HARTFORD, Conn. — Capitalizing on an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, conservative Greenwich fundraiser Leora Levy roared to a stunning victory Tuesday night against moderate Themis Klarides in a closer-than-expected race.
After Klarides won the party’s convention endorsement with nearly 60% of the vote, many Republicans believed that she would handily win the primary as Levy and immigration attorney Peter Lumaj of Fairfield would split the conservative vote.
Capitalizing on an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, conservative Greenwich fundraiser Leora Levy roared to a stunning victory Tuesday night against moderate Themis Klarides in a closer-than-expected race.
After Klarides won the party’s convention endorsement with nearly 60% of the vote, many Republicans believed that she would handily win the primary as Levy and immigration attorney Peter Lumaj of Fairfield would split the conservative vote.
“We’re making history here,’' Levy said in her victory speech at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Old Greenwich. “It’s really exciting. This is just chapter one. We’ve got the longer chapter ahead. ... This has been an amazing experience for me. ... My sister and I escaped communist Cuba. ... This is our story, and our journey was tragedy and sacrifice. But it was hope at the end. And we found hope here in America. My American Dream is I am a candidate here for the U.S. Senate.’'
When Levy thanked both Klarides and Lumaj, a supporter in the large crowd booed.
“No, please, no booing,’' Levy responded. “We need to unify. They each ran aggressive campaigns. We agreed on some issues, but I know they love our country, too.’'
She added, “I would like to thank President Trump. Thank you, President Trump, for your strong, clear, unequivocal endorsement. ... I will not let you down. Thank you for having my back.’'
egarding Monday’s high-profile search by FBI agents for classified documents at Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, Levy said, “That is unAmerican. That is what they do in Cuba, in China, in dictatorships.’'
Levy then turned her attention to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic powerhouse who has never lost an election in his 37-year career. Blumenthal has about $8 million in cash on hand for the November election.
“Here in Connecticut, Dick Blumenthal is Joe Biden,’' Levy said. “Dick Blumenthal supported defunding the police.’'
As she headed to an overall total of about 40%, Klarides won in Beacon Falls, Bridgewater, Cornwall, and Deep River, among others. Despite moving recently to Madison, Klarides needed a blowout victory in her former hometown of Derby. She won by 56% to 36% with Lumaj carrying 7%.
During her brief concession speech that lasted only a few minutes at about 10:45 p.m. in Middletown, Klarides thanked Larraine Rubacha, a key supporter who made 12,000 telephone calls by herself to get out the vote.
“I have spent the last 25 years trying to make Connecticut a better place,’' said Klarides, repeating her moniker of herself as “that loud-mouthed Greek girl.’'
Rubacha was stunned after the defeat.
“I’m heartbroken,” she said. “I never saw this coming, it’s shocking. ... The Trump factor must have played a large role, but who saw this coming in Connecticut? Not me and not anyone I know.”
After seeing Klarides win the endorsements of delegates at the convention in May at Foxwoods Resort Casino, supporters were stunned by her defeat.
“Obviously, this isn’t the way we wanted this to play out,” said Brian Werstler, the campaign manager. “I’m proud of the work we did. We stood up for people in Connecticut.”
“I’m feeling very bummed,” said Zachary Foti, a volunteer and student entering his first year in Quinnipiac’s political science program. “I’m grateful for the opportunity I had. I just am so bummed right now.”
The game-changer in the primary came when Levy won the endorsement Thursday of Trump, who retains major support among Republicans, particularly hard-core primary voters.
Trump held a tele-rally for Levy on Monday night, and the Levy campaign said that 32,679 people listened to the call — a huge number at a time when 450,000 Republicans were eligible to vote Tuesday. Trump arranged the rally and promoted the call to his supporters through social media, and the Levy campaign said that 98% of the callers had been from Connecticut.
Both Klarides and Lumaj downplayed the endorsement from Trump, who is still seen as the most popular candidate in the Republican Party nationally even while no longer holding office.
Despite a call for unity by state party chairman Ben Proto, the candidates hammered each other relentlessly and did not focus their political fire on Blumenthal, a powerhouse Democrat who is already running television commercials on multiple channels.
“I’m the only candidate who has a chance to beat Dick Blumenthal,’' Klarides told The Courant in a recent interview. “We are never all going to agree on everything — ever. But we’re going to agree on way more things than what we disagree on. ... I would hope on August 10 that everybody is together.’'
Klarides’s supporters strongly maintained that a pro-gun, pro-Trump candidate could win in Alabama, but could not win in Connecticut.
On primary day, Republicans heard Trump’s voice in their homes on a robocall that was delivered after the voting had already begun. Trump’s call came in the afternoon as voters were urged to head to the polls.
“Leora will fight to stop inflation and the Biden administration’s war on American energy like nobody’s ever seen,’' Trump said on the call. “That may be the dumbest war of all. She’ll vote to secure our border and stop illegal immigration. She’ll defend free speech, our great Constitution and the Second Amendment. She will work to crack down on violent crime, support our police officers, and restore public safety. I hope you can all get out and vote for Leora Levy.’'
A narrator after Trump’s statement said the message, which lasted about one minute, was paid by the Connecticut Patriots PAC, an independent Super PAC that is supporting Levy. The committee’s executive director raised millions to elect Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who is now chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a key group fighting to help Republicans win the majority in the U.S. Senate.
When she expected to win on Tuesday, Klarides had been planning to attend a national fundraiser Wednesday on Nantucket island, at a top price of $50,000 per seat for dinner, with Scott and top Republicans seeking U.S. Senate seats, including former football star Herschel Walker of Georgia and Dr. Mehmet Oz of Pennsylvania.
Gary Rose, a longtime political science professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, questioned that more than 32,000 were on Trump’s tele-rally call, saying that it sounded “really, really exaggerated.’’
Rose noted that Lumaj had largely disappeared in the final days of the primary, predicting that Trump’s endorsement of Levy would pull votes away from Lumaj among conservatives.
“Peter Lumaj has no media presence at all,’' Rose said in an interview. “I’m not even sure what has happened to his campaign. It’s almost like he’s becoming irrelevant since that Trump endorsement. I’m not sure many people are taking him very seriously any more. I think it’s over for him, and he knows it.’'
While the number of yard signs is not a scientific indication of the race, Levy had a far more obvious presence at intersections in recent days in places like Farmington, West Hartford, Bloomfield, and Simsbury. Levy’s distinct red-and-white signs were obvious to drivers passing by, while Klarides and Lumaj had few signs in those areas.
Bristol resident Rae Rudzinksi, a Republican voting for Bob Stefanowski for governor in November, said Trump’s endorsement of Levy made her choose Levy over Klarides.
“When I learned Trump backed Levy, I knew I had to vote for her,’' Rudzinski said. “I don’t know a lot about the candidates, but Trump’s endorsement was huge for me because it helps me know what she stands for. That was huge for me.”
She added, “The economy is the biggest issue. I like to bake, and going to the grocery everything is more expensive. Just eggs and milk have gone up. It’s getting too expensive.”
Levy is also supported by Simsbury landscaper Robert Hyde, a major Trump supporter who attended the state party convention but did not qualify for the primary this year after receiving less than 1% of the delegates in the final tally. Instead, he says he is running in 2024 against U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Hartford.
“This is the year for conservatives to run,’' Hyde said in a message. “The national political environment has not been this favorable since 1994.’'
Lumaj said on live television that Trump’s endorsement was a key factor.
“This is a huge victory for President Trump in our state,’' Lumaj said. “The target remains Blumenthal and the failed liberal policies. ... I wouldn’t do anything differently. ... Obviously, the endorsement by the President changed the political landscape in our state.’'
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