Reading the following message from Senator Chris Murphy might help keep your food down...

Despite how it may appear to some, America is not a different place today than it was yesterday. I am uncertain of many things today, but of this I am sure.

Donald Trump won last night. He may not have won the votes of the majority of Americans, but under our system of presidential voting, he won the election fair and square. It was like a gut punch to those of us who didn’t see it coming, or who refused to allow ourselves to see it coming. I won’t lie to you – I didn’t sleep last night, and I might not sleep much tonight either.

But America is still the same place. We are a spectacularly imperfect nation. We lurch back and forth between competing visions for our future, between the natural twinned instincts of hopefulness and fearfulness. We have moments of great courage, but we are also capable at times of immense panic and worry. We take all comers, and ask everyone to keep a bit of where they came from while adopting something common to the whole of us. Our heterogeneity is our strength, but it also creates frictions and tensions. None of this is new.

Last night hurt. Never in our lifetime has a candidate for president ran a more hate-filled, bigoted campaign. It felt like we took a step backward in our progress toward a more compassionate, inclusive nation. But that doesn’t have to be our fate. We can choose to take Donald Trump at his word last night and take steps to heal the wounds caused by this bitter and divisive election. We can refuse to reflexively back ourselves into a dark, angry corner, and choose instead to be fair-minded umpires – calling the balls and strikes as we see them, working with our new President when he proposes good, and fighting him like hell when he proposes bad.

And we can put our heads down, and keep working on the things that still matter. Hell, last night, three out of the four state referendums tightening guns laws passed. Nevada, California, and Washington are safer places today because of these victories. And the top targeted Senate race for anti-gun violence groups, New Hampshire, looks like it went our way. If you are passionate about changing our nation’s gun laws, you can see a pretty bright silver lining in last night’s cloud-filled sky. It inspires me to fight on.

And so I walked into my Hartford office this morning and declared to my weary staff (who were, by the way, all at their desks at 9AM today – miraculously), “It’s another day to do good things in the world.” They awkwardly smiled at me, but I meant it.

Last night, everything changed and nothing changed. We have a new President – one that half the country didn’t want. But let’s be honest – had Hillary won, we would still have a President that half of America didn’t want. So it’s still the same complicated, imperfect nation that it was before. And our job – to do good in the world, to be good parents and spouses and neighbors and friends – that doesn’t change either.

I might not sleep tonight, just like last night. But I’ll walk out my door tomorrow morning, Diet Mountain Dew in hand as always, and get back to work. And so should you.

All my best,

Chris Murphy

I'm still in the process of getting all of the numbers from last night's election but unlike municipal elections, races for State Rep and State Senate involves several municipalities and getting detailed results (ward by ward) takes a little bit of time.

I'll post the numbers, offer my two cents on last night's results, and post my video footage from Danbury and Bethel soon.

5:00 P.M.: Sources state that turnout in Danbury is at aprox 50 percent...about a 5 percent drop from 2012.

3:00 P.M.: Contributor voting machine update. from Danbury's 5th ward (War Memorial). Count at 1435 as of 3PM.

2:30 P.M.:The latest turnout report from the Newstimes...

Polling locations were busy during the lunch hour in the Danbury area as residents cast their ballots. In Danbury, officials reported that nearly 35 percent of the city’s registered voters had cast their ballots as of noon, which is on par with the 2012 presidential election and about four percentage points behind the 2008 election.

2:00 P.M.: Keeping up with an Election Day tradition I started in 2006, I always make it a point to do a video interview the State Representative for my neck of the woods...in 2016, that State Rep, is David Arconti Jr of the 109th District...

12:30 PM Reports of several errors across the state. (Danbury Patch: Connecticut Election 2016: Long Lines and Several Glitches at the Polls Already)

Turnout at the polls is very heavy as several Connecticut communities are reporting long lines and already some towns are reporting more than 50 percent participation.

[...]

Some people were waiting up to an hour to vote at some New Haven polling locations, according to the New Haven Independent.

At least one location in Hartford is experiencing issues with the wrong ballots. Rawson School received the wrong ballots and had been using them for several hours Tuesday. Hartford Police are assisting in escorting the correct ballots to the school.

Hartford experienced numerous voting issues in the 2014 election. Voting lists weren't delivered to multiple locations by 6 a.m. and a court ordered two locations to stay open an extra half an hour.

[...]

In Naugatuck, some residents were turned away after registering via AAA or DMV and there was no record of it at the polls, NBC Connecticut reports. Those impacted residents were sent to Town Hall for same-day registration.

Moderators in Vernon said the lines were out the doors and onto the sidewalks at about 5:40 a.m., 20 minutes before the polls opened on Tuesday morning. By 6:30 a.m. at Vernon Center Middle School, 152 residents had cast ballots.

12:15 PM: Report from the Newstimes:

While turnout in Danbury is actually slightly lower than the past two presidential elections, there has been a steady flow of new voters casing ballots this morning at City Hall.

According to the registrar’s office, about 24 percent of the city’s eligible voters had already cast ballots as of 10 a.m., a two percent decline from the presidential race four years ago and a decline of four percent from the turnout in 2008 when Barack Obama became the first black president of the United States.

11:00 AM: The parking scene at Stadley Rough School (ward three) was horrible this morning.

Since the Registrar of Voters decided to move the polling location in the third ward from Broadview Middle School to Stadley Rough School, residents have long complained about the parking fiasco at the school.

I'm going to spend most of the day documenting the traffic nightmare at Stadley Rough because as someone who has lived in the third ward for over 15 years, parking was never a problem at the old voting location (Broadview School)...never...

10:00 AM: Report from ward three in #Danbury (Stadley Rough School). As of 9:25 AM, machine 1 count: 879, machine 2 count: 521.

Ward 4 (Shelter Rock School): Count 397 as of 10:15 AM.

9:30 AM: I'll be bringing updated reports from the voting scene throughout Greater Danbury today both here on this page and on Twitter via @hatcityblog...and I can use your help!

I want to hear about your voting experience...was it a breeze of a nightmare? Send your election day thoughts to me via twitter at @hatcityblog and I'll share your thoughts with everyone. Also, when you cast your ballots, make sure to take a note of the count on the voting machine as well as the time you casted your ballot.

Again, send your info to me via Twitter at @hatcityblog and and join in on the live-blogging experience...and no matter who you vote for, make sure to VOTE (and don't worry folks, the world will be here tomorrow :-)

We did our part...make sure you do yours...VOTE!

In honor of founder and managing director of Newtown-based Sandy Hook Promise Nicole Hockley being named one of People magazine's "25 women changing the world," from Jan 2013, here's my coverage of the group's first press conference.

So much for the state lawmaker who claims to support of full disclosure...

The site "Vote Smart Project" is a non-biased, volunteer based informational portal whose purpose is to inform the public where the candidates stand on issues based on their voting record.

During the election year, the project sends out a "Political Courage Test" that candidates can fill out and give their take on where they stand on a wide range of issues. This service provided by the organization has been an invaluable resource for voters and the public who want to know more about politician's stance on issues without the political spin.

In previous years, when faced with little or no competition, State Rep. Bob Godfrey had no problem filling out this survey.

This year, Godfrey does not have the luxury of a re-election as he's in the middle of a tough campaign with a challenger who has effectively highlighted the Deputy Speaker's poor voting record in matters that effect the many residents in his district.

Suddenly, the state lawmaker once endlessly bragged about leading the charge when it came to public disclosure in state government has apparently had a changed of heart when it comes to answering the Vote Smart Project's courage test.

Here's what the group had to say about Godfrey's newly AWOL status.

Bob Godfrey has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2016 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests. Historically, candidates have failed to complete our test due to the advice they receive from their parties and advisors and out of fear of negative attack ads. Bob Godfrey is still welcome to submit the test at any time.

This morning, I decided to take a break from documenting the latest on the ever-changing "dumping ground" excuse from 110th dist. State Rep. Bob Godfrey and give undecided readers a chance to hear from the Deputy Speaker's challenger in her own words.

Weeks ago, I had a chance to participate with Danbury News-Times managing Editor Jean Duball in a hour long interview with Godfrey's challenger Emanuela Palmares. As you'll see, we did not hold anything back in our questions with Palmares as we questioned her on a wide range of issues that are on the minds of residents in the 110th district.

If there is one interview that will give you a better understanding of Godfrey's opponent, this would be it.

Originally posted on 10.04.16

Of all of the campaigns for state office in Greater Danbury, the race that's generating the most interest in the area centers on the race in 110th district (downtown Danbury) with long time incumbent Bob Godfrey facing a formidable challenge from editor and Partner of Tribuna Newspaper Emanuela Palmares.

Recently, Danbury Newstimes Managing Editor Jean Dubail and yours truly led a panel Q&A with the 110th State Rep. candidate on the Marty Heiser show.

I'll give me take on the 110th district race (this district covers downtown Danbury) and Palmares' candidacy soon.