Challenger Andrew Rice addresses disappointed supporters outside the convention, strategizing for gathering petition signatures.
Delegates gather at West Haven High.
18-year-old Christian Garcia, from Hamden: I want to see change.
Democratic delegates of the Third Congressional District voted overwhelmingly on Monday to endorse 18-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro in her bid to serve another two years in Congress.
Meanwhile, DeLauro’s challenger, a democratic socialist and molecular biologist from Milford, came up just six votes short of qualifying for the primary ballot — and now plans to gather enough petition signatures to keep his campaign going.
DeLauro secured her party’s nomination at a convention held at West Haven High School, where 339 delegates and their proxies were in attendance to cast their vote for either the 83-year-old incumbent or Andrew Rice, a 37-year-old political newcomer. Rice is running as a supporter of single-payer government-run health insurance. He is also an outspoken critic of Israel in the wake of its mass killings in Gaza.
In the end, after votes were tallied, DeLauro won 294 votes Monday while Rice earned 45. He needed 51 to meet the 15-percent threshold required for qualifying for the primary ballot. Rice and his supporters now plan to embark on securing the 3,386 signatures necessary to petition onto the Aug. 11 ballot, due by June 9.
DeLauro won the New Haven-area Democrats’ endorsement on Monday at the same time that Hartford-area Democrats voted narrowly at their convention in East Hartford to endorse First Congressional District challenger Luke Bronin over 14-term incumbent John Larson.
DeLauro officially announced that she would run for her 19th term on Friday with a video, promising to take on Big Insurance and drug companies to bring down healthcare costs, fight to pass paid family and medical leave and equal pay for women, and continue “standing up to President [Donald] Trump” to stop funding cuts.
“My parents taught me to be a fighter,” the New Haven native said in that video. “To never give up — never take no for an answer.”
Supporters of DeLauro on Monday evening carried her campaign’s purple and red signs while Rice’s supporters’ signs read slogans like “Less ICE More RICE” and “No AIPAC No War.” New Haven’s cohort — which included alders, state legislators, ward co-chairs, and the mayor — took their seats in West Haven High’s packed auditorium among the other delegates, separated by towns.
“I’m always Rosa,” said Fair Haven Alder Frank Redente, Jr. when asked who he would be casting his vote for. “Since I was a little kid. She’s a New Havener, she’s always been supportive of the fight in Fair Haven.”
Rice knew he wouldn’t secure the party’s nomination, which required a majority vote. But he was hoping to earn the vote of 15 percent of delegates, which would give him a spot on the primary ballot. Dozens of his supporters, many of whom were not voting members, carried signs and called out chants for delegates to vote for Rice and, by extension, a contested race: “People want a choice!” (A second Democratic challenger to DeLauro, a Guilford attorney named Damjan DeNoble, ended his campaign in February.)
“Regardless of what happens tonight, I’ve made history,” Rice said to the Independent before the voting began on Monday. He said he felt “humbled” by the support he had seen, and noted that, as an openly gay man, he could be what he believed to be the first openly gay person to appear on a major ticket for federal office in Connecticut.
“So it could be a big night for the LGBTQ+ community that has been facing a lot of pushback in recent days, and tonight’s overarching message is allowing Democrats to have a choice,” Rice said. “I think it is very important for Democrats to show that, unlike Republicans, they will stick up for choice and that we don’t disenfranchise our own voters.”
“I always love conventions,” DeLauro said. As some supporters of Rice yelled their criticism of DeLauro just steps away, she said, “This is democracy. It plays itself out.”
Both candidates were nominated by delegates, whose nominations were then seconded by other delegates.
Wallingford State Rep. Mary Mushinsky, who nominated DeLauro, highlighted her work passing the child tax credit and the Paycheck Fairness Act, the millions of dollars in federal funding she has secured for the Third Congressional District, and her advocacy for paid family and medical leave.
“Rosa, who could have predicted the damage to families from the Trump administration?” Mushinsky said. “So we need you, Rosa, reelected and back as the head of the Appropriations Committee.”
DeLauro is currently the top Democrat, or “ranking member,” on the House Appropriations Committee. She served two years as chair of the committee starting in 2022. If Democrats regain a majority in the House of Representatives in the midterms, DeLauro could take back the gavel for one of the chamber’s most important committees, which is responsible for allocating federal dollars.
Fair Haven Alder Frank Redente, Jr.: “I’m always Rosa.”
State Sen. Martin Looney and East Rock/Fair Haven Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith.
On Monday, Rice was nominated by Nadine Padowicz, a member of the Milford Democratic Town Committee. Padowicz detailed the current political landscape, including a “decimated” healthcare system, an “illegal war,” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “terrorizing communities,” marginalized people being “under attack,” and the poor getting poorer while the rich get richer.
“The political policies of the last 40 years brought us here. How can these same policies work now?” Padowicz said. “Nothing less than transformational change and leadership will be needed to take on the gargantuan task of restoring trust in the federal government.”
Supporting Rice would also be giving the next generation “an opportunity to have a role,” she said.
Delegates then cast their votes directly to their Democratic Town Committee (DTC) chairs, who returned ballots so votes could be counted.
Lisa Velasquez-Torres and Sandra Pittman, the DTC ward co-chairs in the Hill’s Ward 3, both said they cast their votes for DeLauro.
“I love her history. I love her passion,” Pittman said. “It’s not all about age.”
Velasquez-Torres said she hadn’t been familiar enough with Rice as a candidate.
New Haven DTC Chair Vinnie Mauro, who also chaired the convention, said he had voted for DeLauro as well. He felt DeLauro’s support among New Haven delegates was secure. “I think Rosa’s a hometown person, so Rosa will do very well in New Haven,” he said.
Christian Garcia, an 18-year-old from Hamden, was in attendance not as a voting delegate but as a vocal supporter of Rice. “Andrew’s for universal health care. He’s for defunding ICE,” he said.
“Rosa DeLauro has been in office for almost 40 years now,” said Garcia. “We need people who are for the people.” While a vote for Rice would be a vote for democracy, he said, the delegates in the room would be voting for the “establishment.”
Garcia, who said he will be joining the U.S. Navy, said that he wants to see change. “Connecticut’s Third District is the poorest district in the state. We have the highest debt per capita. We have the lowest attendance of children in schools.”
After DeLauro won the convention’s endorsement vote, many of Rice’s supporters booed and walked out the auditorium, saying “Shame on you!” One delegate yelled back “Shut up back there!” Rice and around 30 of his supporters then gathered outside West Haven High School to start strategizing for gathering petition signatures. “We can do this!” Rice said.
The 2026 midterm elections have been a major rallying for both parties, as Republicans fight to maintain their U.S. House of Representatives majority made possible by a thin margin. Both parties have aimed to redistrict parts of the country in order to boost their chances, though Republicans have taken the lead in that fight.
Still, DeLauro isn’t worried about her party’s chances.
“We’re gonna win the midterms,” she said. The redistricting makes it difficult, she said, “but I think they’ve gone down and to my view, it’s fight fire with fire. They want to play this game, we can play it too, but I think there’s going to be an overwhelming vote in November.”
Asked if she’s looking forward to potentially returning to her role as chair of the House Appropriations Committee, she said, “Amen!”
New Haven DTC Chair Vinnie Mauro.
Rice and supporters.
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