U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has been re-elected for a third term in office.
NBC News has declared Blumenthal the projected winner. He was competing against first-time candidate Leora Levy, a Republican who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Blumenthal, 76, the state’s former attorney general, focused much of his campaign on being a backstop for abortion rights in Connecticut and Democratic policies in Washington. Blumenthal vowed to fight any effort in Congress to impose a national abortion ban that would override Connecticut’s current law. Abortion is legal in Connecticut with restrictions.
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He also warned democracy would be at risk if the GOP gained control of the U.S. Senate.
“We are in a break-the-glass moment in this democracy,” Blumenthal said after accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination in August. “And we need to stand up to the Trump Republicans, to special interests, to anyone who would put us back in time on workers’ rights, women’s rights, civil rights and liberties. It is the fight of our lifetime.”
Election Results 2022
Source: Associated Press.
Amy O'Kruk/NBC
“Let me just say to all the people who voted for me and all the people who didn’t vote for me, I am going to continue fighting tirelessly, relentlessly, against special interests, no matter how big and powerful. All too often, those special interests get their way. My job has been always to stand up to them and it’s never been more important than now,” Blumenthal said on Tuesday night.
"So I'm gonna pledge to you that I will fight to protect and preserve Social Security and Medicare, but also lower taxes, cut inflation and fight for the people of Connecticut, putting them first," he added.
In the Republican primary, Levy, 65, defeated the party’s endorsed candidate, former state House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, a social moderate, with the help of a late endorsement from Trump. In addition to his endorsement, Trump held a fundraiser for Levy at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida.
Levy had hoped to become the first Republican U.S. senator from Connecticut since Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who served from 1971 to 1989.
You can track local election results online here.
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