Trump-backed Leora Levy scores MAGA upset in Connecticut GOP Senate primary

Even blue-blood Connecticut Republicans are MAGA fans these days.

Republican voters handed former President Donald Trump a big victory when they backed his candidate, Leora Levy, over a much better known moderate rival in the GOP Senate primary.

Leora Levy speaks during a live broadcast debate, July 26, 2022, in New Haven, Conn. (Anthony Quinn/)

Levy looked stunned by her sweeping win in her first political campaign over former state House Republican leader Themis Klarides

“We’re making history here. It’s really exciting,” Levy told a jubilant crowd in her hometown of Greenwich.

Levy won about 50% of the vote, and fellow staunch Trump supporter Peter Lumaj won about 9%, easily outpacing Klarides, who was considered the favorite by most political analysts.

Levy thanked Trump directly for his last-minute endorsement, which voters credited with making up their minds.

“I will not let you down,” she said to Trump. “Thank you for having my back.”

Pro-Trump Republicans battle establishment in Connecticut, Wisconsin and Minnesota

Levy, 65, a wealthy Cuban immigrant, will now face daunting odds in a general election contest against powerful incumbent Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who has never lost an election in the Nutmeg State.

But regardless of what happens in November, Levy’s solid win amounts to a political earthquake in Connecticut, which has long been known as a haven for moderate Republicans, especially on social issues.

Levy, a political unknown before entering the Senate race, strongly opposes abortion rights. She is also against any restrictions on guns, a shocking position in the state where a crazed gunman killed two dozen pupils and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“This is a huge victory for President Trump in our state,” Lumaj said. “They still support the president regardless of who the endorsed candidate is.”

Connecticut hasn’t elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since Lowell Weicker., a throwback liberal who served from 1971 to 1989.