Special elections set for Feb. 26 in five districts

Gov. Ned Lamont issued writs Friday setting Feb. 26 as the date for special elections to fill vacancies in the General Assembly created by the resignations of three state senators and two state representatives who joined his administration.

The races will be in these districts:

• 3^rd Senate District, consisting of East Hartford, East Windsor and South Windsor, and part of Ellington. Tim Larson resigned to become executive director of the Office of Higher Education.
• 5^th Senate District, consisting of Burlington and West Hartford, and portions of Bloomfield and Farmington. Beth Bye resigned to lead the Office of Early Childhood Education.
• 6^th Senate District, consisting of Berlin and New Britain, and part of Farmington. Terry Gerratana resigned to become an adviser in the Office of Health Strategy.
• 39^th House District in New London. Chris Soto resigned to direct Lamont’s legislative office.
• 99^th House District in East Haven. James Albis resigned to become an adviser to the commissioner of energy and environmental protection.

Nominees for the openings will be chosen by the delegates to the previous nominating conventions in those districts. There are no primaries in special elections.

With the vacancies, the Democrats now hold majorities of 20-13 in the Senate and 90-59 in the House.