Democratic Party Delegates Endorse Incumbents Courtney, DeLauro, Himes, and Hayes

Second District Democrats Back Courtney To Run For 11th Term

VERNON, CT — Joe Courtney secured the Democratic nomination to run for an 11th term representing the Second District in the U.S. House of Representatives Monday after a challenge from 35-year-old veteran Kyle Gauck of East Hampton came up short of the 15% threshold needed to force a primary.

In the state’s other four House districts, U.S. Reps. Rosa DeLauro, Jim Himes, and Jahana Hayes all won the endorsements of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th congressional districts respectively, while Luke Bronin, who previously served as mayor in Hartford, shocked longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. John Larson to win the party’s endorsement in the 1st Congressional District.

Bronin’s victory sets the stage for a three-way primary between him, Larson, and West Hartford state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, who earned the support of 15% of the delegates Monday.

In Vernon, Courtney secured the support of 322 of the 356 delegates at the convention, held at Rockville High School.

In his acceptance speech, Courtney said regaining a Democratic majority in the House was critical this November. He lamented the current administration’s failure to bring down energy costs or to fulfill other promises pertaining to lowering the cost of living.

He also warned of the potential threat to the right to vote that the SAVE Act proposes, arguing that the current administration is relying on tactics to “purge voters” and rearrange election-day processes to ensure a lifeline to victory in the midterm elections.

In his speech nominating Courtney, local labor leader for the Metal Trades Council, Peter Baker, commended Courtney’s use of collective bargaining to ensure wage increases. Baker said that the 21.4% wage increase his industry experienced in the past few years had “gone a long way.”

State Sen. Martha Marx, D-New London, said Courtney “does not wait, he acts,” and that he “shows up for working people not just during the election season, but every single day.”

Gauck had focused his campaign on Medicare accessibility, veteran advocacy, imposing congressional term limits, and bans on private stock trading by members of Congress. In an interview with CTNewsJunkie, he described campaigning against a longstanding incumbent as “tantamount to political Everest.”