14-term Rep. John Larson ousted by challenger in Connecticut Democratic primary
Democratic Rep. John Larson — who has represented central Connecticut since the late 1990s — lost his party's primary Tuesday to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, CBS News has projected.
Updated on: August 11, 2026 / 10:48 PM EDT / CBS News
With just over half of the vote counted at around 10:15 p.m. ET, Bronin led Larson by just under 20 percentage points, or nearly 7,000 votes. West Hartford state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest and Hartford Board of Education member Ruth Fortune trailed the two front-runners.
The candidates for the reliably blue Hartford-area House seat agreed on many key policy issues. Instead, the primary turned on whether Democrats should send a longtime lawmaker back to Congress or opt for a newer — and younger — candidate. Larson, 78, was seeking a 15th term in Congress, while Bronin was 31 years younger than him.
Bronin focused heavily on that theme. His campaign website promised "new energy, new ideas, and new perspectives," and he cast Larson as a "status quo" candidate, telling voters : "The stakes are too high to keep doing the same thing."
The Connecticut Democratic Party endorsed Bronin over Larson at its convention in May, an upset that prompted Bronin to call on his rival to "pass the torch." Bronin was also endorsed earlier this year by Biden-era Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ran for president in 2020 and is widely viewed as a possible 2028 contender.