Republicans Outvote Democrats in Primary

More Republicans than Democrats came out to vote Aug. 14 in Connecticut’s statewide primaries.  

A total of 113,538 registered Republicans cast ballots in last week’s primaries and with 409,723 active registered Republicans in the state, turnout for Republicans in the primary was 27.7 percent statewide, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill reported Thursday.

Democrats lagged behind the GOP in the primary turnout. With 138,004 registered Democrats cast ballots in the primary, out of a total of 717,241 active registered Democrats in the state. That represents a turnout of 19.2 percent statewide for Democrats.

The turnout figures are slightly below normal for Democrats and slightly above normal for Republicans in a statewide primary, Merrill said in a press release she issued Thursday on the turnout figures.

“Democrats and Republicans throughout Connecticut had their voices heard and made a choice about who will represent their parties on the ballot in November,” Merrill said. “As we start down the road to the general election, I urge all those who are eligible to register to vote, research the candidates, and come out on November 6 to cast a ballot."

In August of 2010 Democrats and Republicans in Connecticut held gubernatorial primaries and those contests saw 24.88 percent of Democrats turn out for the primary compared to 29.76 of Republicans, Merrill reported.

The primary in the Fifth Congressional District this year, which was highly contentious and focused often on allegations that campaign workers for sought to keep secret some campaign donors, saw the highest voter turnout, with 32.3 percent of Republicans and 23.5 percent of Democrats casting ballots. The town with the highest voter turnout percentage in the primary was Goshen, where 59.4 percent of registered Republicans voted. Plainfield had the lowest voter turnout, with just 11.3 percent of registered Democrats casting ballots.

Historical Primary Data

Turnout by District

Turnout Democrats

Turnout Republicans

Total Turnout

1st Congressional District Total

19.1%

27.9%

21.7%

2nd Congressional District Total

18.8%

26.2%

21.8%

3rd Congressional District Total

18.0%

24.1%

19.7%

4th Congressional District Total

17.4%

26.9%

21.4%

5th Congressional District Total

23.5%

32.3%

27.2%