Connecticut House Races Head to Automatic Recounts After Tight Margins
Three Connecticut House contests are headed for automatic recounts following Tuesday’s election, while two other legislative races missed the threshold by only a handful of votes. The outcome of these close votes will determine the final composition of the General Assembly as unofficial tallies continue to be processed.
Connecticut law requires an automatic recount when a winning margin is less than half of 1 percent of the total votes cast. Three specific House districts fell squarely within that narrow margin based on unofficial results.
In House District 123, serving Trumbull, Republican incumbent Representative David Rutigliano leads Democrat Bill Mecca by a 29-vote margin, holding 5,306 votes to Mecca’s 5,277, which amounts to 0.27 percent of the total vote. Trumbull officials scheduled the recount for 12 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at Town Hall.
In House District 62, covering Barkhamsted, Granby, Hartland, and New Hartford, Democrat Kim Becker leads Republican incumbent Representative Mark Anderson by 34 votes, 6,098 to 6,064, representing 0.28 percent of the ballots cast. Local officials have not yet set a date for that recount. Becker previously lost to Anderson in the 2024 election by 1,135 votes.
In House District 48, spanning Bozrah, Colchester, Franklin, and Lebanon, Democrat Bob Fernandez leads Republican incumbent Representative Mark DeCaprio by 57 votes, 5,796 to 5,739, a margin of 0.49 percent. The district recorded 11,535 total votes, meaning a 58-vote margin would have avoided a recount under state guidelines. Officials have not yet announced a schedule for the District 48 tally. If current unofficial results hold, both Becker and Fernandez would flip Republican-held seats.
Senate Rematch Avoids Recount by Narrow Margin
Outside the House, a state Senate rematch also tested the recount threshold. In Senate District 34, Democrat Brandi Mandato challenged incumbent Republican Senator Paul Cicarella in a district covering Durham, East Haven, North Branford, North Haven, and Wallingford.
Mandato led by 25 votes for a few days after the polls closed, but unofficial results from the Secretary of the State’s office showed her lead grew to 231 votes, representing 0.597 percent of the 38,691 total votes cast. That lead sits 38 votes above the 193-vote ceiling that would have triggered an automatic recount under Connecticut law. The race serves as a rematch of the 2024 election, when Cicarella defeated Mandato by nearly 7,000 votes.
In House District 34, Republican Melissa Ziobron defeated Democrat Meghan Rosenfeld by 60 votes, securing 5,821 ballots to Rosenfeld’s 5,761. That margin equals 0.52 percent of the vote, placing it just three votes above the recount threshold. Ziobron returns to the General Assembly after four terms away, having previously left the House in 2018 to run for state Senate District 33, a race she lost to Norm Needleman by 85 votes in a contest that did trigger a recount.
Supermajorities Projected in the General Assembly
As unofficial results stood, Senate Republicans lost eight of their 11 seats, while House Democrats picked up 14 seats pending the outcome of the three pending recounts. If current tallies hold, Democrats will control a 116-35 edge in the House and a 33-3 advantage in the Senate.
During the previous legislative session, Democrats held 102-49 and 25-11 majorities in the respective chambers. While those prior figures gave Democrats veto-proof majorities—which require a two-thirds vote of 101 members in the House and 24 in the Senate—their margins were razor-thin. With 116 House seats and 33 Senate seats secured, the party holds significantly more breathing room to override gubernatorial vetoes even if individual lawmakers break ranks. Official certification of the vote will occur after all recounts conclude. In 2024, certification came in early December.
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