United States presidential elections in Connecticut

Presidential elections in Connecticut
Map of the United States with Connecticut highlighted
Number of elections59
Voted Democratic21
Voted Republican23
Voted Whig3
Voted Democratic-Republican4
Voted Federalist6
Voted other2[a]
Voted for winning candidate40
Voted for losing candidate19

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the United States.[1] One of the original Thirteen Colonies, Connecticut has participated in all fifty-nine U.S. presidential elections since the American Revolution.[2] In the early days of the United States, Connecticut was known for supporting the conservative Federalist Party.[3] In the Second Party System, Connecticut leaned towards the anti-Jackson candidates.[4] Following the Civil War, Connecticut was a swing state for a long time until 1896.[5] Thereafter until 1932, Connecticut was a Republican stronghold. During this period, Connecticut Republican Party chairman J. Henry Roraback built up a political machine which was "efficient, conservative, penurious, and in absolute control".[6]

During the Great Depression, Connecticut began to pivot in support of Democratic candidates. After that, although the Republican Party won Connecticut several times in the presidential election, its advantage was no longer as significant as it had previously been.[7] Since 1992, the state has voted consistently for the Democratic candidates.[8]

In 2020, Joe Biden became the first candidate in Connecticut history to win over one million votes in the state, scoring nearly 1.1 million votes.

Connecticut is a signatory of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an interstate compact in which signatories award all of their electoral votes to the winner of the national-level popular vote in a presidential election, even if another candidate won an individual signatory's popular vote. As of 2023, it has not yet gone into force.[9]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "New England". U.S. General Services Administration. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  2. ^ Stanwood, Edward (1888). A History of Presidential Elections. Houghton, Mifflin. p. 10. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Purcell was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Wilentz, Sean (August 29, 2006). Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-32921-6. Archived from the original on August 20, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  5. ^ Dusen, Albert Edward Van (1961). Connecticut. Random House. pp. 262–263. Archived from the original on August 20, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  6. ^ Lockard, Duane (March 25, 2019). New England State Politics. Princeton University Press. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-691-07511-2. Archived from the original on August 20, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  7. ^ Kleppner, Paul (December 23, 1981). The Evolution of American Electoral Systems. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 219–225. ISBN 978-0-313-21379-3. Archived from the original on August 20, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  8. ^ Liep, Dave. "Presidential General Election Graph Comparison - Connecticut". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  9. ^ "Status of National Popular Vote Bill in Each State". National Popular Vote Inc. November 11, 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2023-05-05.