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The sea wind of change that swept across the country Election Day took a detour before reaching Connecticut. For the most part, state residents gave a vote of confidence to their elected leaders, rewarding them with another term in office or supporting their aspirations for higher positions.
Perhaps the most high-profile example is attorney general Richard Blumenthal's successful quest for a Senate seat in a hard-fought battle. At times, the millions of dollars spent by Republican rival Linda McMahon seemed to overwhelm Democrat Blumenthal's attempt to run on his record of service. However, in the end Blumenthal, after tapping into high-powered campaign stump support that included a former and a sitting president, won a decisive victory.
Other victorious Connecticut office-holders Tuesday include U.S. Rep. Jim Himes and state Treasurer Denise Nappier and, in the Stamford area, state Sen. Andrew McDonald and state Reps. Patricia Billie Miller, Carlo Leone and William Tong.
"I guess people vote for change if they're not happy with who they elected," said Stamford resident Marcie Schoenfeld, one of the city's Tuesday poll workers. "Obviously they're happy with who they elected, otherwise they would have gone the other way."
In Blumenthal's case, she said, "Blumenthal was a very good attorney general, and people obviously were happy with him."
But some of those who thought Connecticut would make significant political changes were baffled.
"I don't know," said state Rep. Terrie Wood, a District 141 Republican who ran unopposed. "I have to absorb it. I was expecting more change."
However, she takes solace in other state's election results.
"We got some great change in the [U.S.] House [of Representatives]. We need more of a balance."
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