1994 Connecticut Secretary of the State election

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1994 Connecticut Secretary of State election
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Nominee Miles S. Rapoport Andrea Scott
Party Democratic Republican
Alliance A Connecticut Party
Popular vote493,995491,758
Percentage50.1%49.9%
Connecticut Secretary of the State Election Results by County, 1994.svg
1994 Connecticut secretary of state election results map by municipality.svg
1998 Connecticut state treasurer election by congressional district.svg
Rapoport:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Scott:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Secretary of State before election

Pauline R. Kezer
Republican

Elected Secretary of State

Miles S. Rapoport
Democratic

The 1994 Connecticut Secretary of the State election took place on November 8, 1994, to elect the Secretary of the State of Connecticut. Incumbent Republican Pauline R. Kezer did not seek re-election to a second term, instead opting to run for governor.

Contents

Democratic nominee and state representative from the 18th district Miles S. Rapoport narrowly defeated Republican nominee Andrea Scott by 2,237 votes, a margin of just 0.22%. As of 2025, this was the last time the Secretary of the State of Connecticut changed partisan control.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

  • Andrea Scott, candidate for secretary of the state in 1990 and member of the State Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities [1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Endorsements

Miles S. Rapoport

State legislators

Organizations

Labor unions

Julia H. Tashjian

Organizations

  • Greater Bridgeport Women's Club [4]
  • United States Veterans political action committee [4]

Results

The Democratic primary was held on September 13, 1994. State Representative Miles S. Rapoport defeated former Secretary of the State Julia H. Tashjian in a closer-than-expected race. Tashjian ran for re-election in 1990 but was defeated by Republican nominee Pauline R. Kezer. Tashjian was accused of benefiting from having her name next to state comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Bill Curry on the ballot, who exceeded expectations in the Democratic primary. Tashjian dismissed these claims, saying "Maybe Bill Curry benefitted a little bit from me. I went out there and met the voters."

Rapoport declared victory around 11:30 pm Tuesday night while Tashjian initially refused to concede the close race. [4]

Democratic primary results [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Miles S. Rapoport 77,253 52.53%
Democratic Julia H. Tashjian 69,80147.47%
Total votes147,054 100.0%

Third-party candidates and independent candidates

A Connecticut Party

A Connecticut Party endorsed Rapoport, giving him access to an additional ballot line. Rapoport received just over a quarter of his total vote share under A Connecticut Party. Official designee

General election

Results

1994 Connecticut Secretary of the State election [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Miles S. Rapoport366,38037.17%
A Connecticut Party Miles S. Rapoport127,61512.95%
Total Miles S. Rapoport 493,995 50.11%
Republican Andrea Scott491,75849.89%
Total votes985,753 100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican

By congressional district

Rapoport and Scott each won three of six congressional districts. [6]

DistrictScottRapoportRepresentative
1st 41%59% Barbara Kennelly
2nd 46%54% Sam Gejdenson
3rd 48%52% Rosa DeLauro
4th 58%42% Chris Shays
5th 58%42% Gary Franks
6th 51%49% Nancy Johnson

References

  1. ↑ Ravo, Nick (July 21, 1990). "Connecticut Republicans Appear Ready to Nominate Rep. Rowland". New York Times . Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  2. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of the State. "Candidate: Miles S. Rapoport - Election Results Archive". electionhistory.ct.gov. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  3. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of the State. "Candidate: Julia H. Tashjian - Election Results Archive". electionhistory.ct.gov. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Keating, Christopher (September 14, 1994). "Rapoport Beats Tashjian in secretary of the state race". Hartford Courant . Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  5. ↑ Connecticut Secretary of the State. "1994 General Election - Secretary of the State". electionhistory.ct.gov. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Statement of Vote" (PDF). Secretary of the State of Connecticut . Archived (PDF) from the original on March 17, 2025. Retrieved August 26, 2025.
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