Republicans once hoped to compete in Connecticut, but Biden improved in every congressional district
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Our project to calculate the 2020 presidential results for all 435 congressional districts nationwide goes to Connecticut, where Team Blue had a strong night. You can find our complete data set here, which we’re updating continuously as the precinct-level election returns we need for our calculations become available.
Joe Biden won the Nutmeg State 59-39, which was an improvement over Hillary Clinton 55-41 victory four years ago, though a diminished performance by third-party candidates likely played a role. Biden, like Clinton, also carried each of the state’s five congressional districts, including two that were unexpectedly close in 2016. You can find a larger version of our image here.
The 2nd District in the eastern part of the state supported Biden 54-44 after backing Clinton only 49-46. The seat is held by Democratic Rep. Joe Courtney, who first won the previous version of the district by 83 votes in 2006 but has not faced a close race since then.
The 5th District, which includes northern Fairfield County and northwestern Connecticut, likewise went for Biden 55-44 after supporting Clinton by a much smaller 50-46 spread. The GOP, though, never was able to take advantage of Donald Trump’s relatively strong showing here in 2016. Democrat Jahana Hayes defeated an underfunded Republican 56-44 in an open seat race two years ago, and she won 55-43 this time.
Democrats control the governorship and both chambers of the legislature, but they probably won’t be the ones drawing the new congressional lines. The state constitution requires two-thirds of each chamber to pass a new map for it to take effect, and while Democrats won a supermajority in the state Senate last month, they fell short in the House. If the legislature can’t agree on new boundaries, the task would fall to a bipartisan “backup” commission.