2022 Connecticut Secretary of the State election

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2022 Connecticut Secretary of State election
Flag of Connecticut.svg
  2018 November 8, 20222026 
  Stephanie Thomas 2023 (cropped).jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Stephanie Thomas Dominic Rapini
Party Democratic Republican
Alliance Working Families
Popular vote687,714532,218
Percentage55.2%42.7%

Connecticut Secretary of State Election Results by County, 2022.svg
Connecticut Secretary of State Election Results by Municipality, 2022.svg
2022 Connecticut secretary of the state election results map by congressional district.svg
Thomas:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Rapini:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

Secretary of State before election

Mark Kohler
Democratic

Elected Secretary of State

Stephanie Thomas
Democratic

The 2022 Connecticut Secretary of the State election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next Secretary of the State of Connecticut. Incumbent Democrat Denise Merrill planned to retire at the end of her elected term, [1] but resigned on June 30 to care for her ailing husband. [2] Governor Lamont appointed former associate attorney general Mark Kohler to the position. Kohler was sworn in on July 11. He was not a candidate for the office in the November election. [3]

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrawn

Declined

Controversy

During Matt Lesser's election bid for Secretary of the State in 2022, he faced backlash for attempting to change the order of balloting at the Democratic State Convention in the final hours.

Lesser pushed to have his race listed at the top rather than the end, a strategic move driven by the belief that his chances of endorsement might diminish if several white male candidates were considered before him.

Notably, two leading contenders for the endorsement were women of color, and the eventual nominee was Stephanie Thomas, the current Secretary of State. [17]


Endorsements

Maritza Bond
Local officials
Labor unions
Matt Lesser (withdrawn)
Stephanie Thomas
Statewide officials
State legislators
Local officials
Organizations
Declined to endorse
Statewide officials

Results

Democratic primary results [25]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Stephanie Thomas 84,392 75.81%
Democratic Maritza Bond26,92924.19%
Total votes111,321 100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

  • Dominic Rapini, senior account manager at Apple and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 [26]

Eliminated in primary

Withdrawn

Endorsements

Dominic Rapini

Results

Republican primary results [31]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Dominic Rapini 51,080 58.23%
Republican Terrie Wood 36,63441.77%
Total votes87,714 100.0

Independent Party of Connecticut primary

Candidates

Nominee

  • Cynthia Jennings, environmental attorney [32]

Libertarian primary

Nominee

Green primary

Nominee

General election

Debate

2022 Connecticut Secretary of the State debate
No.DateHostModeratorLink Democratic Republican Libertarian Green Independent Party of Connecticut
Key:
 P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
Stephanie Thomas Dominic RapiniStephen DincherDouglas LaryCynthia Jennings
1Oct. 25, 2022 Connecticut Public
Broadcasting
Walter Smith
Randolph
YouTube PPNNN

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [34] Safe DDecember 1, 2021
Elections Daily [35] Safe DNovember 7, 2022

Results

2022 Connecticut Secretary of the State election [36]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Stephanie Thomas665,63153.44%−0.37%
Working Families Stephanie Thomas22,0831.77%−0.30%
Total Stephanie Thomas 687,714 55.22% -0.67%
Republican Dominic Rapini532,21842.73%+0.27%
Independent Party Cynthia Jennings25,4882.05%N/A
Total votes1,245,420 100.0%
Democratic hold

By congressional district

Thomas won all 5 congressional districts. [37]

DistrictThomasRapiniRepresentative
1st 60%37% John B. Larson
2nd 53%45% Joe Courtney
3rd 56%42% Rosa DeLauro
4th 58%40% Jim Himes
5th 50%48% Jahana Hayes

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References

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  3. McQuaid, Hugh (June 30, 2022). "Lamont Appoints Mark Kohler, a Recently Retired Associate AG, as Secretary of State" . Retrieved July 1, 2022.
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Official campaign websites