1970 Connecticut gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1970 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 1970 Connecticut gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1970 in the U.S. state of Connecticut.

1970 Connecticut gubernatorial election

← 1966 November 3, 1970 1974 →
Turnout	80.5%[1]
Nominee Thomas J. Meskill Emilio Q. Daddario Party Republican Democratic Running mate T. Clark Hull Hugh C. Curran Popular vote 582,160 500,561 Percentage 53.76% 46.23%
County results Municipality results Meskill:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Daddario:      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election John N. Dempsey Democratic Elected Governor Thomas Meskill Republican

Incumbent Democratic Governor John N. Dempsey decided not to run for re-election. Republican nominee Thomas Meskill defeated Democratic nominee Emilio Q. Daddario with 53.76% of the vote.

Nominations

Between 1956 and 1990 in Connecticut, party conventions nominated candidates subject to a system of "challenge" primaries that allowed defeated candidates to petition for a popular vote if they received at least 20 percent of the convention vote.^[2][3]

Democratic nomination

Candidates

• Emilio Q. Daddario, U.S. Representative for the 1st district

Results

Daddario was unopposed for the nomination at the state convention.^[4]

Republican nomination

Candidates

• Wallace Barnes, State Senate Minority leader^[5]
• Thomas Meskill, U.S. Representative for the 6th district

Results

The Republican state convention was held on June 20, 1970 at Hartford.^[5]

Republican convention results^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Thomas Meskill	798	77.55
	Republican	Wallace Barnes	231	22.45
Total votes			1,029	100.00

The Republican primary election was held on August 12, 1970.^[3][6]

Republican primary results^[7][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Thomas Meskill	93,419	71.42
	Republican	Wallace Barnes	37,383	28.58
Total votes			130,802	100.00

General election

Candidates

• Emilio Q. Daddario, Democratic
• Thomas J. Meskill, Republican

Results

1970 Connecticut gubernatorial election^{[8][9][10][11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Thomas Meskill	582,160	53.76%
	Democratic	Emilio Q. Daddario	500,561	46.23%
	Write-ins		76	0.01%
Majority			81,599	7.54%
Turnout			1,082,797	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing