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 County results Municipality results Congressional district resultsJepsen: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Dean: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The2010 Connecticut attorney general election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, to elect the 24thattorney general of the state of Connecticut. Five-term incumbent attorney generalRichard Blumenthal declined to seek re-election in 2010, instead opting to run for Connecticut's openU.S. Senate seat held by the retiringChristopher Dodd. Blumenthal's decision not to seek a sixth term set-up the first open race for attorney general in the state since Blumenthal's election in 1990.
At their May 2010 state convention,Democratic candidateGeorge Jepsen won the endorsement of his party outright and did not face a primary challenger. TheRepublican candidate, Martha Dean, secured her party's nomination via a primary election defeat ofRoss Garber on August 10.[1]
| Poll source | Dates administered | Susan Bysiewicz | George Jepsen | Michael Jarjura |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quinnipiac[7] | March 9–15, 2010 | 54% | 10% | — |
| Quinnipiac[8] | January 14–19, 2010 | 62% | 10% | 3% |
| Poll source | Dates administered | Martha Dean | Andrew Roraback | John Pavia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quinnipiac[7] | March 9–15, 2010 | 9% | 13% | 8% |
On January 6, 2010, five-term ConnecticutUnited States SenatorChristopher Dodd announced that he would not seek re-election in2010.[3] On this same day,Richard Blumenthal, the 23rd and incumbentstate attorney general, announced that he would not run for re-election for the state's top legal office and would instead seek theDemocratic nomination for Dodd's Senate seat.[3] Blumenthal had previously been considered a likely Democratic candidate for the2012 Senate race,[3] when incumbentIndependent DemocratJoe Lieberman's seat is next up.
Blumenthal's decision not to seek re-election set-up the first open race for attorney general in the state since his election in 1990.
A week after Blumenthal's announcement, on January 13, 2010, DemocraticSecretary of the StateSusan Bysiewicz announced that she would run for her party's nomination for attorney general.[13] Bysiewicz had previously declined seeking re-election to the Secretary of the State's office to instead run in the2010 gubernatorial election, but dropped her candidacy when she switched to run for attorney general.[13]
There was controversy about whether Bysiewicz was legally qualified to run for attorney general in Connecticut, as state law requires the attorney general to be "an attorney of law of at least 10 years' active practice"[14] in the state. Bysiewicz worked at New York law firm White and Case for two years, then in Connecticut at Robinson and Cole from 1988 to 1992 and Aetna Insurance from 1992 to 1994, totaling six years of Connecticut practice. Her campaign stated that Bysiewicz was qualified to hold the attorney general position because her service as Secretary of the State counted toward the 10-year requirement,[15] although she "acknowledged during a [March 31, 2010] deposition that she has virtually no experience as a litigator and has never argued a case before a judge."[16]
On May 5, 2010,Superior Court Judge Michael Sheldon ruled that Bysiewicz was legally qualified to run for state attorney general.[17] However, when the case reached theConnecticut Supreme Court on May 18, JusticeFlemming L. Norcott, Jr. handed down the court's 7-0 unanimous ruling that Bysiewicz failed to meet the requirements of General Statutes Section 3–124, which outlines the qualifications for state attorney general.[6][18] As a consequence, Bysiewicz could not run for attorney general in 2010, which left formerState SenatorGeorge Jepsen the sole remaining Democratic candidate in the race.[6]
George Jepsen won the Democratic nomination by acclamation[19] at the party's state convention held on May 22, 2010.
Four Republicans contested their party's nomination at their May 22 state convention, with the convention endorsing Martha Dean.[19] Ross Garber, whose sister-in-law is Democrat Susan Bysiewicz,[19] attracted sufficient support to qualify for an August 10, 2010 primary and challenged Dean for the nomination. Dean then defeated Garber in the GOP primary.[1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Martha Dean | 68,309 | 60.50 | |
| Republican | Ross Garber | 44,603 | 39.50 | |
| Total votes | 112,912 | 100 | ||
On September 23, 2010, Martha Dean and George Jepsen participated in a debate sponsored by theConnecticut Law Tribune and theUniversity of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford.[21] In the debate, Dean stated that "ending the job-killing practices of the attorney general and restoring common sense to the office of attorney general" were priorities in the election, and that the size of the office and the scope of lawsuits filed by it should be reduced.[21] Jepsen argued that Dean's desire to reduce the office's role might be counterproductive, and criticized her for wishing to join about 20 other states in challenging the federal government on thefederal healthcare reforms enacted earlier in the year.[21]
Dean and Jepsen met again for a second debate on October 11 at theQuinnipiac University School of Law inHamden.[22]
| Poll source | Dates administered | George Jepsen (D) | Martha Dean (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk University[23] | October 19–20, 2010 | 40% | 28% |
Claiming that Jepsen was not qualified to hold office, Dean filed a lawsuit on October 26 requesting the courts remove Jepsen from the following week's ballot.[24] Dean's rationale for bringing the lawsuit forward was based on Jepsen's admission that he did not have a background in litigation and the fact that he lacked admission to argue cases before theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and theU.S. Supreme Court.[24] One day after the election, on November 3,Superior Court judge Julia Aurigemma granted a dismissal of the lawsuit, stating in her decision that, "In this case, there is no statutory authority that authorizes [Dean] to bring her ... action prior to the election."[25] Reacting to the decision, Dean said that the campaign was "evaluating the decision and our options and will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that Connecticut has an attorney general who is fully qualified to vigorously represent the state's interests in court."[25] In his reaction, Jepsen said that the lawsuit had been a "publicity stunt" and that he "was never worried about the merits of the case in court."[25]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | George Jepsen | 568,857 | 51.6 | ||
| Working Families | George Jepsen | 22,868 | 2.1 | ||
| Total | George Jepsen | 591,725 | 53.7 | ||
| Republican | Martha Dean | 480,310 | 43.6 | ||
| Independent Party | Stephen E.D. Fournier | 15,011 | 1.4 | ||
| Green | Stephen E.D. Fournier | 14,748 | 1.3 | ||
| Total | Stephen E.D. Fournier | 29,759 | 2.7 | ||
| Total votes | 1,101,794 | 100 | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
Jepsen won four of five congressional districts, with Dean winning the remaining one, which elected a Democrat.[27]
| District | Jepsen | Dean | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 60% | 37% | John B. Larson |
| 2nd | 52% | 45% | Joe Courtney |
| 3rd | 59% | 39% | Rosa DeLauro |
| 4th | 50% | 48% | Jim Himes |
| 5th | 48.5% | 48.6% | Chris Murphy |
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