As Democrats were well on their way to securing majorities in Congress, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal took the stage at Tuesday night’s election party in Hartford to strongly suggest, if not commit to, what he’s signaled for months: he plans to be on the ballot again in two years.
The 2028 campaign season has, essentially, already begun — mere hours after polls closed in the midterm elections. Democrats are already laying out their agenda for their new majorities in Congress for the last two years of President Donald Trump’s term. And the attention is quickly turning to who will lead both parties at the top of the ticket.
“We need to start working tomorrow toward winning our local elections in 2027, the building blocks so we will win in 2028 and put a Democrat in the White House as president,” Blumenthal said Tuesday night as Democrats in Connecticut and across the country claimed massive victories.
“I’m so proud to be your United States senator. Democracy is a fight. I am glad to be in this fight,” he continued. “I look forward to continuing to fight and work for the people of Connecticut to 2028 and beyond.”
Blumenthal, 80, will need to decide whether to run again when his fourth term expires in two years.
“I’m more excited and energized than ever. And I look forward to fighting and working for the people of Connecticut in this term through 2028 and beyond,” Blumenthal said Wednesday afternoon alongside other members of the congressional delegation and top state officials. “I don’t have a formal announcement today, but I look forward to being on the ballot in 2028 and continuing to serve the people of Connecticut.”
He wasn’t on the ballot this year, but the senior senator from Connecticut has an unrelenting work ethic whether he’s up for reelection or not. After the August primaries, he suggested he’s not slowing down and essentially echoed that message after Tuesday’s blue wave.
Blumenthal and his Democratic colleagues will enter the Senate next year back in the majority, with the likelihood of leadership roles on a couple of his committees.
Questions emerged about his political future after longtime U.S. Rep. John Larson’s primary defeat in August amid calls for generational change from younger challengers. If Blumenthal runs again and wins reelection to a six-year term, he would be about a month shy of his 83rd birthday when elected.
In his last race, Blumenthal easily won reelection in 2022 against Republican Leora Levy, who secured the nomination after a last-minute endorsement from Trump.
Blumenthal and Senate Democrats will return to power next year as the party reclaims majorities back in Congress. Connecticut’s delegation stands to gain influence next year if they win the gavel on House and Senate committees.
During this session of Congress, Blumenthal has been working on a number of issues, including some priorities that could slip into next year, like the Kids Online Safety Act, known as KOSA. He helped get one of the rare pieces of major bipartisan legislation through Congress: the Russia sanctions bill.
Blumenthal said he’ll make an 11th-hour push to try to get KOSA through Congress in the lame-duck session before the end of the year.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong renewed his push among his colleagues to urge Congress to pass the Senate version, which was co-authored with Blumenthal.
Looking to next year when Democrats are at the helm, Blumenthal said he plans to become the chairman of two committees he sits on: the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the Homeland Security’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The latter is a role he held when Democrats were in the majority.
As the top Democrat of that panel, he’s already wielded some of his investigatory power, including a recent investigation into a cryptocurrency firm and a series of public forums on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s practices. But as a chair in the majority party, he and other Democrats will regain their subpoena power.
Following Connecticut’s primaries in August, Blumenthal wouldn’t divulge his future plans but had also signaled his intention to run again.
“Age is always a state of mind, not just a time of life,” Blumenthal said in an August interview with The Connecticut Mirror. “The energy and excitement are impressive, and I hope to carry it forward myself.”
“I have a campaign committee,” he said at the time. “I haven’t announced anything. I’m raising money, but my focus is on November.”
It’s unclear if Blumenthal would get a challenger if he runs for reelection. There’s a deep bench of Democrats in Connecticut who might want to pursue higher office and serve in Washington.
Tong, who had a film crew getting footage at Tuesday night’s election watch party, said his team was getting content of his victory speech to use for messaging on social media. He said it shouldn’t be interpreted as a preliminary step to run against Blumenthal for the U.S. Senate seat and said he doesn’t see himself mounting a challenge.
Incumbency didn’t stop Democrats from running against Larson, who sought a 15th term. Three challengers, including former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, announced they would run against a sitting congressman. Bronin went on to defeat Larson in the Aug. 11 primary and soundly defeated his Republican challenger on Tuesday night.
CT Mirror reporter Mark Pazniokas contributed to this story.
