Connecticut Politics

Connecticut is a generally left-leaning state, allotting its electoral votes to Democratic candidates in the past four presidential elections but to Republican presidential candidates five times in the 1970s and 1980s. Connecticut has a high number of voters who are not registered with a major party. As of 2004, 33.7% of registered voters were registered Democratic, 22.0% were registered Republican, and 44.0% were unaffiliated with any party, with 0.2% registered with a minor party.[40] Voters in the state are more supportive of fiscal conservatives and may be considered to be generally socially liberal.

Many Connecticut towns show a marked preference for moderate candidates of either party. Democrats hold a registration edge especially in the cities of Hartford; New Haven; and Bridgeport. The state's Republican-leaning areas are the rural Litchfield County and adjoining towns in the west of Hartford County, the Naugatuck River Valley, and some of the affluent Fairfield County towns near the New York border. The suburban towns of New Canaan and Darien in Fairfield County are considered the most Republican areas in the state, the former being the hometown of conservative activist Ann Coulter. Westport, a wealthy town a few miles to the east, is often considered one of the most loyally-Democratic, liberal towns in Fairfield County. Norwalk and Stamford, two larger, affluent communities in Fairfield County, have in many elections favored moderate Republicans including former Governor John G. Rowland and Congressman Chris Shays, however they tend to favor Democratic mayoral candidates as well as US presidential candidates. In Danbury unaffiliated voters outnumber voters registered with either major party. Other smaller cities including Meriden, New Britain, and Middletown favor Democratic candidates.

Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in both houses of the state legislature. In 2006, Republicans were reduced from three out of five to one out of five congressional seats. The remaining Republican, Chris Shays, is the only Republican from New England in the House of Representatives in the current Congress. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman are Connecticut's U.S. senators. The senior Dodd is a Democrat while the junior Lieberman serves as an Independent Democrat caucusing with Senate Democrats after his victory on the Connecticut for Lieberman ballot line in the 2006 general election. Lieberman's predecessor, Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., was the last Connecticut Republican to serve as Senator. Weicker was known as a liberal Republican. He broke with President Richard Nixon during Watergate and successfully ran for governor in 1990 as an independent, creating A Connecticut Party as his election vehicle. Before Weicker, the last Republican to represent Connecticut in the Senate was Prescott Bush, the father of former President George H.W. Bush and the grandfather of President George W. Bush. He served from 1953–1963.

In recent years, Connecticut politics has been plagued by widespread corruption (much of it being connected to the Italian Mafia, which is very active in Connecticut[41]). Several mayors, state legislators, and government employees have been convicted and imprisoned for crimes ranging from bribery to racketeering. In 2004, Governor John G. Rowland was forced to resign when it was discovered he helped steer state contracts to firms that offered him gifts and free vacations.[42] Following his resignation, he pled guilty to corruption charges and served ten months in federal prison. Former Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano was stripped of power in 2001 after a corruption investigation had to be cut short when phone taps unexpectedly revealed alleged sexual acts with 8- and 10-year-old minor girls and other possible acts of pedophilia.[43] In 2003, he was convicted and sentenced to 37 years in federal prison.[44] Democrats have been convicted of corruption as well, most notably former Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim. The current Mayor of Bridgeport, John Fabrizi admitted to using cocaine while in office, but has stayed on while not running for re-election.[45][46] On June 1, 2007, Senate Minority Leader Louis DeLuca (R-Woodbury) was arrested on conspiracy charges after it was discovered he was dealing with a local Mafia boss who is currently facing federal charges stemming from his trash-hauling operations. [47]

Following Rowland's resignation, the state legislature passed a campaign finance reform bill that bans contributions from lobbyists and state contractors in future campaigns.[48]