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

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, coinciding with the presidential election. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the

111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...

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 The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

. Its 2007-2008 congressional delegation consisted of four Democrats and one

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. 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 marked the first 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 comprising 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 Can ...

. 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 Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate. It is distinct from the process of electoral alliances in that the political parties remain separa ...

. 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 capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, Litchfield, and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

counties. Five-term incumbent

John B. Larson John Barry Larson (born July 22, 1948) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for since 1999. The district is based in the state capital, Hartford. A member of the Democratic Party, Larson chaired the Ho ...

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, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combine ...

Campaign contributions
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

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 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, Maryland, Ne ...

line, which endorsed Larson on a

District 2

This district covers eastern Connecticut, including

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa *New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town ** ...

and

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. 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 Robert Ruhl "Rob" Simmons (born February 11, 1943) is an American politician and retired U.S. Army colonel who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007, representing Connecticut's second congressional d ...

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 t ...

, 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

District 3

This district is centered on the city of

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

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 has been the U.S. representative for since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in New Haven and includes most of its suburbs. DeLauro is ...

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
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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

District 4

This district includes portions of Fairfield and

counties in

southwestern Connecticut Western Connecticut is a geographic region of Connecticut located in the southwest corner of the state. Numerous towns are part of the Western Connecticut Council of Governments (or WestCOG), one 9 regional councils of governments in Connecticut ...

. Democratic nominee

Jim Himes James Andrew Himes (born July 5, 1966) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the New Democrat Coalition in the 115th Congress (2017–2019). H ...

, a former Goldman Sachs executive, won against Republican incumbent

Chris Shays Christopher Hunter Shays (born October 18, 1945) is an American politician. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives as representative of the 4th District of Connecticut. He is a member of the Republican Party. 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 The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...

=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 as the 89th governor of Connecticut. He has served in this position since January 9, 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a Greenw ...

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

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...

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

District 5

This district includes all of Northwestern

, and runs from Meriden and New Britain in Central Connecticut, to

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...

, the

Litchfield Hills The Northwest Hills (also known as the Litchfield Hills or Northwest Highlands) are a geographic region of the U.S. state of Connecticut located in the northwestern corner of the state. It is roughly coterminous with the boundaries of Litchfiel ...

, and the

Farmington River The Farmington River is a river, U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in length along its main stem, located in northwest Connecticut with major tributaries ex ...

Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain 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 ove ...

. 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 Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States H ...

unseated 24-year incumbent

Nancy Johnson Nancy Elizabeth Lee Johnson (born January 5, 1935) is an American lobbyist and politician from the state of Connecticut. Johnson was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2007, representing the 6th dis ...

with 56% of the vote in 2006. Nonetheless, the district is arguably Connecticut's most conservative (

=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 Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

resident Tom Winn, running as an independent candidate.afterdowningstreet.org
/ref>
Murphy's campaign websiteCappiello'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

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 a 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 officials in s ...

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

{{2008 United States elections

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