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The 2018 Midterm Elections

The 2018 Midterm Elections will take place this Tuesday, on November 6th. This is an election in the United States that happens halfway, or two years, through the term of the Executive Branch (meaning the President, the Vice President, their Cabinet, etc.). Roughly half of the seats in Congress are up for reelection. This is who’s up for reelection and which candidates are competing for each position in the state of Connecticut:  

  • Executive branch:

    • Governor and Lieutenant Governor
      • Dan Malloy, a Democrat, is the current governor, but he not running for another term in office. His Lieutenant Governor is Nancy Wyman, who will be leaving office as well.
      • Ned Lamont (Democrat) and his running mate Susan Bysiewicz
        • Lamont is a businessman- puts emphasis on growing the economy and wants tax breaks for the middle class and small businesses
        • Plans to address fiscal crisis first
        • Believes that higher level education should be available to everyone
          • Wants to reassess school funding to suit their needs. This means that schools that are farther behind and have less resources available to them should be getting more money.
      • Bob Stefanowski and running mate Joe Markley(Republican)
        • Stefanowski wants to cut taxes
        • Bob’s Five-Step Plan to Rebuild Connecticut
          • 1)Phase out corporate income tax and business entity tax over 2 years
          • 2)Phase out state income tax over 8 years
          • 3)Eliminate the gift and estate taxes immediately
          • 4)Embrace zero-based budgeting to reduce spending
          • 5)Enact a taxpayer bill of rights
        • Emphasis on small businesses and economy and retirees, no advocated plan for business
      • Mark Stewart Greenstein (Amigo Party)
        • Abolish ECS to get vouchers for students
        • “Stewart would end political favoritism by pushing to repeal three laws for every one passed, and veto any law longer than two pages” (from campaign website)
        • Wants to reinstate an NHL team in Connecticut to improve the economy
        • End income tax and reduce regulations on businesses
        • Use private education as model for public education, use “bottom-up support for schools via vouchers” to get more families to CT, ties in with economy
      • Oz Griebel and running mate Monte Frank (Independent)
        • Education
          • Focus on STEAM
          • Increase funding, but ensure funds go to the classroom rather than administrators
          • Support the Arts programs
        • Economy- looking for job growth
          • Goal is to provide 200,000 net new jobs by 2028
          • Wants to draw more businesses to Connecticut to help grow the economy
          • Correspond with industry leaders to understand what they need to grow
      • Rod Hanscomb and running mate Jeff Thibeault (Libertarian)
        • Wants to give parents money that would otherwise go to public schools if they choose to send their kids to private schools or to home school their kids
        • His economic goal is to have no income tax and implement a high sales tax
  • Other Connecticut Executive positions:

    • Attorney General
      • Currently George C. Jepsen (Democrat), who is not running for another term
        • William Tong (Democrat)
        • Susan Hatfield (Republican)
        • Peter Goselin (Green)
    • Secretary of State
      • Currently Denise Merrill (Democrat), who is seeking a third term in office
      • Susan Chapman (Republican)
    • Treasurer
      • Denise Nappier (Democrat), not seeking another term
      • Shawn Wooden (Democrat)
      • Thad Gray (Republican)
    • Comptroller
      • Kevin Lembo (Democrat), seeking reelection for another term
      • Kurt Miller (Republican)
  • Legislative Branch: Federal Level

    • Senators
      • One senate seat, currently held by Chris Murphy (Democrat)
        • Has served one term, elected in 2012
        • Education
          • Every student deserves a quality education
          • College is too expensive- supports lower borrowing costs, but the higher education system itself needs to be rethought
        • Focus on health care
          • Believes health care should be free to everyone
          • Murphy is vocal on the topic of health care, and he has taken action such as introducing legislation and advocating for the Affordable Care Act
        • To control guns, Murphy wants to implement universal background checks and limit access to military style assault weapons.
      • Running against Matthew Corey (Republican)
        • Economy
          • Wants to change the tax policy to convince technology companies to invest in the State
          • Increase job growth in technology companies
          • Focus on research and development
        • Education
          • Parents get the choice of where they enroll their children- public private, or charter schools, etc.
          • Parents who home school their kids get tax credit
          • Abolish Federal Department of Education and return power to the states
        • Health care
          • Benefits from Social Security are not entitlements
          • 94 million people back into workforce who are still of working age
          • Social Security back to those who need it most- originally to keep seniors from poverty. There should be tax free retirement savings accounts
    • House Representatives

      • All 5 Connecticut representatives are up for reelection
        • Currently, all Representatives are Democrats:
          • Congressional District 1: John Larson (Democrat)
            • Jennifer Nye (Republican)
          • Congressional District 2: Joe Courtney (Democrat)
            • Dan Postemski (Republican)
          • Congressional District 3: Rosa DeLauro (Democrat)
            • Angel Cadena (Republican)
          • Congressional District 4: James Himes (Democrat)
            • Harry Arora (Republican)
          • Congressional District 5: Elizabeth Etsy (Democrat)- not running for another term, both new candidates on ballot
            • Jahana Hayes (Democrat)
            • Mary Santos (Republican)
        • One of these districts, Congressional District 2, is part of a pivot county; meaning it was a county that previously voted for Obama in 2012, then voted for Trump in 2016.
          • Means there’s a chance one seat could swing red- turn Republican after being Democrat
    • Currently, Connecticut has something called a Trifecta. This happens when one party has control of the State House, State Senate, and the Executive offices. Connecticut has had a Democratic Trifecta, but it could all change with the Midterm Elections if more Republicans gain seats in the legislative houses and/or win the race for Governor.
    • Legislative Branch: State Level
    • Senate
      • All 36 state senate spots are up for reelection
    • State House
      • All 151 seats up for reelection
    • “Special state legislative”
      • Special elections to fill vacancies- necessary?
    • Local judges
      • General elections for probate court seats

 

https://www.murphy.senate.gov/issues/education

https://coreyforsenate.com/on-the-issues/

https://ballotpedia.org/Connecticut%27s_2nd_Congressional_District

https://ballotpedia.org/Connecticut_2018_ballot_measures

https://www.nedlamont.com/issues

https://www.bobforgovernor.com/

https://www.stewartforliberty.com/about-mark

https://www.stewartforliberty.com/on-the-issues

https://www.ozforgovct.com/issues-1

https://ballotpedia.org/Connecticut_elections,_2018

https://ballotpedia.org/Connecticut_Comptroller_election,_2018

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