Sign in Subscribe
The What

The What: Election 2024 Analysis, Fairfield UI Rally, Stamford 2035, and more

The What is your look around southwest Connecticut for the week of November 11.

The What: Election 2024 Analysis, Fairfield UI Rally, Stamford 2035, and more
Now that we've made it through Election Day, we're looking at what comes next. (Photo by Kelly Prinz)

Monday, Nov. 11

Happy Monday! Now that the 2024 election is behind us, we have some election analysis and a look at what impacts a second-term for President-elect Donald Trump could have on our region.  

Highlights 

This section will give a brief overview of the key items in the newsletter.

Spotlight

This section will feature our main reporting each week.

With the 2024 election behind us, we wanted to take a step back and examine the data to learn more about how and why people voted in the 2024 election—at the federal, state, and local level. Here’s some of our key takeaways. 

Vice President Kamala Harris won Connecticut—and all the communities in Lower Fairfield County. 

As of Friday Nov. 8, with 759 of 760 precincts reporting across the state, Harris received 974,483 votes in Connecticut, compared to 727,916 votes for former and incoming President Donald Trump, giving her a 56.3% to 42% win in the state. (Note: Some voters cast ballots for third-party candidates and write-ins which is why the numbers don’t equal 100%)

She also carried each of the communities in our region—Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, Norwalk, Westport, Fairfield, and Bridgeport. 

But, Harris’s margin of victory was down from Biden’s win over Trump in 2020—although it was up from Hillary Clinton’s in 2016. 

Biden received 1,080,831 votes in 2020 compared to 714,717 votes for Trump, giving him 59.3% of the voters, compared to 39.2% for Trump. In 2016, Clinton received 897,572 votes, compared to 673,215 for Trump, giving her 54.6% of the vote, compared to 40.9% for Trump. 

This was true both at the state level and by community in our region. 

See our full analysis of the 2024 results.

And while we don’t know exactly what policies and programs President-elect Donald Trump will implement, we wanted to explore some topics that we’ve covered previously that could be impacted by a shift from President Joe Biden to Trump. Here’s some of the questions we have related to our areas of coverage.

How will a Trump presidency change and alter federal funds?

Connecticut has received billions of dollars in federal dollars under Biden—some from the COVID-19 pandemic relief packages like the American Rescue Plan Act and others from bills, like the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act.

We’ve covered a lot of the work these programs have funded including: 

See our piece to check out the full list of questions or watch our video to explore these areas.

This Week at a Glance

This section aims to highlight the most important meetings and news taking place each week. 

  • In Stamford, the Board of Finance will meet on Wednesday, November 13 at 7 p.m. and receive an update on its questions about the Westhill High School construction project. Check out our previous reporting on this issue and school construction challenges across the region.
  • Also in Stamford, there will be a Stamford 2035 Comprehensive Plan Open House on Saturday, November 16 at 2 p.m. where residents can learn more about the state of the city and share their visions for the next 10 years in Stamford. 
  • In Norwalk, there will be a Common Council meeting on Tuesday, November 12 at 8 p.m., where the council will vote on a Complete Streets ordinance. Learn more about what Complete Streets means and why Norwalk is working to implement this policy.
  • In Fairfield, town leadership and members of Empowering Fairfield, a grassroots group, will be hosting a rally opposing the United Illuminating Monopoles plan on Tuesday, November 12 at 7 p.m. featuring First Selectman Bill Gerber, leaders of Empowering Fairfield, and guest speaker Wes Haynes, a preservation advisor to the Mary and Eliza Freeman Houses in Bridgeport that could also be impacted by this proposal. The Connecticut Siting Council, which is the governmental body that oversees these types of public utility services, approved a plan from United Illuminating, but the town and Empowering Fairfield are appealing that decision. See our reporting on the United Illuminating plan. 
  • In Darien, there will be a Great Island Vision and Master Plan on Saturday, November 16 at 10:15 a.m. which will include a presentation from the design team and community workshops. At 1 p.m., there will be a guided tour of Great Island. 
  • In Westport, the Board of Selectwomen will meet on Wednesday, November 13 at 9 a.m. to vote on a variety of traffic safety projects, including installing 12 crosswalks, a rapid reflective flashing beacon that alerts drivers to pedestrians crossing, and signage at North Avenue/Cross Highway Intersection and the Bayberry Lane/Cross Highway Intersection. Learn more about why communities are working to make their roads safer.

Plan Your Week

This section will include a list of meetings, events, and programming happening around southwest Connecticut each week.

Bridgeport

Stamford

Norwalk

Fairfield

Greenwich

Darien

Westport

Stay in touch!

As we continue to grow and evolve, please join us! You can do that by:

Please note: All of these agendas and information here are current as of Sunday night. Meeting times and agendas may get adjusted throughout the week.

Have a great week,

Kelly Prinz

Founder, Reporter at Coastal Connecticut Times

Read next