This story has been updated.

Connecticut’s delegations to the Democratic and Republican national conventions are reflections of the parties’ relative strengths and weaknesses in a state where Joe Biden offers none of the complications that Donald J. Trump poses for the GOP after his conviction Thursday.

Gov. Ned Lamont will lead a Democratic delegation to Chicago dominated by office holders who have little to fear about an association with Biden, who beat Trump in Connecticut by 20 percentage points in 2020. Republicans will go to Milwaukee a week after Trump is scheduled to be sentenced.

Taking direction from a Trump campaign navigating uncharted waters, Republicans finalized their delegate list the night before jurors in New York began deliberations that ended Thursday with a guilty verdict on all 34 counts relating to $130,000 paid to a porn star who says she had a brief affair with Trump.

In interviews prior the jury returning guilty verdicts in the hush-money trial, Republicans chosen for the convention reiterated their support for Trump over Biden, while saying there were many reasons other than fealty to a candidate for attendance at a national convention.

Republican State Chair Ben Proto said after the verdict that Trump is unlikely to lose the support of the party or its delegates.

“We’re going to go to Milwaukee in July. I have no reason to believe Trump won’t be re-nominated,” Proto said, adding that opinions on the former presidents and his legal troubles already were deeply held. “I don’t know if there is a big impact — or any impact.”

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By virtue of their positions, the Democrats’ two U.S. senators, five U.S. House members, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of the state, comptroller, treasurer and attorney general were assured spots as delegates.

None of the Republican candidates for Congress are delegates or alternates. The only lawmakers are state Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield and Reps. Cara Pavalock-D’Amato and Joe Hoxha, both of Bristol.

In an interview earlier Thursday, Harding said he supports Trump’s return to the White House, but his attendance at the convention is more about other party business, including networking he hopes will help Senate Republicans hold their seats, or blunt losses, in a difficult year.

“I just think it is a way to meet people within the party, statewide, and make connections for our caucus across the state,” said Harding, who took over leadership of the caucus in an unprecedented midterm fight.

Hoxha, who was elected in 2022 to the House, had no concerns about an association with Trump, who won Hoxha’s hometown of Bristol in 2016 and lost it in 2020.

“I’m happy to go to support the president. I’m a supporter of his. That’s pretty well known,” Hoxha said early Thursday afternoon. “Is he brash? Does he put his foot in his mouth a lot? I think it’s a small price to pay for the good things he brings.”

Hoxha said he admired Trump’s views on China and trade, saying it balanced fair trade and free trade.

His views were unchanged after the verdict.

“Nothing changes,” he said. “In a 12-round heavyweight fight, this is only the first round.”

Harding could not be reached immediately after the verdict.

Republicans already were worried about the impact of him topping the ticket in Connecticut. Republicans hold only 12 of the 36 seats in the Senate, and four of the 12 won in 2022 with less than 51% of the vote.

The elections since Trump won the White House in 2016 have been uniformly good for Democrats. With Trump on the ballot that year, Republicans captured half the seats in the Senate and came within five seats of a House majority.

But the 2018 midterms were a disaster for the GOP in Connecticut.

Using Trump as an organizing foil, Democrats generated an unusually strong turnout that produced a sweep of every statewide office on the ballot, all five U.S. House seats and strong majorities in a General Assembly where the GOP had known only gains in the previous four elections.

Republicans said concerns about Biden’s age could dampen Democratic enthusiasm and give the GOP hopes of holding their seats.

Convention attendance means different things to different people, ranging from being a reward for the party faithful to an opportunity to support a favored candidate.

In 2016, Trump drew many newbies into politics, some of whom were rewarded with trips to the convention in Cleveland. For varying reasons, most are not going to Milwaukee.

Charles Bruckerhoff of Chaplin traveled around the U.S. eight years ago, his route dictated by the GOP primary schedule, allowing him to campaign for Trump. He had nearly a front-row seat in Cleveland when Trump accepted the nomination. Not so this year.

“I maintain my interest and support for Trump,” Bruckerhoff said Thursday.

Bruckerhoff, 76, had a stroke five years ago and still has mobility challenges, even though he has since written a novel and three children’s books. He expressed interest in becoming a delegate again but concluded that navigating a crowded convention floor was inadvisable.

Trump partisans from 2016 will be there: Linda McMahon of Greenwich, a two-time U.S. Senate candidate in Connecticut who served in the Trump cabinet, is a delegate, one of the “must-have” delegates the Trump campaign gave to the Connecticut Republicans.

Others include former Waterbury Mayor Joseph Santopietro and his brother, Jeffrey; former state Rep. Tony D’Amelio of Waterbury, the first member of the General Assembly to endorse Trump in 2016; Annalisa Stravato of Wilton and Andy Wainright of Stamford, state central committee members who also were early Trumpers; and Jason Manafort, whose family owns Manafort Brothers, the regional construction company.

He is related to Paul Manafort, who chaired Trump’s 2016 campaign and is reported to be playing a role again at the convention. He was convicted of bank and tax fraud and pardoned by Trump prior to the end of his first term.

Stravato won an election Tuesday night to succeed Leora Levy on the Republican National Committee. But Levy’s term does not expire until January, and she will be a delegate in Milwaukee as an RNC member. Her husband, Steven Levy, will be an alternate.

Aside from those who are given a place by virtue of their elected office, Democrats select their delegates at competitive caucuses. Republican delegates are chosen by the party and campaign leadership, the choices ratified by the state central committee. 

Proto said some of the delegates were chosen as a reward for years as party activists.

“We don’t have contested conventions anymore,” Proto said. “But if you’ve never done it before, it’s very exciting. The electricity in the building, it’s something you’ll never experience. You should do it once.”

The Democratic delegation includes former U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Chair Rodney Butler and a half dozen state lawmakers, including Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney of New Haven.

Comptroller Sean Scanlon said Democrats had no trouble finding delegates for Chicago.

“The Democratic convention is something people definitely wanted to go to,”
he said.