Matthew Corey’s primary opponent Beacon Falls First Selectman Gerry Smith has conceded the primary race saying his campaign fell short.
Matthew Corey's primary opponent Beacon Falls First Selectman Gerry Smith has conceded the Republican U.S. Senate primary race saying his campaign fell short.
Smith received the party convention endorsement after getting significant support back in May.
It was a disappointing result for Smith who was hoping to use his convention endorsement as a seal of confidence to GOP voters.
The primary was needed as Corey received enough delegate support in the state GOP convention back in May.
Throughout the night, the Smith campaign monitored the vote count coming in and eventually realized the difference could not be made up.
Smith said he is conceding the primary and is throwing his support to Corey, the 2018 GOP Senate Nominee.
Smith says he and Corey ran a clean primary campaign without it getting personal and wants to focus on Corey getting elected.
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Separately, Smith says the low turnout in the GOP primary is a concern and says that the turnout won't cut it in the General Election for their goal of beating the Incumbent Senator Chris Murphy.
He says voter outreach will be a key focus in the run-up to November's election.
Smith says by keeping the focus on public safety, the economy and immigration, he believes he can appeal to voters in the General Election.
After learning the results of Tuesday's primary, Sen. Chris Murphy's campaign manager released a statement saying:
"Chris is looking forward to working really hard over the next 12 weeks to elect Kamala Harris and Democrats up and down the ballot and win reelection, while keeping up his work in the Senate to deliver for people in Connecticut," said campaign manager Max Glass.
