Elizabeth Esty’s Spokesman Expresses Confidence Tuesday Night; Roraback Crowd Starting To Build

The Hartford Courant’s Josh Kovner is at Elizabeth Esty’s election-night party and filed this report before the polls closed:

Jeb Fain, Esty’s campaign manager, expressed confidence as he walked into the Coco Key, a combination water park and hotel on the outskirts of Waterbury, on Tuesday evening.

“Don’t get me wrong, we expect a close race, but we really feel good,” Fain said. “We think our grass-roots effort and our strong field operation will pull us over the edge in the end.”

Fain said more than 300 volunteers “were knocking on doors today. We started building this campaign in the spring. There’s a reason she did so well in the primary.”

Of course, it didn’t hurt that primary opponent Chris Donovan’s campaign was derailed by the arrest of two of his aides over illegal campaign financing.

Esty was to arrive at 9 p.m. Tuesday with her family in tow, including her husband Dan, the commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and her brother, mother, and father-in-law.

The Courant’s Amanda Falcone is in Torrington, and she filed this report:

With the polls about to close, the small crowd at the Backstage Café was waiting for numbers to come in and for Republican Andrew Roraback to arrive. Music was playing as people sipped drinks at the bar.

The room at the restaurant featured a stage with an American flag displayed prominently and red and blue balloons.

Roraback spokesman Chris Cooper said Roraback was not expected at the restaurant until about 9:30 p.m.