HARTFORD, Conn. — U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and his supporters were confident as the polls closed Tuesday, with the longtime Democratic office-holder expecting to win his third six-year term.
The Associated Press called the race for Blumenthal shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m.
In his victory speech, Blumenthal said, “I want to thank the working people and the Working Families Party of Connecticut, my union brothers and sisters, my team here, my team in Washington, D.C. ... I’m going to continue fighting tirelessly, relentlessly against the special interests.”
He said “it has never been more important than now” to fight for working families because of “the rising rate of inflation.” He also said he would work to restore “women’s reproductive rights and freedoms and we are going to restore them.” Blumenthal also said he would “fight to protect and preserve Social Security and Medicare.
“I also think we need to bring the country together,” Blumenthal said. “We need to put Connecticut first. We need to put America first. ... The fight will be coming. It will be more difficult than before. But I will stand with you to fight for the people of Connecticut.”
Levy, a Republican fundraiser and member of the Republican National Committee, had bet on the outspoken support of ex-President Donald Trump, who endorsed her, to defeat Blumenthal.
Blumenthal and other Democrats partied at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford. Levy’s headquarters was the Trumbull Marriott. She had not come out to speak by 9 p.m.
Both had campaiged hard, with Blumenthal, 76, a Greenwich resident, appearing at numerous events and campaign stops over the past months. Levy has hit hard at Blumenthal for his long political career and for being a “rubber stamp” for President Joe Biden.
Both candidates have used the others’ presidential ties — Blumenthal with Biden and Levy with Trump — as targets of criticism. During their debate, Blumenthal said, “If you always have President Trump’s back, you can’t have Connecticut’s back.”
Levy called Blumenthal’s calls to provide more energy assistance and to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve “election year gimmicks” and said Democratic policies will increase inflation.
Blumenthal was U.S. attorney for Connecticut before he won his first race to the state House of Representatives in 1984. He has since served as state senator and attorney general for 20 years before he defeated Linda McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment, who spent $50 million in her campaign.
A Marine veteran, Blumenthal created a political problem for himself when he misspoke about serving in Vietnam rather than stateside during the war. He later apologized. He is a Harvard University and Yale Law School graduate.
Both candidates are Greenwich residents. Blumenthal is married to Cynthia Malkin Blumenthal and has four children.
Trump held a fundraising event for Levy at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Florida, resort. However, Levy, 65, a Jewish immigrant from Cuba, has said, “Trump is not on the ballot. Leora Levy is.”
Levy has loaned herself $1.2 million and has received $2 million in advertising support from Connecticut Patriots PAC. Her TV ads have focused on the high cost of living and crime, which she blames on Blumenthal.
Levy attended Brown University. She and her husband, Steven Levy, have three children.
Waiting for the polls to close, Kristin Song of the Ethan Miller Song Foundation said of Blumenthal, ‘For someone who has lobbied a ton in D.C. and witnessed his commitment to not only the gun violence survivors but any issue ... his commitment is 100%.”
Song’s son, Ethan, accidentally shot himself to death at a friend’s house with a gun that was not secured. The Songs live in Guilford.
Kristin Song added that Blumenthal “is the most dedicated man I’ve ever seen in Congress.” She described “his sincerity, his authenticity, his sincerity ... and his compassion for his constituents, whether you’re suffering as a small-business owner or whether you’re suffering as someone who doesn’t have enough to eat.”
During their debate, Blumenthal opened by saying, “As your attorney general and now as your United States senator, I have stood up to special interests and fought for you. Now, as the stakes are higher and families confront higher costs and price gouging ... I want to continue working for you — lowering costs, cutting taxes, protecting Social Security, and restoring reproductive freedoms.’’
Blumenthal is pro-choice while Levy opposes abortion except in cases where the mother’s or fetus’ life is at risk. She supported the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Levy said she and Blumenthal have two different views of America and focused on immigration at the Mexican border. “I’ve never been so worried about our country,” she said. “We have an invasion at our border. It is not immigration. It is an invasion.’’
Levy hasn’t always supported Trump. In an op-ed in February 2016, she wrote, “He is vulgar, ill-mannered and disparages those whom he cannot intimidate.”
Despite Blumenthal’s criticism of her support for Trump during the debate, she called herself “a uniter.”
“I’ve been endorsed by a lot of people in our party from the former president to Nikki Haley to Rob Portman to Ric Grenell,” she said. “I was very happy to take the endorsements from my party.’’
Blumenthal defended his work to help families during tough economic times, pointing to $86.4 million in funds for low-income households during this winter.
Levy said there needed to be more energy production and criticized the canceling of the Keystone oil pipeline.
Blumenthal countered, “I pushed President Biden to release more Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He did it. Prices came down. My opponent opposed it. ... Keystone is a distraction. It never would have delivered any product. It was simply to export it abroad.’’
(Pam McLoughlin contributed to this story. )
