Ned Lamont defeated Josh Elliott in the Democratic primary on August 11, 2026, and the race was called shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m. Lamont moved on to the general election campaign against Republican Ryan Fazio after earning nearly two-thirds of the vote with 20% of ballots counted.
Josh Elliott concedes at 8:50 p.m.
Josh Elliott spoke to supporters around 8:50 p.m. and conceded the race. He told them, “The worst thing that people can do is check out” and “We need more people to be engaged.” Elliott also called for Democrats to unite behind Lamont in November.
Lamont’s path to November
Lamont, 72, praised Elliott for waging a “feisty” campaign. Before the polls closed, he said, “We’re fighting Trump where we’ve got to fight him” and added that governors also have to manage the state every day, saying that takes “a certain pragmatism.”
He entered the contest after narrowly winning an open race in 2018 and being convincingly reelected in 2022. His victory was the first primary challenge to a Connecticut governor in 48 years, and no governor had lost a primary in 2026 at the time of the race.
Lamont and Elliott on Trump
Lamont and Elliott both said they opposed President Donald Trump’s hostility to undocumented immigrants, his attack on Iran and his orders for tariffs. The disagreement inside the Democratic primary was not over those positions alone, but over whether voters wanted the incumbent’s emphasis on day-to-day management or Elliott’s challenge from the left.
Lamont now turns to Ryan Fazio, a 36-year-old state senator from Greenwich, in the general election campaign. Elliott’s call for unity puts the immediate burden on Democrats to line up behind Lamont after a primary that ended quickly but still tested the governor’s hold on his party.
