Primary results

Welcome to WSHU's After All Things, your daily news and culture update from around Long Island Sound. First, election results from last night's Democratic primary races in Connecticut. Flock cameras raise surveillance concerns for some Long Island residents. Connecticut enjoys a tourism boost and the latest on Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's campaign for New York governor. Those stories and more are just ahead. I'm Desire DiOrio, in for Sabrina Garone. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has defeated Josh Elliott in the state's Democratic Party primary. WSHU's Ebong Udama reports. Lamont used his victory speech to acknowledge Elliot who challenged him from the left. I want to give a shout out to Josh Elliott. He ran a feisty campaign, raised very important issues. He then pivoted to the November general election, calling for Democratic Party unity. We have a big tent. We're expanding. That includes all the supporters. progressives, moderates, small business, labor, independence, even a few right-minded Republicans. He says the focus of his campaign for third term is affordability. opportunity for all the people of the state of Connecticut. That's what we do. That's our North Star. Lamont also attacked President Donald Trump, but did not mention Republican Ryan Fasio, a state senator from Greenwich, who healed face in the November general election. Ebon Udama. WSH News. And over to Connecticut's first U.S. House District, Luke Brunin will advance to the general election. WSHU's Molly Ingram reports, Brunin beat longtime incumbent John Larson in the Democratic primary there. Bron, who is the former mayor of Hartford, had already won the endorsement from the Democratic Party. But it was far from certain he would win on Tuesday. I hope that this campaign helps to send a message. that if leaders in our party don't recognize that we need to make changes, then the changes are going to come from the ground up. Larson has held the seat for 27 years. This was the first time he had been challenged in a primary election. He told reporters now was the time for the party to come together. Bronon will face Republican Dr. Amy Chai in the general election. The seat has been rated solid Democrat by the Cook Political Report. Molly Ingram, WSHU News. The top two concerns at a Southhold town board meeting this week were flock cameras and public safety. The concern of

over whether automatic license plate readers can be used for illegal surveillance come after a flock camera in Greenport got vandalized for a second time. Jeremy Gerritson is a Southhold resident. My problem is a private company building a nationwide surveillance network that collects information on millions of innocent Americans who aren't suspected of committing a crime. My problem is a system that is repeatedly misidentified innocent people, been misused by police officers, and even flock employees, and continues to expand with no meaningful limits. Other residents urged the town board to adopt new public safety measures that outlined the duties of local police during federal immigration enforcement actions. A vote on public safety could come as early as August 25th. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman takes his gubernatorial campaign to upstate New York. That rapport and more are coming up. One of the Every writer has one, the story you can't stop thinking about, the memory that keeps resurfacing, the question that never quite goes away. Will WSHU and the Westport Writers Workshop invite Connecticut writers to take part in Connecticut Voices, a new storytelling collaboration? The theme is, what haunts you? Start writing, revising, or fine-tuning your story now. Submissions open September 1st. The winning writer will receive a cash prize and a chance to tell their original story on WSHU. Learn more at W. WSHU.org. Wondering if you're at risk for Lyme disease due to a tick bite, now a new at-home test can tell you. The $50 kit from the company, Lime Alert, can test for the pathogen that causes Lyme disease. The test is designed for use on the tick, not on people or pets. Ice Lip is the second town on Long Island to enact an 18-month ban on large-scale data centers. Brookhaven passed one last month, and that's on top of a statewide, year-long moratorium. Tech companies say the data centers are necessary to meet the power demands of artificial intelligence. Moratorium supporters say more time is needed to study their impact on the environment. Connecticut is often referred to as a highway between Boston and New York, but tourism numbers from last year suggest more people are making the nutmeg state a destination of its own. WSHU's Sabrina Guerrown has that report.

72 million people visited Connecticut in 2025 and spent $12 billion, up 6% from 2024. A quarter of that spending was on food and drink. Now, that's all according to the state's annual tourism economics report released last week. It also found hotel occupancy up about 4% while New England as a whole took a slight dip. This comes as the state has made a push to make itself more of a tourism destination. Things like the Connecticut wine, oyster, and of course, pizza. Trails highlight local spots. The state has also begun partnering with social media influencers to showcase unique attractions. And networking events throughout the year help small businesses connect with influencers for help with marketing and promotion. Sabrina Garone, WSHU News. For more on Connecticut's tourism industry, check out Sabrina's interview with Haley Eklund behind the Instagram account, The Connecticut Life. That's at WSHU.org. Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is trying to energize upstate voters as part of his campaign to oust new York Governor Kathy Hochul. As Jimmy Veilkind reports, immigration is a key issue. Hundreds of people are at a banquet hall near Great Sackenaga Lake on a perfect summer Sunday. It's a rally for Anthony Constantino, a Republican running to succeed Congress member Elise Stefanik in this northern New York district. And the special guest is Bruce Blakeman. Bruce, it is a real pleasure of nature. Any Republican hoping to win statewide office in New York needs to run up the score in deep red upstate areas like this. But Bruce Blakeman has some baggage to overcome. He edged Elise Stefanik out of the race for governor last year, even after party leaders had endorsed her. Elise Stefanik hasn't endorsed Bruce Blakeman, but Constantino has. So this rally is something of a kumbaya. Sue McNeil chairs the Fulton County Republican Committee. She had backed Elise Stefanik. So you don't have any bad blood? Oh my gosh, no. We can't. We have to unite. McNeil says what matters most are issues, and voters in this part of the state care deeply about public safety and securing the border. That's a top concern for Angela Ryan. She emigrated from Italy and says she became a citizen in 2016 just so she could vote for President Trump. I pray that Mr. Blateman will address the immigration problem because I'm an immigrant. And, you know, when I came to this country, I had gone through all the steps. Thank you all. When Bruce Blakeman took the stage, one of his biggest applause lines came after attacking Hokel for directing almost $4 billion of state money to help asylum seekers bused to New York during the Biden administration. All they have to do is step foot in New York State and they get free food, free transportation, free housing and a free cell phone while New Yorkers get stuck paying the bill. That ends. No more. Hopeo says helping migrants was the right thing to do. I'm going to stand up for New Yorkers. She's based her campaign on touting programs to put money in people's pockets, like free school lunches and one-time rebate checks. The governor also signed a new state law that restricts local governments from cooperating with federal immigration agents. Hoppa says the Trump administration shouldn't be detaining immigrants who haven't committed crimes.

Communities do not want to see people warehoused in subhuman conditions and treated inhumanity. People have been making pizza for them for 25 years or caring for their kids or their friends or running, you know, small startup businesses. That's not how we treat people in the state of New York. Hokel's campaign keeps tying Bruce Blakeman to Trump. Polls show the president and his immigration policies are viewed unfavorably by a majority of New York voters. Grant Reher is a political science professor at Syracuse University. He says Bruce Blakeman should focus on pocketbook issues that cut across the political spectrum because New York has so many registered Democrats. The problem with the energy costs and other things that are often related to affordability is they're not as emotionally gripping. So I think that's what he's reaching for with those cultural things. I just don't think the arithmetic is there. to hang your hat on that in New York State. Rear pointed out that the last Republican elected to statewide office in New York was George Bataki, a moderate. He won in 2002. In Mayfield, I'm Jimmy Vilkine for the New York Public News Network.

For the latest from around Long Island Sound, listen to us on the radio, online, or do what I do and listen to what you want when you want on the free WSHU app. New episodes of the After All Things Podcasts drop every weekday evening. I'm Desiree Diorio, in for Sabrina Garon. Thanks for listening and we'll be back tomorrow.