Sen. Doug McCrory, a veteran Democratic lawmaker of more than two decades, lost a bid to hold onto his state Senate seat representing Hartford, Bloomfield and Windsor in one of the state’s most closely watched legislative primaries on Tuesday night.
McCrory, who is the subject of an ongoing federal criminal investigation, came in third in a three-way race behind state Rep. Maryam Khan and Ayana Taylor, the chairwoman of the Windsor Board of Education, according to early results compiled by the candidates. The Associated Press had not called the race by 10:05 p.m.
Khan, who won the Democratic endorsement in the race at a hotly contested convention in May, declared victory in the race early Tuesday night.
“Tonight, the voters of Hartford, Windsor, and Bloomfield sent a message that’s been building for years: our government belongs to the people who show up for it, not the people who buy their way into it,” Khan, who was also backed by the Working Families Party, said in a statement. “My opponent spent six years chairing the Education Committee … watching our public schools close one by one. I ran because I believe this district deserves more — a government that taxes the wealthy their fair share, holds Eversource accountable, and puts real money into the neighborhood schools that raised us.”
“I’m proud to run as a Working Families Party candidate, because that’s exactly what WFP was built for: proving that working people don’t have to wait for permission to lead,” Kahn added. “This is one seat, but it’s part of a bigger fight … We’re not managing decline anymore. We’re building something new, together, and tonight is just the beginning.”
McCrory’s election defeat comes roughly a year after news broke that the Democratic senator was being investigated by the FBI for his role in dispersing millions of dollars in state grant money to a number of Hartford nonprofits.
The shadow of that investigation trailed McCrory this year as Khan and Taylor both decided to challenge him for the 2nd Senate District, which he has held since 2017.
McCrory aggressively campaigned across the three-town district in recent weeks and received endorsements from prominent Democrats, including outgoing Senate President Martin Looney and Sen. Bob Duff, the current Senate majority leader. But it was not enough to salvage his political career.
After watching the election results roll in on Tuesday night, McCrory took the stage at a restaurant in Bloomfield to conceded and to thank his supporters for continuing to stand behind him after more than 20 years in the Connecticut General Assembly.
“I’m not as disappointed as I thought I was,” McCrory added. “But hey, we did the best we can.”
“Don’t be upset. Do not be upset,” McCrory added. “Another time will come and we will figure this out to make sure our community gets the representation that we deserve. Two more years is not a long way from here. Who knows what will happen then.”
Taylor, who also challenged McCrory in 2024, also issued a conciliatory statement on Tuesday congratulating Khan on her election victory.
“Clearly today didn’t go the way we hoped it would go,” Taylor said. “We ran a clean, honest, open campaign… I will forever be proud of what we accomplished in this race.”
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
