Connecticut Democrats gathered Wednesday to celebrate Gov. Ned Lamont’s landslide reelection and Republicans’ stunning General Assembly losses as an affirmation of them and a repudiation of President Donald Trump that comes with opportunity and challenges. Basking in sunshine outside the sta te Capitol, Democrats assessed what message voters intended in giving the Democratic governor an 18-percentage point win over Ryan Fazio while making the GOP an endangered species in Hartford with a legislative drubbing of historic dimensions. “I think the message yesterday was loud and clear. People are fed up with what’s going on in Washington, D.C., and the dysfunction there, and they’re having a hard time getting by,” Lamont said. “And I like the fact that people had some confidence in the state of Connecticut and how we’re managing through these very complicated times.” Was it truly a mandate, given the results reflected similar losses rung up Congress and state capitals across the U.S., including Austin, Texas?  “I think it’s a plea,” Congressman-elect Luke Bronin said. “It’s a plea by the American people for leadership that focuses more on making their lives better and less on making some leaders’ friends richer. It’s a plea for leadership from the White House to Congress to state houses across the country that focuses on fixing the things that feel broken in this country.” Other Democrats nodded when Bronin said voters will expect them to deliver solutions. Barring changes in recounts, Democrats gained eight seats in the Senate to win a majority of 33-3 in the Senate and picked up 14 in the House to swell their majority to 116-35. The GOP’s House results were the worst since the post-Watergate debacle of 1974; the Senate was the worst ever. “It is without a doubt that last night the voters of Connecticut and this country sent a message to Washington and the powerful interests who have a lot of power down there that they’re fed up with that direction,” Comptroller Sean Scanlon said. “But I want to also be very clear that what happened here in Connecticut is not just the result of that message; it’s the result of the hard work that we have done in this state to turn this state around.” Republicans disagreed. Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, explains his gun control objections to an empty gallery and nearly empty Senate in May, 2026. Credit: mark pazniokas / CT Mirror “Make no mistake, the election results are a reaction to the chaos in Washington rather than an endorsement of the policies of Democrats in our General Assembly,” said House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, who was unopposed for reelection. Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, who was among the casualties Tuesday night, said the national wave that flipped control of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House to Democrats and gave Democrats a majority of governorships was greater than anything the GOP could offer in defense. “It has absolutely nothing to do with me or Vin or Steve and the state of the Republican Party in Connecticut,” said Ben Proto, the state chair of the Republican Party. Senate Democrats are set on Thursday to vote for Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk as the next Senate president pro tem and Sen. Gary Winfield of New Haven as successor to Duff as majority leader. Duff said the Democrats’ success were due to more than the blue wave.  “We targeted every Republican seat but two, and the two we didn’t were in firm Republican hands,” Duff said. The only Republican victors were Sen. Eric Berthel of Watertown, Sen. Henri Martin of Bristol and Sen. Rob Sampson of Wolcott. Sen. Paul Cicarella of North Haven lost a close race that faces as recount. House Democrats are committed to reelecting House Speaker Matt Ritter of Hartford and House Majority Leader Jason Rojas of East Hartford. In a press conference in his office and then at a unity event outside the Capitol on Wednesday, the governor said Democrats could claim a mandate, albeit one enmeshed in national politics.  How he define it to the new lawmakers? “I would tell them, look where we were eight years ago. Look where we are today,” Lamont said. “I think people feel pretty good about the direction we’ve gone, how we’ve been able to get our fiscal house in order. That has also allowed us to get resources to make some significant new investments that we weren’t able to do in the 2010s.” ...read more read less