Larson loses Connecticut primary to Bronin

Democratic Rep. John Larson of Connecticut lost his primary Tuesday to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, ending the renomination bid of a 14-term incumbent who has represented central Connecticut since the late 1990s, NBC News and CBS News projected.

The result marked another defeat for a sitting House member in a primary this year and underscored Democratic voters’ interest in replacing some longtime officeholders with younger leaders. Larson, 78, is the 10th House member to lose a primary this year, including seven Democrats and three Republicans, according to NBC News.

Bronin, 47, built his campaign around a call for generational change. He argued that President Donald Trump’s second term required new energy and a different approach from Democratic lawmakers. Bronin raised more money than Larson and won support from party activists at the state convention, securing the state party’s endorsement.

With just over half the vote counted around 10:15 p.m. ET, Bronin led Larson by just under 20 percentage points, or nearly 7,000 votes, CBS News reported.

Larson has been a major figure in Connecticut politics for decades. Before serving nearly 30 years in Congress, he spent more than 10 years in the state Legislature. A former member of Democratic leadership in the House, he campaigned on his congressional record, including his work on Social Security. He also had the backing of Connecticut’s congressional delegation, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and key unions.

But Bronin argued throughout the race that experience alone was not enough for the political moment.

“In this moment, when Donald Trump is president, the job of a member of Congress isn’t just in the subcommittee rooms, it’s what you are doing outside the walls of the Capitol to build a movement,” Bronin said in a late May interview with NBC News.

“Over these next two years, it’s so important to have Democratic members of Congress using that platform not just to give red-faced speeches to an empty chamber for the C-SPAN cameras, but to… carry our message, to win people back who lost faith in our party,” he said.

Larson pushed back against the argument that the party needed a generational shift. Asked Monday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press Now” about that movement inside the Democratic Party, Larson said, “I think the change that we need is to continue to go after Donald Trump,” and pointed to what he described as his record of doing so.

“I have the endorsement of more elected officials, every sitting member in the congressional delegation, because they understand what I’ve been able to deliver,” Larson said. “They understand that they’re able to work with me, and they understand what I’ve been able to accomplish on their behalf. Luke Bronin has no record. I’m running on a record of accomplishment and achievement.”

Bronin countered that Larson’s long tenure had become a liability.

Larson has been in office “for about 50 years, and for the last 10 years or so, I just think he’s gotten stuck in a routine,” Bronin said. “And I understand, you know, it’s hard to find anybody who does the same thing for 30 years and doesn’t get a little bit stuck in the routine, but this is not a moment that we can keep doing the same thing.”