Governor-elect Ned Lamont: "We will solve this problem by working together"

Ned Lamont will be the next governor of Connecticut, beating Republican Bob Stefanowski with a coalition of urban and suburban voters while a vague democrat swept the state.

At a press conference at noon at Dunkin Donuts Park in Hartford on Wednesday, Lamont said that he wanted to "thank a lot of friends … We had the biggest turnout in the world. recent history.

Lamont said that he had received a "gracious" appeal from Stefanowski and had committed to working with his former opponent.

"We both said we are meeting," said Lamont. "He will do everything in his power to help us. Thank you Bob. "

Lamont pledged to form a multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral coalition to address the country's huge tax problems.

"I want work there. I want business leaders there. I want Democrats there. I want Republicans out there, "said Lamont. "We will solve this problem by working together."

Stefanowski conceded the race to the governor on Wednesday morning after the belated return of state cities that pushed Lamont to victory.

"A few moments ago, I called Ned Lamont to concede the race for the governorship and to congratulate him on his victory in the fierce fight," Stefanowski said in a statement issued by his office shortly after 9 am . "I wish both Ned and the state of Connecticut success over the next four years."

"Although this is not the result we were hoping for, I am pleased to have been able to draw as much attention to the tax burden of this state. Think about it. At the start of this race, we were laser focused on reducing taxes, while the other candidates were talking about raising taxes. We were able to model the discussion so that the other candidates slowly begin to arrive at the same conclusion to varying degrees. "

The unofficial results showed Mr. Lamont nearly 18,000 votes in favor of Stefanowski with 94% of state reports, according to the secretary of the state office.

Stefanowski spoke to reporters outside a Rocky Hill hotel on Wednesday, congratulating Lamont and offering him all the help he needed.

"After a long campaign, it could not have been more kind and I could not be more grateful," said Lamont in a statement. "I look forward to working with him because we all need to come together, regardless of the political party, to solve the biggest challenges of our state.

"I am humble and I want every resident to know how grateful I am for this extraordinary honor. I will work every day – honestly and thoughtfully – to advance this state and be a champion of Connecticut. "

Lamont plans to comment at Dunkin 'Donuts Park at noon.

In conceding, Stefanowski said "the margin was enough" to give Lamont victory. The problems of voter registration the same day are not important enough to change race. "It's not enough to change the result."

The unofficial results showed Mr. Lamont nearly 18,000 votes in favor of Stefanowski with 94% of state reports, according to the secretary of the state office.

"I received the most votes from all the Republicans in the history of Connecticut, but they really got the vote," Stefanowski told reporters on Tuesday. Voter turnout exceeded participation in 2014 and 2010.

Lamont took Bridgeport, the most populous city in the state, with 15,931 votes, and Hartford with 17,238 votes, according to unofficial results posted on the government secretary's website before dawn.

In New Haven, barely 20% of polling stations reported results at 9 am, with Lamont having a 6,616 vote lead.

By nine o'clock, all 169 municipalities in the state, with the exception of New Haven and Middlebury, had submitted the complete voting results to the secretary of the state office and Lamont was maintaining a comfortable lead.

Middlebury's results were reported by the Associated Press and showed Stefanowski with a small margin of victory, but not close enough to defeat Lamont's outstanding votes in New Haven.

"Good things come to those who are waiting and things look good!" Said Susan Bysiewicz, vice president of Lamont, in a Facebook post after 6 pm Wednesday. "Thank you to everyone who works hard to correctly count the results. We are enthusiastic and grateful. Proud to be part of this adventure with Ned Lamont!

The two candidates for governorship, who fired their supporters after an hour of work, were preparing for a protracted fight in the race as election officials completed the arduous task of counting votes on a day of high turnout, despite the torrential rains in the state and the specter of elections. judicial quarrels.

Lawyer Herb Shephardson, who represents Stefanowski, said he would drop his legal challenge over whether the same-day registrations in Mansfield and New Haven were made illegally because there are not enough votes for change the result.

"Part of me would like to continue the hearing just to get to the bottom of things," Shepardson said. "This should not happen in a state like Connecticut."

Governor Dannel P. Malloy, at the end of his eight-year tenure as governor, was quick to congratulate Mr. Lamont, who took part in a Democratic primary in 2010.

"The elections offer a snapshot of the collective character as a state or nation. It is our opportunity to affirm who we are and what we value. And today, Connecticut has said loud and clear that we stand for fairness, inclusivity and decency. That President Trump's policy has no place here. That we categorically reject his policies of division, falsity and empty promises, "Malloy said in a statement. "I send my most sincere congratulations to Governor-elect Ned Lamont and Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz. Indisputably, Connecticut has the wind in its sails and, of all the candidates to vote for these offices, they are by far the best able to keep the state in the right direction. Under their leadership, the future of Connecticut remains promising. "

For most of the night, election results were difficult to obtain as both candidates exchanged benefits, with the vote totals reported by Connecticut polling stations.

Marc Bradley, Lamont's campaign manager, rose on stage around 1:10 am and informed a few dozen remaining Democrat supporters in Hartford that the vote count had been delayed, but "when votes are counted, we are confident that Ned Lamont the next governor of Connecticut. "

GOP President J.R. Romano rose to a podium at the party's party night in Rocky Hill at 1:30 am and pledged to fight any potential irregularities.

"Unfortunately, we are being denied the results tonight," Romano said. "For some reason, many cities refuse to vote. I want you all to know that the Republican Party of Connecticut and Bob's campaign is above that. "

The drama unfolding in the governor's race was an important night for the Democrats, who swept aside a number of GOP deputies. The victims included Senator Toni Boucher, R-Wilton; Senator Len Suzio, R-Meriden; and Rep. Mike Bocchino, the first Greenwich Republican to lose a run in the House since 1912.

Voter turnout was the strongest of all submissions, said Secretary of State Denise Merrill, who predicted she would favor Democrats, including Lamont.

"I think that happens," said Merrill, a Democrat who ran his own race against Republican Susan Chapman.

Thousands of wet ballots may have to be counted by hand, according to Merrill.

"We tell them: take out your hair dryer," says Merrill.

She reassured the Democrats at Dunkin Donuts Park that the election results would be "excellent" for Lamont and the rest of the ticket.

The Republicans sought an injunction to cancel the votes of candidates for the same day registration in New Haven and Mansfield, which were online when the polls closed at 8 pm. but were still waiting for their requests to be processed. UConn is part of the Storrs section of Mansfield.

Stefanowski reiterated that he would drop any legal challenge, saying the votes were not enough to surpass Lamont's lead on Wednesday morning.

Conceived as a referendum on President Donald Trump against Governor Dannel P. Malloy, the contest was among the most competitive in the country, with candidates and outside groups flooding TVs and mailboxes with millions of dollars of publicity attacks. .

Lamont, a Greenwich telecom tycoon, sought to avenge his previous two defeats in statewide elections – he ran for the US Senate in 2006 and served as governor in 2010.

Stefanowski, a political outsider and former UBS leader, tried to break the blue wave of opposition Trump to become the first Republican elected to a position as wide as possible in 12 years.

Former MetroHartford Alliance president and CEO, Oz Griebel, who had been facing increasing pressure from Democrats during the last week of the campaign to abandon the race and the return of Lamont, tainted the final result. Gathering 4% of the vote, Griebel conceded at 21:45.

"Thanks to all of you, thank you, it's such a small word, but to all of you who started in December … it was a huge effort on the part of many of you in this room," he said. Griebel told his supporters at a rally in Hartford. "Obviously, the results are far from what I expected when I started this and, in that sense, you have a real sense of real disappointment not to win today." , considering all that you put to contribution. "

Lamont predicted Tuesday morning that there would be a blue wave in Connecticut, where Trump's approval rating is 34%.

"With regard to the division of power and the separation of people, I think it probably matters a lot," said Lamont after voting at Greenwich High School. "I do not like his tone when he divides people against each other. I work to bring people together here in the state of Connecticut. "

Stefanowski expressed his confidence by welcoming voters in a light fog in two polling stations in Greenwich, a purple republican stronghold.

"I think we have momentum," Stefanowski told the Courant. "I think that today, we will cross the line, it is a change, a political outsider, lower taxes, less stringent regulations. People are frustrated. "

Griebel, a former Republican who had been elected governor in 2010, dismissed the idea that he could play the role of spoiler.

Participation in many of the state's 169 municipalities was about to exceed the total number of votes cast during the governor's last run in 2014.

In Hartford and New Haven, election officials were preparing to manually count an undetermined number of ballot papers wet by rain-soaked voters waiting to be scanned. In some cases, standby machines were used to replace those damaged by wet ballots. At least one polling station in the capital ran out of ballots.

Unaffiliated voters were to play a crucial role in the outcome of the race. There are 877,392 in the state, which is more than the Democrats (792,558) and the Republicans (463,167).

Stefanowski has campaigned on the phasing out of the state's income tax over eight years, a controversial proposition that Democrats and even some of his main Republican opponents had warned of a 10-year-old hole. millions of dollars in the state budget and a reduction in municipal aid, education funding and the state's social safety net. .

As the first petition candidate in the history of Connecticut to win a major party nomination, Stefanowski downplayed the scenario of a Democratic failure.

"I see a lot of Republicans," said Stefanowski about participation.

Kate Ferguson, a 23-year-old Republican who had just returned from Texas to Connecticut, offered Stefanowski words of encouragement.

"I voted for you," Ferguson said. "I hope you win today."

Stefanowski politely met another woman when local Republicans asked her if she wanted to meet him.

"I am an inflexible democrat," she said. "Nothing personal."

Bonnie Lemon asked Stefanowski about her position on gun control and school safety, when she and her family stopped by to meet the candidate.

"We have to protect our children," said Stefanowski.

Stefanowski described the 2013 state-run Connecticut gun control law as flawed after the Sandy Hook massacre as flawed. He declined to say what elements of the law he would change and which he would keep if he was elected.

Lamont, accompanied by his wife, Annie Lamont, and the couple's three children, voted shortly after 10 am at Greenwich High School.

His fellow Democrats who have known Lamont since his selection in the late 1980s wished him good luck in his third statewide election.

"I'm shocked that it's not a shoo-in," said Richard Bergstresser, a former first selected candidate. "But I think it's the result of a negative campaign from his opponent."

Bergstresser mocked the Republicans' attempt to link Lamont to Malloy, whose work record is among the lowest in the country. The incumbent does not seek a third term.

"It's the typical Republican fantasy," he said. "They are both very different. They made Malloy the boggart. "

Lamont has invested at least $ 13 million of his personal fortune in his campaign, in which he has touted himself as a corporate democrat who would bring tax relief to the middle class and would promote Connecticut to businesses. He won 168 of the 169 municipalities during the August primary against Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, who served seven years in federal prison for public corruption.

Stefanowski has won a five-year primary over seasoned Republicans such as Mark Boughton and Tim Herbst, as well as hedge fund tycoon David Stemerman. He jumped four of the five debates organized by the Connecticut GOP before his state-wide convention, where he voted against the approval.

With the help of $ 7.5 million in external spending by the Association of Republican Governors, Stefanowski has been trying to convince voters that Lamont would raise their taxes, raise the price of tolls and bend to unions.