By Andreas Yilma, Staff Writer
HAMDEN — As vote totals continued to come in Tuesday night, early unofficial results showed Democrat Jorge Cabrera with a lead over fellow Democrat Justin Farmer in the primary race in the 17th State Senate District.
As of 9:30 p.m., neither campaign declared victory in the race to decide who will carry the party’s banner into the November election to challenge state Sen. George Logan, R-Ansonia. The district represents Beacon Falls, Ansonia, Bethany, Derby and parts of Hamden, Naugatuck and Woodbridge.
As of 10 p.m., unofficial results on the Secretary of State’s website showed Cabrera was winning 1,914 to 1,174 with about 72% of precincts reporting.
The official results could take a couple more days to tally after Gov. Ned Lamont decided on Monday to extend the deadline for submitting absentee ballots. Ballots were originally due in town clerks’ offices, or in drop-off boxes, by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Now, ballots will be counted as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday and arrive by Thursday.
As he kept watch of the vote totals coming in at the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 478 headquarters in Hamden, Cabrera said he felt good, but added he doesn’t see final results coming in until late Thursday or early Friday.
“Things are trending well for us right now. We just have to make sure that trend continues,” Cabrera said. “If it does, I think we’ll be victorious.”
Farmer could not be reached for comment Tuesday night after polls closed.
“I’m excited for whatever happens tonight,” Farmer said earlier in the day as he campaigned in Naugatuck.
Cabrera, 46, of Hamden, is a business representative for United Food and Commercial Worker’s Union Local 919. He ran against Logan in 2018 after winning a three-way Democratic primary, but lost a tight race after a recount.
Farmer, 25, of Hamden, is in his second term on the Hamden Legislative Council. He works with his mother, who owns a rental property, and is a part-time student at Southern Connecticut State University.
