Governor Ned Lamont has won the Democratic primary for governor of Connecticut, NBC News projects, defeating progressive challenger Josh Elliott and clearing the final obstacle to a bid for a third term that will now put him against Republican state Senator Ryan Fazio in November.
The result confirmed the wide advantage Lamont held throughout the compressed summer campaign, in what had been the state’s first primary challenge to a sitting governor in half a century. An exclusive Sacred Heart University, WFSB and CT Insider poll released the day before the primary had shown Lamont with a significant lead over Elliott heading into Tuesday’s vote.
Connecticut Primary Results 2026 LIVE: How Did Lamont Frame His Case For A Third Term?
Throughout the campaign, Lamont consistently pointed to his record in office rather than new proposals as the strongest argument for his re-election. “I think the best indicator of what you’re going to do is what you have done,” Lamont said, according to WFSB, adding, “We talk a lot about getting our fiscal house in order, balancing the budget, universal early childhood.” Lamont, first elected in 2018 with 49 per cent of the vote before winning re-election in 2022 with 56 per cent, won his party’s official convention endorsement earlier this year ahead of Tuesday’s primary vote.
Connecticut Primary Results 2026 LIVE: How Did The Two Campaigns’ Spending Compare?
The financial gap between the two Democrats widened considerably in the campaign’s closing weeks. Since 1 July, Lamont spent slightly more than $6.2 million to defeat Elliott’s challenge, compared with nearly $3.9 million spent by Elliott since he qualified for public financing on 9 July, according to campaign finance filings reviewed by the CT Mirror.
Overall, Lamont personally contributed nearly $9.3 million of the $9.9 million his campaign raised since filing paperwork for a third-term run last November, continuing a pattern from his earlier campaigns, in which the independently wealthy governor contributed $40.1 million combined to his winning 2018 and 2022 bids.
Connecticut Primary Results 2026 LIVE: What Issues Divided Lamont And Elliott During The Campaign?
The two Democrats clashed most sharply over fiscal and public safety policy during a primary debate in July, sparring over taxes, utility costs and immigration enforcement mask policy, according to WTNH. Elliott, who remained popular with the party’s social progressive wing throughout the race, had argued in the campaign’s final stretch that his candidacy had built momentum heading into primary day, even as public polling consistently showed him trailing badly, including a February University of New Hampshire survey that found Lamont leading 57 per cent to 13 per cent among likely Democratic primary voters.
Connecticut Primary Results 2026 LIVE: What Comes Next In November’s General Election?
With the Democratic nomination secured, Lamont now advances to face Fazio, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary, in November’s general election. Republicans have not held Connecticut’s governorship since 2011, a streak that will be tested once again as Lamont seeks to become just the second Connecticut governor in more than two decades to win a third consecutive term, following Republican John G. Rowland, who was elected to a third term in 2002 before resigning in 2004 amid a corruption scandal.
Full and certified results from Tuesday’s primary were still being finalised as votes continued to be tallied across the state into the evening.
