After Leora Levy’s stunning upset of GOP-backed Themis Klarides, for the nomination to run  for the US Senate seat, the midterm elections on November 8, 2022 are set to become even more interesting.

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Klarides’ nomination was all but a given and would have likely been popular amongst some of the Independent voters in Connecticut which has been a blue state since 1972. Her moderate policies, including her support of abortion rights have likely made her a pariah within her own party, particularly to those who have been backed by former US President Donald Trump.

In fact, Levy’s win comes off the back of her using Trump’s rhetoric in denying the 2020 presidential elections as well as attacking Klarides for her stance on abortion.

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Dominic Rapini and Terrie Wood ran as the GOP’s candidates for the Connecticut secretary of state seat. Rapini edged out her opponent in the two-way battle, winning 58.3% of the votes at the last updated count, with Wood sitting with 41.7%. 

On the Democrat side, Stephanie Thomas and Maritza Bond locked horns for the secretary of state seat. With 73% of the votes counted so far, and Thomas having 75.8% of them to Bond’s 24.2%, the race has been a blitz. 

Thomas will face off against Rapini during the elections in November. On the one hand Rapini has run her platform based on introducing stricter voting laws by introducing photo ID, whereas Thomas has focused on expanding voting access with more early voting and absentee ballots. 

Speaking to voters after winning the nomination, Thomas said that she wanted to reach out to independent voters as well as Republican voters who were looking for an “alternative to conspiracy theories and the sowing of misinformation”.

The secretary of state office has become a heavily contested public office, considering it oversees elections a key point of contention ever since the attempts at overturning the last presidential elections.