Elizabeth Esty, right, upset the Connecticut Speaker of the House, Chris Donovan, in a highly contentious Democrat primary for the 5th District seat in the United States Congress. Two months ago Donovan was the clear favorite, but his campaign was upended by a finance scandal. Esty will face Republican State Senator Andrew Roraback who was victorious in the GOP primary. Elizabeth’s arm was hoisted in victory by her husband, Dan Esty, the Connecticut Commissioner of Energy and the Environment. Photographs by John Murray
Initially considered an underdog candidate, Esty built a strong grassroots organization to turn out the vote. Volunteers for the Esty campaign made over 100,000 phone calls to voters across the 5th District and knocked on tens of thousands of doors.
Esty thanked her supporters at a campaign celebration in Waterbury, “Our victory against the odds would not have been possible without the hard work of our volunteers and supporters,” Esty said. “I am beyond grateful, and I’m humbled by their dedication to our campaign and their commitment to our cause.”
Esty also promised to unite Democrats and to reach out to independents and Republicans in her campaign to bring common sense to Washington, “This is our chance to have a voice in Washington. This is our chance to join together as Democrats, to reach out to independents and Republicans and finally bring some Connecticut commonsense leadership and accountability to Congress.”
Esty was endorsed by the New York Times, Hartford Courant, Danbury News Times, and Torrington Register-Citizen in the last weeks before the primary.