The 2016 United States Senate election in Connecticut was held November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Connecticut, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal won re-election to a second term in office. Blumenthal's final vote total of 1,008,714 at the time made him the largest vote-receiver in the history of statewide elections in the state. (Blumenthal's record was later broken by then-Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election; Biden received 1,080,680 votes.) He also became the first person to exceed 1 million votes in the history of statewide elections in Connecticut. He remains the highest vote-receiver in the history of statewide elections besides the presidency.

Democratic nomination Candidates Declared Richard Blumenthal, incumbent U.S. senator

Republican nomination Declared Dan Carter, State Representative

Withdrew at convention Jack Orchulli, CEO and co-founder of a Michael Kors apparel company; nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2004

Failed to qualify August Wolf, investment executive and former Olympic athlete

Declined Larry Kudlow, economist, television personality and columnist Linda McMahon, businesswoman, former CEO of WWE, and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2012 Rob Simmons, Stonington first selectman, former U.S. representative and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010 Joe Visconti, former West Hartford town Ccuncilor, nominee for CT-01 in 2008 and Independent candidate for governor in 2014 David Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States and candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014

Republican convention The Republican state convention was held May 9, 2016, at the Connecticut Convention Center to select candidates for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. State Representative Dan Carter received the nomination with 76.7% of the delegate vote. Neither Jack Orchulli nor August Wolf received the necessary 15% of the delegate vote necessary to be granted an automatic primary on August 9, 2016. In the first round of voting, Wolf received 179 delegate votes, equalling 15.1% and qualifying for a primary. However, before balloting closed, Orchulli dropped from the race and publicly endorsed Dan Carter, urging his candidates to switch their votes. During the vote switching, an additional 56 delegates that had voted for Wolf also switched their vote, dropping him well below the 15% threshold.

On May 11, 2016, Wolf announced an attempt to force a primary by collecting the signatures of 8,079 registered Republicans by June 7. However, on June 21, 2016, it was announced that Wolf had failed to reach the required signature threshold to force a primary, and he conceded the Republican nomination to Carter as a result.

Convention results Candidate Delegates Percentage Dan Carter 907 76.7% August Wolf 123 10.4% Jack Orchulli 20 1.7% Not Present 132 11.2%

Endorsements

General election Debates Dates Location Blumenthal Carter LinkOctober 23, 2016Rocky Hill, ConnecticutParticipantParticipantFull debate

Predictions Source Ranking As of The Cook Political Report November 2, 2016 Sabato's Crystal Ball November 7, 2016 Rothenberg Political Report November 3, 2016 Daily Kos November 8, 2016 Real Clear Politics November 7, 2016

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror RichardBlumenthal (D) DanCarter (R) UndecidedSurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey November 1–7, 2016 1,387 ± 4.6% 63% 34% 3%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 31 – November 6, 2016 1,173 ± 4.6% 62% 35% 3%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 28 – November 3, 2016 925 ± 4.6% 62% 36% 2%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 27 – November 2, 2016 753 ± 4.6% 62% 36% 2%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 26 – November 1, 2016 616 ± 4.6% 60% 38% 2%SurveyMonkeySurveyMonkey October 25–31, 2016 554 ± 4.6% 59% 38% 3%Emerson CollegeEmerson College September 2–5, 2016 1,000 ± 3.0% 54% 33% 9%Quinnipiac UniversityQuinnipiac University June 1–5, 2016 1,330 ± 2.7% 60% 30% 10%

with August Wolf Poll source RichardBlumenthal (D) AugustWolf (R) UndecidedQuinnipiac UniversityQuinnipiac University October 7–11, 2015 1,735 ± 2.4% 61% 26% 13%Quinnipiac University June 1–5, 2016 1,330 ± 2.7% 62% 27% 11%

with Larry Kudlow Poll source RichardBlumenthal (D) LarryKudlow (R) UndecidedQuinnipiac University October 7–11, 2015 1,735 ± 2.4% 61% 27% 12%

Results

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By county CountyRichard Blumenthal DemocraticDan Carter RepublicanVarious candidates Other partiesTotal votes castFairfield249,88761.44%148,93536.62%7,8871.93%406,709Hartford265,01866.91%122,62430.96%8,4302.12%396,072Litchfield49,87252.2%43,51945.55%2,1472.25%95,538Middlesex53,96062.09%30,99635.66%1,9571.25%86,913New Haven239,99165.38%119,77432.63%7,2831.98%367,048New London75,18863.27%40,23833.86%3,4142.87%118,840Tolland45,94960.38%27,98936.78%2,1662.85%76,104Windham28,84958.81%18,54637.81%1,6573.37%49,052Total1,008,71463.19%552,62134.62%34,9411.19%1,596,276 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Litchfield (largest city: Torrington)

By congressional district Blumenthal won all five congressional districts by comfortable double-digit margins. District Blumenthal Carter Representative 68% 30%John B. Larson 61% 36%Joe Courtney 68% 30%Rosa DeLauro 62% 36%Jim Himes 58% 40%Elizabeth Esty

References

External links Official campaign websites Richard Blumenthal (D) for Senate Dan Carter (R) for Senate