Connecticut's 2nd congressional district

Connecticut's 2nd congressional district

Current Representative		Joe Courtney (D–Vernon)
Area	2,143 mi²
Distribution	66.7% urban, 33.3% rural
Population (2000)	681,113
Median income	$54,498
Ethnicity	88.6% White, 3.3% Black, 1.7% Asian, 4.3% Hispanic, 0.5% Native American, 0.2% other
Cook PVI	D+6

Connecticut's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the eastern part of the state, the district includes the towns of New London, Norwich, Storrs, Groton, and Southwood Acres.

The district is currently represented by Democrat Joe Courtney.

1 Municipalities in the District
2 Demographics
- 2.1 Voter registration
3 Recent elections
- 3.1 1992
- 3.2 1994
- 3.3 1996
- 3.4 1998
- 3.5 2000
- 3.6 2002
- 3.7 2004
- 3.8 2006
- 3.9 2008
- 3.10 2010
4 List of representatives
5 References

Municipalities in the District

The district includes the whole of each of the following towns, except where a percentage appears. Such a percentage notation indicates the proportion, to the nearest percent, of the corresponding town's population who were living, at the time of the 1990 U.S. Census, within the new boundary established in 1991 for the District.^[1]

Demographics

Barack Obama carried the district in 2008 with 59% of the vote, although it is generally considered a swing district.

Voter registration

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 25, 2005^[2]
Party		Active	Inactive	Total	Percentage
	Democratic	119,995	5,501	125,496	28.94%
	Republican	90,371	4,174	94,545	21.80%
	Unaffiliated	201,003	12,027	213,030	49.12%
	Minor Parties	580	48	628	0.14%
Total		411,949	21,750	433,699	100%

Recent elections

1992

US House election, 1992
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Edward W. Munster	119,416	49.20
	Democratic	Samuel Gejdenson (inc.)	83,197	34.28
	A Connecticut Party	Samuel Gejdenson (inc.)	40,094	16.52	+16.52
	Democratic hold		Swing
Turnout			242,707

1994

US House election, 1994
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Samuel Gejdenson (inc.)	79,188	42.56	+8.28
	Republican	Edward W. Munster	79,167	42.55	-6.35
	A Connecticut Party	David Bingham	27,716	14.90	-1.62
	Democratic hold		Swing	+8.28
Turnout			186,071

1996

US House election, 1996
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Samuel Gejdenson (inc.)	106,544	47.72	+5.16
	Republican	Edward W. Munster	100,332	44.94	+2.39
	A Connecticut Party	Samuel Gejdenson (inc.)	8,631	3.87	-11.03
	Independence	Dianne G. Ondusko	6,477	2.90	+2.90
	Natural Law	Thomas E. Hall	1,263	0.40	+0.40
	Democratic hold		Swing	-4.13
Turnout			223,258

1998

US House election, 1998
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Samuel Gejdenson (inc.)	99,567	61.01	+13.29
	Republican	Gary M. Koval	57,860	35.45	-9.49
	Independence	Dianne G. Ondusko	5,116	3.13	+0.23
	Term Limits	Paul W. Cook	658	0.40	+0.40
	Democratic hold		Swing	+11.39
Turnout			163,201

2000

US House election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Samuel Gejdenson (inc.)	111,520	49.37	-11.64
	Republican	Rob Simmons	110,239	48.80	+13.35
	Independence	Rob Simmons	4,141	1.83	-1.30
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing	+12.50
Turnout			225,900

2002

US House election, 2002
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Rob Simmons (inc.)	117,434	54.09	+5.29
	Democratic	Joseph Courtney	99,674	45.91	-3.46
	Republican hold		Swing	+4.38
Turnout			217,108

2004

US House election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Rob Simmons (inc.)	166,412	54.22	+0.13
	Democratic	James Sullivan	140,536	45.78	-0.13
	Republican hold		Swing	+0.13
Turnout			306,948

2006

US House election, 2006: Connecticut District 2^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joe Courtney	121,252	50.02	+4.24
	Republican	Rob Simmons (inc.)	121,158	49.98	-4.24
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing	+4.24
Turnout			242,410

2008

US House election, 2008: Connecticut District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joe Courtney (inc.)	198,984	61.60	+11.58
	Republican	Sean Sullivan	104,029	32.20	-17.78
	Working Families	Joe Courtney (inc.)	13,164	4.08	+4.08
	Green	G. Scott Deshefy	6,895	2.13	+2.13
	Democratic hold		Swing	+14.68
Turnout			323,022

2010

US House election, 2010: Connecticut District 2
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joe Courtney (inc.)	140,888	57.09	-4.51
	Republican	Janet Peckinpaugh	95,671	38.77	+6.57
	Working Families	Joe Courtney (inc.)	6,860	2.78	-1.30
	Green	G. Scott Deshefy	3,344	1.36	-0.77
	Democratic hold		Swing	-6.19
Turnout			246,763

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	District home	Note
District organized from Connecticut's At-large congressional district in 1837
Samuel Ingham	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839		Lost Re-election
William L. Storrs	Whig	March 4, 1839 – June, 1840		Resigned on appointment as associate justice to Connecticut Supreme Court
Vacant		June, 1840 – December 7, 1840
William Whiting Boardman	Whig	December 7, 1840 – March 3, 1843		Declined Nomination
John Stewart	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845		Lost Re-election
Samuel D. Hubbard	Whig	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1849
Walter Booth	Free Soil	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1851		Lost Re-election
Colin M. Ingersoll	Democratic	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1855
John Woodruff	American	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857		Lost Re-election
Samuel Arnold	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859		Declined Nomination
John Woodruff	Republican	March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1861		Declined Nomination
James E. English	Democratic	March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1865		Declined Nomination
Samuel L. Warner	Republican	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1867		Declined Nomination
Julius Hotchkiss	Democratic	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869
Stephen Wright Kellogg	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1875		Lost Re-election
James Phelps	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883		Declined Nomination
Charles Le Moyne Mitchell	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887		Declined Nomination
Carlos French	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1889		Declined Nomination
Washington F. Willcox	Democratic	March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1893		Declined Nomination
James P. Pigott	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895		Lost Re-election
Nehemiah D. Sperry	Republican	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1911		Retired
Thomas L. Reilly	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1913		Re-districted to 3rd District
Bryan F. Mahan	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915		Lost Re-election
Richard P. Freeman	Republican	March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1933		Lost Re-election
William L. Higgins	Republican	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1937		Lost Re-election
William J. Fitzgerald	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1939		Lost Re-election
Thomas R. Ball	Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1941		Lost Re-election
William J. Fitzgerald	Democratic	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943		Lost Re-election
John D. McWilliams	Republican	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945		Lost Re-election
Chase G. Woodhouse	Democratic	January 3, 1945 – January 3, 1947		Lost Re-election
Horace Seely-Brown, Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949	Pomfret	Lost Re-election
Chase G. Woodhouse	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1951		Lost Re-election
Horace Seely-Brown, Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1959	Pomfret	Lost Re-election
Chester Bowles	Democratic	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1961		Declined Nomination, Appointed Under Secretary of State
Horace Seely-Brown, Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1963	Pomfret	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
William St. Onge	Democratic	January 3, 1963 – May 1, 1970	Putnam	Died
Vacant		May 1, 1970 – November 3, 1970
Robert H. Steele	Republican	November 3, 1970 – January 3, 1975	Vernon	Retired to run for Governor
Chris Dodd	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1981	Norwich	Retired to run for US Senate
Sam Gejdenson	Democratic	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 2001	Bozrah	Lost Re-election
Rob Simmons	Republican	January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2007	Stonington	Lost Re-election
Joe Courtney	Democratic	January 3, 2007 – present	Vernon	Incumbent

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Connecticut State Register and Manual, "2001 Congresssional Districting" [sic, Congressional District 2 table"]. [CT] Secretary of the State. http://www.sots.ct.gov/sots/cwp/view.asp?a=3188&q=392452. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
^ "Registration and Party Enrollment Statistics as of October 25, 2005" (PDF). Connecticut Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 2006-09-23. http://web.archive.org/web/20060923151511/http://www.sots.ct.gov/ElectionsServices/lists/2005OctRegEnrollStats.pdf. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
^ http://www.sots.ct.gov/ElectionsServices/election_results/2006_Nov_Election/Congress.pdf 2006 Official Election Results

Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

Connecticut's congressional districts

Current districts: 1 2 3 4 5 All districts: At-large 1 2 3 4 5 6 See also: Connecticut's past & present Representatives, Senators, and Delegations, 2010 elections, 2012 elections All U.S. districts – Apportionment – Redistricting – Gerrymandering – Maps