What's the Matter with Connecticut?

Each election, Connecticut residents stroll to the polls to exercise their rights as American citizens. But, a strange discrepancy continues to emerge in the actions of Connecticut’s voters.

Back in 2004, the state which voted for George W. BushGeorge W. Bush in 2000 opted out of his second term, and handed over the electoral votes to Democrat John KerryJohn Kerry by a margin of 54% to 44% (U.S. Election Atlas). In 2008, the state as a whole chose Democratic nominee Barack ObamaBarack Obama 61% over his Republican rival John McCainJohn McCain’s 38% of the popular vote (New York Times). This left-wing swing is also evident in the state’s legislative branch.

Currently, four of the five Connecticut congressmen are Democrats: John B. LarsonJohn B. Larson (1st District), Joe CourtneyJoe Courtney (2nd District), Rosa L. Delauro (3rd District) and Christopher S. MurphyChristopher S. Murphy (5th District). The lone Republican is James A. Himes from the 4th District. In the Senate, Democrat Christopher DoddChristopher Dodd is continuously elected, and Connecticut’s other Senator, Independent Joe LiebermanJoe Lieberman, was ousted by the Democratic Party for his conservative ways.

However, another trend which continually surfaces in Connecticut is whom the voters choose to be their governor. In 1994, the voters first elected Republican John G. Rowland. And despite his tendencies to repeatedly raise taxes on certain goods and scandals which hovered over his time in office, Rowland was elected three times, before finally resigned in 2004 amid a home-remodeling scandal. Then, Jodi Rell was handed the duty to secure the Republican’s place in “the Constitution State”. In 2006, Rell was officially elected by Connecticut residents by a substantial margin of 63% to 35% over Democratic nominee John DeStefano, Jr., once again securing conservative dominance in the state capitol.

With the wealthy in the western hills and the blue collared eastern part of the state, why do the diverse residents of Connecticut repeatedly vote against their best interests nationally and within the state? The only explanation which can possibly be mustered about these strange voting trends is the “Midwest syndrome” brilliantly articulated by Thomas Frank in his 2004 book What’s the Matter with Kansas? However, in Connecticut, voters are more likely to support the liberal positions of its national politicians, but take a stern, conservative approach to the issues which occur at home.