Union Members Supply the Margins of Victory

The 2018 election was a resounding victory for working people across the state. Almost two-thirds of our endorsed candidates were elected and in nearly every race, union members made up the margin of victory for pro-worker candidates.

Statewide

Labor’s endorsed gubernatorial candidate, Ned Lamont, won a hard-fought campaign against anti-worker Bob Stefanowski. Though results weren’t fully known until the morning after Election Day, Lamont won by just over 44,000 votes.

Also winning statewide were William Tong for Attorney General, Kevin Lembo for State Comptroller, Denise Merrill for Secretary of the State, Shawn Wooden for State Treasurer and Susan Bysiewicz for Lieutenant Governor. All were endorsed by the Connecticut AFL-CIO.

Congress and U.S. Senate

In the 5th Congressional District, Jahana Hayes won her first-ever election to become a Congresswoman. Jahana, as a member of AFSA, the school administrators union, was the focus of many Labor 2018 activities. She also made history by becoming the first African American woman elected from Connecticut to serve in the U.S. Congress.

State Legislature

In the General Assembly, the pro-worker majority in the House of Representatives grew by twelve seats (pending a recount in the 120th House District), bringing the chamber makeup to 92 Democrats and 59 Republicans. Thanks in large part to the efforts of Labor 2018, the tie in the state Senate has been broken. Three of Labor’s targeted races flipped in favor of workers, building a veto-proof majority (pending a recount in the 17th Senate District). In January, the Senate will be made up of 24 Democrats and 12 Republicans. Since the election, both Democratic caucuses in both chambers have articulated an intention to pass legislation establishing an earned family and medical leave program and increasing the mini-mum wage. That is because of the work labor union members did.

I am so proud of all the work our members did this election cycle. They knocked tens of thousands of doors, made tens of thousands of phone calls, mailed nearly every member in the state, and made countless visits to worksites to talk with members about the importance of supporting pro-worker candidates,” said Connecticut AFL-CIO President Lori Pelletier. She called on Governor-elect Lamont and the new General Assembly to embrace this momentum and move a real workers’ agenda within the first 100 days. “Connecticut should raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, enact earned family and medical leave, prohibit the abusive management practice of ‘on call scheduling,’ and continue to protect working people’s pay, retirement, and health care,” she said.