HARTFORD, Conn.—Connecticut Republicans claim Tuesday's municipal election results bode well for the GOP in the upcoming 2010 elections. Democrats say not so fast.
Next year is when voters choose candidates for Congress, governor and the General Assembly.
Chris Healy, chairman of the state Republican party, said his party gained control of the majority of local governing bodies in Connecticut.
His party picked up control of 17 mayoral and first selectman offices, town and city councils and boards of selectmen seats on Tuesday.
The party also held on to top seats across the state, including in Danbury, Middletown, New Britain, Norwalk, Torrington, Wallingford, Greenwich, Manchester and Milford.
"I think today Republicans are now the majority party of Main Street Connecticut," Healy told reporters during a morning conference call.
"I think people feel overtaxed, they feel frightened by the economy, they've seen the out-of-control spending and role of government, both in Hartford at the legislature and in Congress, propelled by the Obama administration," he added.
Besides generating excitement and momentum for the party and its candidates, Healy said the big wins give a boost to the upcoming races. In recent years, the party has lost its two U.S. House of Representatives seats and watched its minority caucuses in the General Assembly shrink even more.
"Trumbull and Darien, those are two major towns in the 4th Congressional District, which will serve us next year well as we take out Jim Himes," he said, referring to the freshman Democrat who in 2008 defeated former U.S. Rep. Chris Shays, the last Republican House member in New England.
Nancy DiNardo, chairwoman of the Connecticut Democrats, said Republicans should not to read too much into Tuesday's election results.
"I'd caution my friends on the other side of the aisle from claiming that these local races -- where local issues, local personalities, and local relationships are often the most defining characteristics of a win or a loss -- show a turning tide for Republicans in the state," DiNardo said in a written statement.
DiNardo pointed out how Democrats still hold a super-majority in the General Assembly, four statewide offices and all five of the U.S. House seats. Also, U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd is a Democrat, and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, who was elected as an independent, still caucuses with the Democrats in Washington.
Unaffiliated voters are the largest block of voters in Connecticut, with 856,462 registered as of Tuesday; followed by Democrats with 760,510; and Republicans with 414,344, according to the Secretary of the State's Office.
While Healy said Tuesday's big Republican victory should make it easier for Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Republican, to seek re-election, signaling a shift in voter support for the GOP, Rell said the wins reflect on the quality of the candidates.
"These are candidates that are really super candidates," she said. "My decision will be on what's best for me, and what's best for my family and what I believe is best for the state."
Rell said she'll decide whether to run for re-election by the end of November.
