Adam Sendroff addresses the crowd after winning the Democratic primary for mayor on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, at the Knights of Columbus in Hamden. Credit to Jim Michaud/Hearst Connecticut Media
Overview
21 Towns and Cities held local municipal primaries last night. Let’s go through some of the notable results and how candidates fared during an off-year September primary.
We did live-tweet the results throughout the night. To get updates, either local election news or announcements of the publication of written articles, you can find us on Twitter, which is linked here.
For additional information on any races, before I go into results, please use our Ultimate September 9th Primary Guide as a reference.
In the top races of the night…
Adam Sendroff and Barbara Smyth both won Democratic mayoral primaries in Hamden and Norwalk, respectively.
Republican Incumbent First Selectman George Temple and Kevin Cunningham survive tough primaries in Oxford and Plainfield
Just a note, in some race summaries, my screenshots will come from the Secretary of State’s Website Election Database. The results are unofficial and are not certified. However, many candidates have leads that won’t be changed with recounts.
Turnout
Turnout was low as expected. On the Republican side, the turnout was 23.36% (note – turnout for the Griswold Republican primary is not noted on the website). On the Democratic side, turnout was only 19.35%.
However, turnout varied among different towns. On the Republican side, turnout varied from 47.28% in Oxford to 12.98% in Greenwich. On the Democratic side, turnout was as high as 45.33% in Chester, to as low as 11.95% in Stamford.
Note – All turnout numbers were found on the Secretary of State’s Website.
Differences in turnout were usually due to the type of race. Races for First Selectman or Mayor were much higher than in towns that had races only for boards or councils.
Hamden
Former Board of Education member Adam Sendroff won a convincing victory last night over party-endorsed Dominique Baez and three others.
Sendroff won 46.57% of the vote, securing more than one thousand votes more than party-endorsed Legislative Council President Dominique Baez.
All the candidates demonstrated levels of support. It was a large field that included multiple elected officials in Hamden.
Some candidates had controversies that were difficult to overcome. City Council President Dominique Baez was perceived as the frontrunner for many weeks. However, the New Haven Register reported that Baez’s workforce development company was evicted due to 40k in unpaid rent in 2021.
This was unwelcome news in a town where voters were looking for someone to lead them on fiscal responsibility.
I underestimated Sendroff’s level of support by a fair amount. My race rating was a Toss-Up after Baez’s issues because I wasn’t sure what to expect. I did not expect an overwhelming win for Sendroff.
Sendroff impressively not only won against another elected official in Democratic Registrar of Voters Lushonda Howard, but two former mayoral candidates in Walter Morton IV and Peter Cyr.
What to Expect in November
Normally, in a town that Kamala Harris won 73-25, we’ll call it a day, and tell Adam Sendroff, congrats, you’re the mayor in November.
However, Republicans see an opening due to the financial crisis plaguing the city.
In addition, we highlighted in a previous article that Incumbent Mayor Lauren Garrett only won in 2023 by 12 points, and only 10 points in 2021. So we expect a much closer race than the federal toplines suggest.
Adam Sendroff’s convincing victory, though, should give Democrats some much-needed confidence. Sendroff will face 24-year-old Jonathan Katz, a political newcomer, in November.
Hamden Councilmen Districts
In our primary guide, I said that out of all the challengers to the endorsed candidate in Hamden. I thought that Grace Teodosio had the best chance of an upset over an endorsed candidate, since Renee Hoff was an appointed incumbent who hadn’t run in a primary prior, and Teodosio had an in-depth campaign website.
Teodosio proved my suspicions correct and won over party-endorsed and incumbent Renee Hoff 54-46.
As expected, incumbents in Districts 7 and 8, Adrian Webber and Ted Stevens, comfortably won over their challengers.
District 9, however, will absolutely go to a recount. I thought the race could be unpredictable as the 2023 Democratic Nominee, Barbara Walker, was against party-endorsed Tameeka Parks.
I also thought the race would narrowly favor Tameeka Parks, though I did not expect this close of a margin. As of right now, Tameeka Parks has 220 votes. Walker has 218. A recount could shift that narrow of a margin, but Parks is likely to move on in November; but we will have to wait to see.
In November, Democrats are favored in Councilmen Districts 6,7, and 8. In District 9, the Democratic winner will have to face Republican Jim Anthony in November. Anthony won 55-45 in 2023.
Norwalk
Politicos expected a close race in Norwalk last night, and a close result it was. Common Council President Barbara Smyth took a 77 vote victory over Common Council Member Darlene Young.
I expected the race to be close due to a couple of factors: Smyth narrowly won the party endorsement from local Democrats, and Young had more than enough signatures to make the ballot.
Local Democrats also remarked that both women have the strength, dedication, and leadership needed to be mayor
What to Expect in November
Norwalk is another town where Democrats have done well on the federal level. Kamala Harris won a comfortable 64-35 victory here last year.
However, similarly to Hamden, Republicans have done better in local races than federal races. Incumbent Mayor Harry Rilling won 55% of the vote against Vinny Scicchitano in 2023. Though he won a larger 64-36 victory two years prior in 2021.
Democrats are likely to win in November, but Republicans can put up a fight. Smyth will face the 2023 Republican nominee Scicchitano in November, who does have name recognition from his previous run.
Chester
Incumbent First Selectman Cynthia Lignar comfortably beat challenger Joe Cohen in an 81-19 landslide.
Lignar got 438 votes to Cohen’s 106 votes.
There will be no Republican candidate on the ballot in November, as 2023 Republican nominee Ron Amara says “the Democrats would have glided to victory“. Amara did back Cohen, but Lignar won comfortably and will be unopposed in November.
Stratford
Party-endorsed David Chess won a landslide victory over challenger Linda Manos. Chess won an 87-13 victory. The largest margin of victory of the night.
Chess, a doctor and businessman, won the support of the Democratic Town Committee by a large margin, though I expected a closer race. Manos told the CTPost that she submitted over 1000 signatures in her primary petition, though she barely got 1/4 of that in the primary. Though I think some of those signatures were not registered Democrats, and the number was closer to the 650 needed signatures.
What to Expect in November
Chess faces a very difficult race in November. He will go up against two-term Republican incumbent Laura Hoydick. Stratford is a very Democratic town with Kamala Harris winning 59-40 last year.
However, Laura Hoydick won a landslide 63-37 victory in 2021, so Chess will need to get partisan Democrats to vote for him over Hoydick and prevent voters from crossing over. He definitely has a chance, as 2025 is expected to be a much bluer year for Democrats than 2021. However, one should not doubt Connecticut’s split-ticket voting tendencies.
Bloomfield
As readers know, Bloomfield has had a turbulent couple of years with a lot of infighting amongst local Democrats.
On the Town Council, it looks like the majority of the Row A endorsed party candidates emerged victorious. However, one challenger has made it into the top six.
I expected the Row A candidates to win with a larger margin, but it was a nailbiter of a result. Recent developments and scandals on the new town library and numerous budget amendments meant a lot of turmoil for former Bloomfield Mayor Danielle Wong’s administration and her fellow councilors. This gave an opening for the challengers.
Wong, who resigned last month, was replaced by Mayor Tony Harrington, who led all candidates with 1340 votes. The top six candidates of the twelve on the ballot that will go on to November are (endorsed candidates marked with a *)
Tony Harrington* – 1340
Cindi Lloyd* – 1214
Michael Oliver* – 1188
Darrell Goodwin* – 1172
Suzette DeBeatham-Brown – 1155
Todd Cooper* – 1142
Former Mayor Suzette DeBeatham-Brown looks like she will make a return to the town council after a brutal loss in 2023. Endorsed candidate Ola Aina has fallen short. Another former mayor, Sydney Schulman, was only 19 votes behind Todd Cooper. Other endorsed candidates were within two hundred voters of Todd Cooper, but they fell short.
Bloomfield is one of the most liberal towns in the state, voting for Kamala Harris by an 84-15 margin. This means the six Democrats are virtually assured of their victory in November.
Oxford
A race filled with drama between First Selectman incumbent George Temple and his longtime protege Jeffrey Luff ended in a victory for the seven-term incumbent Temple, who won a comfortable 57-43 victory.
Both incumbents, First Selectman George Temple and Selectman Arnold Jensen, won against their Republican challengers. Temple was surprised that Luff was challenging him, as Luff was a protege he expected to take over once he retired. Luff was not happy that Temple, age 79, was running for an eighth term, saying he “had lost his fastball“.
Temple and Jensen both narrowly lost the party-endorsement vote, but the vote was so close (Temple lost 151-157, Jensen lost 153-155) that the race was expected to be competitive.
Donald Trump comfortably won Oxford by a 60-39 margin, meaning Temple and Jensen are heavily favored to retain their positions in November.
Plainfield
The 20-year political feud between Incumbent First Selectman Kevin Cunningham and former First Selectman Paul Sweet ended in a narrow victory for Cunningham, who emerged victorious by fifteen votes.
Cunningham and Sweet have had a feud going on for so long that both were former Democratic First Selectmen many years ago before finding themselves as Republicans facing off in a September primary. Cunningham had lost to Sweet twice, both in 2007 and 2009, in the general election, but he finally won a race against Sweet in 2025.
However, Incumbent Arthur Gagne has narrowly lost to the party-endorsed Michael Suprenant by 28 votes. It might be a bit awkward in Plainfield as one incumbent and one challenger will be in office together.
Plainfield is another town where Trump did well, winning 61-38 in 2024. So Cunningham and Suprenant are heavily favored in November.
Wolcott
Party-endorsed James Paolino did not think that Paul D’Angelo should represent Republicans on the ballot this year. His goal was to block D’Angelo from winning the nomination. D’Angelo was arrested last year for a domestic dispute and was being sued by Wells Fargo.
Republican voters, however, disagreed with Paolino as D’Angelo narrowly bested him by 21 votes in a 52-48 victory.
Paolino said he would not seriously challenge the incumbent mayor. D’Angelo wanted to offer voters a serious conversation on the town and give a serious challenge to Incumbent Mayor Thomas Dunn, who has been unopposed in the last four elections.
Dunn has never had a difficult contest and is highly favored in November. We’ll see if local Republicans support D’Angelo after this acriminous primary.
Rest of the Races
There were many other races across the state. Results for every primary in the state can be found here.
Some other interesting results were Incumbent Town Clerk Bob Siegrist losing to party-endorsed Sarah Pytlik 45-55.
In New Britain, Incumbent Alderperson Neil Connors lost to party-endorsed incumbent John McNamara and former Alderperson Luz Ortiz-Luna.
In Stamford, all party-endorsed candidates won their primaries for the Board of Representatives, all by pretty large margins. This meant multiple incumbents who did not receive the party endorsement have been ousted from office. This includes Bonnie Kim Campbell (District 5), Denis Paterson (District 6), and Anabel Figeroa (District 8)
In New Haven, Elias Theodore won comfortably over Norah Laughter for the Board of Alder Ward 1. A ward seat that encompasses a good portion of Yale University. Theodore won comfortably 63-36. Party-endorsed incumbent Angel Hubbard won 58-42 in Ward 3 against Miguel Pittman, who she will have to face again in November. Party-endorsed Leland Moore won a landslide 84-16 vote against Zelema Harris in Ward 18.
It was an interesting night all around, with some upsets and party-endorsed candidates coming out victorious.
There will likely be a recount in Hamden in Councilman District 9, so we will see what happens in that race and if there are any other developments overall. Other than that, it’s off to the general election, where we will have a lot of competitive races.
Thanks for Reading!