred H. Lovegrove Jr.	18,291	53.4%
	Democratic	Patricia O'Hearne	15,980	46.6%
Total votes			34,271	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 29

Connecticut's 29th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Audrey P. Beck (incumbent)	18,291	68.6%
	Republican	Glenn A. Shiffer Jr.	8,375	31.4%
Total votes			26,666	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 30

Connecticut's 30th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	M. Adela Eads (incumbent)	18,422	55.0%
	Democratic	Bill Willis	15,096	45.0%
Total votes			33,518	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 31

Connecticut's 31st State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steven C. Casey (incumbent)	21,814	74.7%
	Republican	Joseph A. Shelto Jr.	7,400	25.3%
Total votes			29,214	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 32

Connecticut's 32nd State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William F. Rogers III (incumbent)	18,059	60.2%
	Democratic	Robert J. Allan	11,927	39.8%
Total votes			29,986	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 33

Connecticut's 33rd State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kenneth T. Hampton	16,663	50.7%
	Democratic	Frederick R. Knous (incumbent)	16,195	49.3%
Total votes			32,858	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 34

Connecticut's 34th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Philip S. Robertson (incumbent)	18,424	57.1%
	Democratic	Carmen Romano	13,828	42.9%
Total votes			32,252	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 35

Connecticut's 35th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael J. Skelley (incumbent)	15,083	55.9%
	Republican	Isham L. Martin Jr.	11,902	44.1%
Total votes			26,985	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 36

Connecticut's 36th State Senate district election, 1982

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael L. Morano (incumbent)	19,661	64.8%
	Democratic	Peter Gasparino	10,680	35.2%
Total votes			30,341	100.00%
	Republican hold

References

1. "Democrats Hold State Senate, Post Gains in House". The Norwalk Hour . November 3, 1982.
2. "Willis, Leonhardt quit Sixth Congressional race". Record-Journal . May 8, 1982.
3. "Post Drops Out of GOP Contest". The Norwalk Hour . July 17, 1982.
4. "DiBella Sweeps Special Election". The Norwalk Hour . February 18, 1981.
5. "1982 General Election". electionhistory.ct.gov. 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2025.