Global Politics · 11 August, 2026 · 2 min read
Ned Lamont Defeats Josh Elliott and Luke Bronin Ousts John Larson in Connecticut Primaries
Ned Lamont defeats Josh Elliott in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Luke Bronin defeats incumbent John Larson in Connecticut's 1st Congressional District primary.
13 outlets told this the same way.
10 of 12 outlets skipped it: larson said the issue is Donald Trump and a legal war.
13outlets compared
Connecticut primaries reshape
Connecticut voters went to the polls on Tuesday to determine candidates for governor and U.S. Congress, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and results updated as they came in on NBC Connecticut's website.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Gov. Ned Lamont defeated progressive Democrat and state Rep. Josh Elliott, with the Associated Press calling the race within 20 minutes of polls closing.
In the 1st Congressional District Democratic primary, U.S. Rep. John Larson conceded to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, who picked up the Democratic nomination after winning a four-way race.
The CT Insider live updates described Republicans selecting preferred candidates in the 4th and 5th Congressional Districts to face incumbents Rep. Jim Himes and Rep. Jahana Hayes in their respective districts.
The stakes for Connecticut Democrats were framed in part through the governor’s role in certifying elections, with PBS describing how the left-versus-center theme played out across multiple states voting Tuesday, including Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Voices after Larson loss
Attorney General William Tong weighed in on the gubernatorial and 1st Congressional District primaries around 10:30 p.m., telling reporters, "To my very good friend John Larson, you have made an immeasurable contribution to Connecticut." Tong added, "To Luke, you earned this in the trenches," as CT Insider reported Bronin had officially picked up the Democratic nomination in the 1st Congressional District. Larson, pressed Tuesday night about his next steps, told supporters at Connecticut River Academy in East Hartford, "Tonight, the people have spoken," and he said, "And now is the time for all of us to come together."
In his victory speech, Bronin referred to the result as a “political earthquake in Connecticut,” according to CT Mirror. WFSB described the governor’s race as the first primary challenge in 50 years for a sitting Connecticut governor, with Lamont saying, "We talk a lot about getting our fiscal house in order, balancing the budget, universal early childhood."
What comes next
The Connecticut governor’s primary winner, Ned Lamont, is set to face Republican candidate Ryan Fazio in November, and WFSB reported that the 1st Congressional District winner would advance to the general election after Larson’s loss to Bronin. CT en Vivo reported that the winner of the Democratic primary for governor would face in November the senator state Republican Ryan Fazio, and it also described the 1st Congressional District contest as a race for John Larson’s nomination for a 15th term. El País framed the broader stakes for Democrats as an internal dispute between moderates and progressives, describing how the day’s primaries in Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin would define candidates for November’s midterm elections.
“The winner will face Republican candidate Ryan Fazio in November.”
In Minnesota and Wisconsin, PBS said nominating contests pitted left-wing candidates against more traditional ones, with PBS describing Wisconsin’s governor’s race as central to Democrats’ hopes for 2028 and beyond. CNN’s live results page also showed the day’s cross-state focus, listing Wisconsin’s Democratic governor primary with David Crowley and Francesca Hong and projecting other races as polls closed across multiple states.