2022 Connecticut Secretary of the State election

The 2022 Connecticut Secretary of the State election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next Secretary of the State of Connecticut. Incumbent Democrat Denise Merrill planned to retire at the end of her elected term,^[1] but resigned on June 30 to care for her ailing husband.^[2] Governor Lamont appointed former associate attorney general Mark Kohler to the position. Kohler was sworn in on July 11. He was not a candidate for the office in the November election.^[3]

2022 Connecticut Secretary of State election

← 2018 November 8, 2022 2026 →

Nominee Stephanie Thomas Dominic Rapini Party Democratic Republican Alliance Working Families Popular vote 687,714 532,218 Percentage 55.2% 42.7%

County results Municipality results Congressional district results Thomas:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Rapini:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Secretary of State before election Mark Kohler Democratic Elected Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas Democratic

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Stephanie Thomas, state representative from the 143rd district (2021–2023)^[4]

Eliminated in primary

• Maritza Bond, New Haven health director^[5][6]

Withdrawn

• Darryl Brackeen Jr., New Haven alderman^[7][8] (running for state house)^[9]
• Josh Elliott, state representative from the 88th district (2017–present)^[10] (running for re-election)^[11]
• Matt Lesser, state senator from the 9th district (2019–present)^[12][13][14]
• Hilda Santiago, state representative from the 84th district (2013–present)^[15][16]

Declined

• Mark Kohler, incumbent secretary of the state

Controversy

During Matt Lesser's election bid for Secretary of the State in 2022, he faced backlash for attempting to change the order of balloting at the Democratic State Convention in the final hours.

Lesser pushed to have his race listed at the top rather than the end, a strategic move driven by the belief that his chances of endorsement might diminish if several white male candidates were considered before him.

Notably, two leading contenders for the endorsement were women of color, and the eventual nominee was Stephanie Thomas, the current Secretary of State.^[17]

Endorsements

Maritza Bond

Local officials

• Justin Elicker, mayor of New Haven^[18]
• Matthew Hoey, Guilford first selectman^[18]

Labor unions

• Connecticut AFL–CIO^[19]

Matt Lesser (withdrawn)

Organizations

• Connecticut Working Families Party^[20]

Labor unions

• United Auto Workers^[13]

Stephanie Thomas

Statewide officials

• Denise Merrill, former Secretary of the State of Connecticut (2011–2022)^[21]

State legislators

• Jorge Cabrera, state senator^[22]
• Josh Elliott, state representative^[22]

Local officials

• Lauren Garrett, mayor of Hamden^[22]

Organizations

• Democratic Party of Connecticut^[23]

Declined to endorse

Statewide officials

• Ned Lamont, governor of Connecticut^[24]

Results

Democratic primary results^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Stephanie Thomas	84,392	75.81%
	Democratic	Maritza Bond	26,929	24.19%
Total votes			111,321	100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Dominic Rapini, senior account manager at Apple and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018^[26]

Eliminated in primary

• Terrie Wood, state representative from the 141st district (2009–present)^[27]

Withdrawn

• Brock Weber, executive aide to New Britain mayor Erin Stewart^[28][29]

Endorsements

Dominic Rapini

Organizations

• Connecticut Republican Party^[30]

Results

Republican primary results^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dominic Rapini	51,080	58.23%
	Republican	Terrie Wood	36,634	41.77%
Total votes			87,714	100.0

Independent Party of Connecticut primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Cynthia Jennings, environmental attorney^[32]

Libertarian primary

Nominee

• Stephen Dincher, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Connecticut^[33]

Green primary

Nominee

• Douglas Lary^[33]

General election

Debate

2022 Connecticut Secretary of the State debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Republican	Libertarian	Green	Independent Party of Connecticut
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Stephanie Thomas	Dominic Rapini	Stephen Dincher	Douglas Lary	Cynthia Jennings
1	Oct. 25, 2022	Connecticut Public Broadcasting	Walter Smith Randolph	YouTube	P	P	N	N	N

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[34]	Safe D	December 1, 2021
Elections Daily[35]	Safe D	November 7, 2022

Results

2022 Connecticut Secretary of the State election^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Stephanie Thomas	665,631	53.44%	−0.37%
	Working Families	Stephanie Thomas	22,083	1.77%	−0.30%
	Total	Stephanie Thomas	687,714	55.22%	-0.67%
	Republican	Dominic Rapini	532,218	42.73%	+0.27%
	Independent Party	Cynthia Jennings	25,488	2.05%	N/A
Total votes			1,245,420	100.0%
	Democratic hold

By congressional district

Thomas won all five congressional districts.^[37]

District	Thomas	Rapini	Representative
1st	60%	37%	John B. Larson
2nd	53%	45%	Joe Courtney
3rd	56%	42%	Rosa DeLauro
4th	58%	40%	Jim Himes
5th	50%	48%	Jahana Hayes