Andrew Harnik/AP Photo; Jessica Hill/AP Photo; Insider
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal is projected to beat Republican Leora Levy and represent Connecticut in the US Senate.
Levy was one of 22 Republican Senate candidates that President Donald Trump endorsed.
Blumenthal was expected to win the election.
Democratic incumbent US Sen. Richard Blumenthal is projected to defeat Republican Leora Levy in Connecticut.
Polls are closed.
Connecticut’s Senate race candidates
Blumenthal, first elected in 2010, serves on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation, Committee on Armed Services, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and Special Committee on Aging.
He is seeking his 3rd term to represent Connecticut and is leading his Republican challenger by a comfortable margin, according to recent polls.
Before his election to the Senate, Blumenthal served five terms as Connecticut’s attorney general, and in both the Connecticut State Senate and House of Representatives. A graduate of Yale Law School, he also served as the US attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Blumenthal is one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
Endorsed by former President Donald Trump, Levy is vying to unseat Blumenthal, who won his 2016 race by nearly 30 percentage points.
Levy, who was elected in 2016 as the national committeewoman of the Republican Party of Connecticut, supported abortion rights in 2012 and criticized Trump in 2016 — positions on which she has since backtracked. In his endorsement, Trump spoke highly of the Cuba-born Republican.
“She will work hard to grow the economy, secure the border, fight for energy independence, support our military and our vets, champion election integrity, protect the Second Amendment and fight violence and vicious crime,” he said.
Connecticut’s voting history
The state voted for Joe Biden over then-President Donald Trump by a margin of 20 percentage points in the 2020 election. Connecticut has voted Democrat in presidential races for the last eight elections.
The money race
According to OpenSecrets, Blumenthal has raised $9 million, spent $8.9 million, and has $3 million cash on hand, as of October 19. His challenger, Levy, has raised $2.3 million, spent $1.9 million, and has $432,156 cash on hand, as of October 19.
As of late October, several super PACs, national party committees, politically active nonprofits, and other non-candidate groups had combined to spend about $2.4 million to advocate for or against candidates in this race, including during the race’s primary phase.
What experts say
The race between Blumenthal and Levy is rated as “solid Democratic” by Inside Elections, “solid Democratic” by The Cook Political Report, and “safe Democratic” by Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.