A Message from CRA President & CEO | 2024 Election Recap

Dear CRA Members,
 
On the heels of the presidential election, I’m reaching out to share some initial takeaways with you, and to put them into the context of our planning and preparation for the 2025 state legislative session.
 
First, here’s what happened this week:

• Approximately 72% of Connecticut voters turned out to cast their ballots. Notably, nearly 30% of them decided to vote before Election Day – this was the first time Connecticut gave voters that option.
• While Kamala Harris won Connecticut’s 7 electoral votes, she did so with significantly smaller margins than Democrats achieved in 2020. Harris won Connecticut by less than 12 percentage points, while in 2020 President Biden won with a more than 20 point margin. Similarly in New York and New Jersey Harris’ margins of victory for those states were more than 10 percentage points smaller than four years ago, part of a trend that played out across the country leading to President Trump’s overall victory.
• Senator Chris Murphy and all five of Connecticut’s representatives successfully secured their re-election, keeping Connecticut’s federal delegation completely blue.
• In the state legislature, Democrats slightly grew their existing large majorities in both chambers:
  • House Democrats flipped six Republican seats blue, while Republicans took two seats currently held by Democrats. In one notable race, Republican State Rep. Holly Cheeseman lost her seat; Cheeseman has served as ranking member of the Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee, meaning a leadership change will be forthcoming in the next legislature.
  • In the State Senate, Democrats grew their majority by one seat. Republicans did manage to hold on to three of four seats seen as vulnerable heading into the election, with Sen. Ryan Fazio of Greenwich, Sen. Jeff Gordon of Woodstock, and Sen. Tony Hwang of Fairfield all securing reelection. However, Democratic challenger Paul Honig defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Seminara in Avon.
• Finally and importantly, outside of Connecticut there was a major ballot initiative in neighboring Massachusetts which, if passed, would have eliminated the tip credit for  servers and bartenders. Thanks to the great work of a coalition led by our partners at the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, the measure was defeated on a resounding 64-36 margin! 

So, what does all this mean for Connecticut’s restaurant and hospitality industry as we look ahead to 2025?

• First, while the margins didn’t change much in the state legislature, leadership in both parties will remain the same. The CRA has built strong, productive relationships with leaders on both sides of the aisle in recent years, which has allowed us to stop a slew of harmful legislative initiatives proposed by rank and file members.
• Next, while the Republican wave didn’t flip many seats in Connecticut, the margins from the presidential race on down all got much tighter. This should be taken as a clear sign that voters are looking for more moderate, bipartisan leadership and solutions.
• The Massachusetts ballot initiative loss will be an extremely helpful talking point for us to use against any efforts to dispose of Connecticut’s tip credit. We communicated directly with the Governor while this effort was underway, making sure he knew that his Democratic counterpart Gov. Healy came out against the measure.
• Finally, a key legislative committee we will continue to watch is General Law, which will have a new House chair in the coming session.

I hope this overview is helpful. As we continue to plan ahead for 2025, please let me know if you have any questions or ideas relating to what lies ahead. We could not do our work without your continued support and input.
 
Thank you,
Scott