1990 Connecticut Senate election

1990 Connecticut State Senate election

←  1988 November 6, 1990 1992 →
All 36 seats in the Connecticut State Senate 19 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Cornelius O'Leary Reginald Smith (retired) Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat 7th 8th Last election 23 13 Seats before 23 12 Seats won 20 16 Seat change 3 4   Third party   Leader Emil Benvenuto (lost-reelection) Party A Connecticut Leader's seat 36th Last election 0 Seats before 1 Seats won 0 Seat change 1
Results:      Democratic hold      Republican hold     Republican gain
President pro tempore before election John B. Larson Democratic Elected President pro tempore John B. Larson Democratic

The 1990 Connecticut State Senate elections took place as a part of the biennial 1990 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.

The Democrats lost 3 seats, while the Republicans gained 4 seats, with the Democrats ultimately maintaining their majority in the Senate.

These elections also saw the attempt of Greenwich selectman and future governor Ned Lamont's attempt to win in the 36th district, but he lost to Republican William H. Nickerson after Republican Senator Emil Benvenuto, who had switched to the A Connecticut Party, also lost to him. ^{[1] [2]}

Retirements

Six incumbents did not seek re-election. ^[3]

Democrats

1. District 20: Mark H. Powers retired.
2. District 27: Richard Blumenthal retired to successfully run for Attorney General.

Republican

1. District 8: Reginald J. Smith retired. (Previously ran for governor)
2. District 14: Tom Scott retired to unsuccessfully run for Connecticut's 3rd congressional district against Rosa DeLauro.
3. District 32: James H. McLaughlin retired to unsuccessfully run for Connecticut's 5th congressional district.
4. District 33: Kenneth T. Hampton retired.

Incumbents defeated

Three incumbents were defeated in general elections. ^{[4] [5]}

In general election

A Connecticut

1. District 36: Emil Benvenuto lost re-election to Republican William H. Nickerson after he had switched from Republican to the A Connecticut Party.

Democrats

1. District 25: John Atkin lost re-election to Robert Genuario.
2. District 12: Thomas J. Sullivan lost re-election to William Aniskovich.

Results

District 1

Connecticut's 1st State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	William A. DiBella (incumbent)	12,363	100.00%
Total votes			12,363	100.00%
	Democratic hold

District 2

Connecticut's 2nd State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Frank D. Barrows (incumbent)	10,566	60.6%
	Republican	Mary K. Drost	6,871	39.4%
Total votes			17,437	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 3

Connecticut's 3rd State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John B. Larson (incumbent)	21,307	68.8%
	Republican	Debra M. Gaudette	9,672	31.2%
Total votes			30,979	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 4

Connecticut's 4th State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael P. Meotti (incumbent)	24,465	65.3%
	Republican	Sonya "Sonny" Googins	12,998	34.7%
Total votes			37,463	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 5

Connecticut's 5th State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kevin Sullivan (incumbent)	26,372	65.58%
	Republican	Douglas T. Putnam	13,421	33.37%
	Libertarian	Alfred F. Neves	424	1.05%
Total votes			40,217	100.00%
	Democratic hold

District 6

Connecticut's 6th State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joseph H. Harper Jr. (incumbent)	14,366	100.00%
Total votes			14,366	100.00%
	Democratic hold

District 7

Connecticut's 7th State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Cornelius O'Leary (incumbent)	20,054	90.1%
	Libertarian	Robert S. Loomis	2,204	9.9%
Total votes			22,258	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 8

Connecticut's 8th State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	James T. Fleming	21,872	59.4%
	Democratic	David A. Baram	14,981	40.7%
Total votes			36,853	100.0%
	Republican hold

District 9

Connecticut's 9th State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	A. Cynthia Matthews (incumbent)	21,094	58.5%
	Republican	Lawrence J. Ebner	14,958	41.5%
Total votes			36,052	100.0%
	Democratic hold

District 26

Connecticut's 26th State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Judith G. Freedman (incumbent)	26,527	100.00%
Total votes			26,527	100.00%
	Republican hold

District 36

The 36th district consisted of all of Greenwich and the northwestern parts of Stamford. It hadn't elected a Democrat as its State Senator since its creation in 1942. ^[6] The last time a Democratic candidate for state senate won a district representing Greenwich was H. Allen Barton in 1930.

On May 23, 1990, Emil Benvenuto endorsed A Connecticut Party candidate Lowell Weicker for governor. This outraged the state Republican Party and the Greenwich Republican Town Committee (RTC). On July 10, state representative William H. Nickerson announced his candidacy for the seat. ^[7] Benvenuto initially sought to run for re-election as a Republican, with the town convention supposed to take place on July 23. However, Benvenuto needed the support of atleast six delegates (or 20%) of the RTC's 27 delegates to force a September 11 primary against Nickerson, but only having the support of four or five delegates. On July 16, Benvenuto announced his withdrawal from the primary and that he would run on Weicker's A Connecticut Party ticket. ^[8]

Connecticut's 36th State Senate district election, 1990

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	William H. Nickerson	12,588	42.88%
	A Connecticut Party	Emil Benvenuto (incumbent)	9,488	32.32%
	Democratic	Ned Lamont	7,278	24.80%
Total votes			29,354	100.00%
	Republican gain from A Connecticut Party

Results by district

Results by district
District	Nickerson Republican		Benvenuto A Connecticut		Lamont Democratic		Total
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Greenwich	8,594	40.39%	7,631	35.86%	5,055	23.75%	21,280
1	637	37.96%	572	34.09%	469	27.95%	1,678
2	347	52.10%	168	25.23%	151	22.67%	666
2A	219	32.06%	316	46.27%	148	21.67%	683
3	155	27.38%	238	42.05%	173	30.57%	566
3A	68	23.53%	125	43.25%	96	33.22%	289
4	270	31.25%	309	35.76%	285	32.99%	864
4A	167	31.27%	226	42.32%	141	26.41%	534
5	778	39.43%	692	35.07%	503	25.50%	1,973
6	770	39.43%	640	32.77%	543	27.80%	1,953
7	824	53.13%	390	25.14%	337	21.73%	1,551
7A	118	39.20%	93	30.90%	90	29.90%	301
8	750	31.32%	1,120	46.76%	525	21.92%	2,395
9	653	35.74%	712	38.97%	462	25.29%	1,827
10	1,002	57.06%	391	22.27%	363	20.67%	1,756
11	878	61.31%	295	20.60%	259	18.09%	1,432
11A	414	57.98%	192	26.89%	108	15.13%	714
12	241	24.49%	569	57.83%	174	17.68%	984
12A	303	27.20%	583	52.33%	228	20.47%	1,114
Stamford	3,994	49.47%	1,857	23.00%	2,223	27.53%	8,074
Totals	12,588	42.88%	9,488	32.32%	7,278	24.80%	29,354

References

1. "Democrats keep control of General Assembly". The Norwalk Hour . November 7, 1990.
2. "1990 Nov 6 :: General Election :: State Senator :: District 36". Connecticut Secretary of State.
3. Judd Everhart (May 16, 1990). "End of session closes doors on some political careers". The Norwalk Hour .
4. "Office of the Secretary of State". Connecticut Secretary of State.
5. "1990 Statement of vote". Connecticut Secretary of State.
6. "Connecticut State Register and Manual, 1988". Connecticut State Library .
7. Christopher Keating (July 11, 1990). "Nickerson to run for Benvenuto seat" . Stamford Advocate – via Newspapers.com.
8. Lesley Clark (July 17, 1990). "Benvenuto to be independent candidate in re-election bid" . Stamford Advocate – via Newspapers.com.