Romney Dominates CT, Paul Second [Updated]

Update on April 25 at 11:35 p.m.

Romney won North Haven with 11 percent of eligible voters showing up. More .

Update on April 24 at 10:45 p.m.

Mitt Romney, the favorite for the Republican presidential nomination, added another win and all 18 Connecticut delegates by nabbing 68 percent of the votes throughout Connecticut.

Ron Paul finished second with 13.4 percent, with Newt Gingrich in third with 6.9 percent, according to the results in the New York Times.

Rick Santorum, who recently dropped out of race, attracting more than 4,000 votes and almost 7 percent of the vote. Detailed results from North Haven will be published when they become available. 

Update on April 24 at 4:50 p.m.

Ridge Road Elementary School was quiet at 4 p.m. with classes done for the day. Inside the gymnasium, where voting for District 3 was taking place, the day moved slowly with few voters coming in.

Out of 467 eligible Republican voters, approximately 50 had voted as of 4 p.m. One of the poll workers was disappointed that no supporters even bothered hanging up signs for their candidate of choice, while another was hoping for more people to come in after work.

Update on April 24 at 1:30 p.m.

A bright red sign outside the entrance to Montowese Elementary School warns that there can be no campaigning within 75 feet of the polling place. That’s about the only visible evidence that the presidential primary was taking place.

As of 1 p.m., 33 Republicans cast a ballot at the District 2 polling place for either Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum. A total of 844 people are eligible to vote, so turnout so far was a modest 3.9 percent.

“It’s just been a slow trickle of people,” said Pete Barbiero, a moderator who began his day at 5 a.m. The polls close at 8 p.m. 

Original Story

It might be an anti-climatic day at the polls with Mitt Romney polling well above the other candidates, but Republicans throughout Connecticut can still pick Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum on Tuesday.

There are five polling locations in North Haven (see the above map) and the polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

According to North Haven Registrar of Voters, there are 3,722 registered Republicans in town compared to 3,695 Democrats.

Laurie Brangi, the Republican Registrar of Voters for North Haven, hasn't seen an influx of people registering to vote for this primary, but expects more in time for the general election and the August primaries for congress. She isn't sure what kind of turnout there will be on Tuesday.

"You’re always hoping for a nice turnout," she said. "Realistically, we hope to get 20-25 percent but that might be optimistic." 

In 2008, John McCain, who went on to win the nomination, dominated with Connecticut with 52 percent of the 151,604 votes cast. Mitt Romney finished second with 33 percent. Mike Huckabee had 7 percent and Ron Paul attracted 4 percent of voters.

Back then Connecticut was a "winner take all state," with McCain nabbing every delegate. In an attempt to encourage the candidates to campaign in the Nutmeg State, the Connecticut Republicans recently changed the rules to award proportional delegates for the runner-up candidates.

On April 24, Rhode Island (19 delegates), New York (95 delegates), Pennsylvania (72 delegates) and Delaware (17 delegates) will also be having its primaries.