The 2008 congressional elections in Connecticut were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who would represent the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, coinciding with the presidential election. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The Primary election was held on August 12. Connecticut has five seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of four Democrats and one Republican. In the 2008 elections, District 4 changed from Republican to Democratic, so Connecticut's congressional delegation to the 111th Congress consists of five Democrats, giving Connecticut an all-Democratic congressional delegation for the 1st time since 1967. This election also marked the last time any seat in the Connecticut congressional delegation changed partisan control. This marked the first time since the founding of the Republican Party in 1854 that they failed to hold any House seat in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. Prior to the election, ''CQ Politics'' forecasted districts 2, 4, and 5 to be at some risk for the incumbent party.

Overview

: The Working Families Party endorsed all the Democratic candidates on a fusion ticket. In the previous election, it only endorsed one Democratic candidate.

By district

District 1

This district covers much of central Connecticut and includes municipalities within

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, Litchfield, and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

counties. Five-term incumbent John B. Larson faced Republican Joe Visconti and Green Party candidate Stephen E. D. Fournier. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.
Larson's campaign websiteVisconti's campaign websiteFournier's campaign websiteRace ranking and details
from

CQ Politics ''Congressional Quarterly'', or ''CQ'', is an American publication that is part of the privately owned publishing company CQ Roll Call, which covers the United States Congress. ''CQ'' was formerly acquired by the U.K.-based The Economist Group, ...

Campaign contributions
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

Results

Incumbent John B. Larson retained his seat with over 71 percent of the vote. :Includes 17,000 votes from the

Working Families Party The Working Families Party (WFP) is a progressive minor political party in the United States, founded in New York in 1998. There are active chapters in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois ...

line, which endorsed Larson on a fusion ticket.

District 2

This district covers eastern Connecticut, including New London and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Democrat Favored'. In the closest U.S. House race of 2006, Democrat Joe Courtney unseated three-term incumbent Republican Rob Simmons by only 82 votes. Courtney's chance at reelection increased when Simmons decided against a rematch. Former

Naval Submarine Base New London Naval Submarine Base New London is the primary United States Navy East Coast submarine base, also known as the "Home of the Submarine Force." It is located in Groton, Connecticut directly across the Thames River from its namesake city of New L ...

base commander Sean Sullivan was the Republican candidate. Third-party challengers included former State Department Of Environmental Protection scientist G. Scott Deshefy for the Green Party and Todd Vachon for the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, running as a write-in candidate.
Courtney's campaign websiteSullivan's campaign websiteDeshefy's campaign websiteVachon's campaign websiteRace ranking and details
from

Campaign contributions
from

Results

Joe Courtney was reelected with a substantially larger margin than in 2006, winning nearly 66 percent of the vote. :Includes 13,164 votes from the

line, which endorsed Courtney on a fusion ticket.

District 3

This district is centered on the city of

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

and its immediate suburbs. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'. The district has been represented by Democrat

Rosa DeLauro Rosa Luisa DeLauro ( ; born March 2, 1943) is an American politician who is in her 18th term as the U.S. representative for , having served since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in New Haven and includes mos ...

since 1991. Her challengers in this election included Republican Bo Itshaky and Green Ralph Ferrucci.
DeLauro's campaign websiteItshaky's campaign websiteRace ranking and details
from

Campaign contributions
from

Results

Rosa DeLauro was easily reelected to a tenth term, receiving over 77 percent of the vote. :Includes 25,411 votes from the

line, which endorsed DeLauro on a fusion ticket.

District 4

This district includes portions of Fairfield and

counties in southwestern Connecticut. Democratic nominee

Jim Himes James Andrew Himes (born July 5, 1966) is an American businessman and politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 2009. Himes is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Pa ...

, a former

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

executive, won against Republican incumbent Chris Shays and third-party candidates Richard Duffee, who withdrew from the 2006 race, and Michael Anthony Carrano. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'No Clear Favorite'. Shays won 51% of the vote in 2006 and 52% in 2004 in a district that went to John Kerry with 53% in 2004 ( CPVI=D+5). In September, 2007, Shays indicated that if he was not given the top Republican seat on the Governmental Oversight Committee, he would retire. The only Republican House member in

, he was expected to be a top target of Democrats. Democrat Himes announced his candidacy in April 2007. 2006 U.S. Senate candidate

Ned Lamont Edward Miner Lamont Jr. ( ; born January 3, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 89th governor of Connecticut. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a Greenwich, Con ...

was considered a potential candidate, although he lost in this district to incumbent Senator

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; February 24, 1942 – March 27, 2024) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. Originally a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Dem ...

, whom Shays had endorsed. Other possible Democratic candidates included state Senators Bob Duff and Andrew MacDonald. Former professional hockey player

Mike Richter Michael Thomas Richter (born September 22, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his entire National Hockey League career, from 1989 to 2002, with the New York Rangers organization, and led the team to the Stan ...

, once considered a possible candidate, announced that he was not interested in running in 2008. It was thought Lowell P. Weicker Jr. might try to reclaim his old seat.
Shay's campaign websiteHimes' campaign websiteDuffee's campaign websiteRace ranking and details
from

Campaign contributions
from

Results

Jim Himes defeated incumbent Christopher Shays, receiving slightly more than 51 percent of the vote. With Himes' victory, the Democrats now control all five of Connecticut's House seats, as well as all other House seats in

. :Includes 9,130 votes from the

line, which endorsed Himes on a fusion ticket.

District 5

This district includes all of Northwestern

, and runs from Meriden and

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

in Central Connecticut, to

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

, the Litchfield Hills, and the

Farmington River The Farmington River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river located in northwest Connecticut, with major tributaries extending into southwest Massach ...

Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Leans Democratic'. Freshman Democrat

Chris Murphy Christopher Scott Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from the state of Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the U ...

unseated 24-year incumbent

Nancy Johnson Nancy Elizabeth Johnson (née Lee; born January 5, 1935) is an American lobbyist and politics in the United States, politician from the U.S. state, state of Connecticut. Johnson was a United States Republican Party, Republican member of the Un ...

with 56% of the vote in 2006. Nonetheless, the district is arguably Connecticut's most conservative ( CPVI=D+4), and some considered Murphy vulnerable. State Senator David Cappiello was the Republican candidate. Tony Nania also considered a run, but withdrew from consideration for the Republican nomination in May. GOP state chairman Chris Healy dismissed claims that Murphy's large campaign warchest of $420,000 in the first quarter of 2007 may scare off potential challengers, as Cappiello filed as a candidate in April 2007. National Republicans ran radio ads in the summer of 2007 claiming Murphy has adopted special interest fundraising politics he had claimed to oppose. In addition, Cappiello accused Murphy of missing important votes. Third-party candidates included Canton attorney Harold Burbank for the Green Party and Watertown resident Tom Winn, running as an independent candidate.afterdowningstreet.org
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Murphy's campaign website

Cappiello's campaign website

Burbank's campaign websiteWinn's campaign websiteRace ranking and details
from

Campaign contributions
from

Results

Chris Murphy retained his seat, receiving just under 60 percent of the vote. :Includes 18,149 votes from the

line, which endorsed Murphy on a fusion ticket.

References

External links

Elections and Voting
from the ''Connecticut Secretary of State''
U.S. Congress candidates for Connecticut
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

Connecticut U.S. House Races
from ''2008 Race Tracker''
Campaign contributions for Connecticut congressional races
from

{{2008 United States elections

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