John Anderson (Connecticut)

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

John Anderson

Independent

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of California, Berkeley, 1995

Other

Yale, 2001

Personal

Birthplace

Arcadia, Calif.

Profession

Teacher

John Anderson (independent) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Connecticut. He lost as a write-in in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Anderson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

John Anderson was born in Arcadia, California. Anderson earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1995 and graduated from Yale University in 2001. His career experience includes working as a teacher.

Elections

2022

See also: United States Senate election in Connecticut, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Connecticut

Incumbent Richard Blumenthal defeated Leora Levy, John Anderson, and Shabadjot Bharara in the general election for U.S. Senate Connecticut on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Richard Blumenthal (D / Working Families Party)	57.5	723,864
		Leora Levy (R)	42.5	535,943
		John Anderson (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	68
	Submit photo	Shabadjot Bharara (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	12

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,259,887
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Andrew Hyduchak (Independent)
• Kristi Talmadge (Independent)
• John Flynn (Independent Party)

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Richard Blumenthal advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Connecticut.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Connecticut

Leora Levy defeated Themis Klarides and Peter Lumaj in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Connecticut on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Leora Levy	50.6	46,943
		Themis Klarides	40.0	37,072
		Peter Lumaj	9.4	8,703

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 92,718
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Robert Hyde (R)
• Nicholas Connors (R)
• John Flynn (R)

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

John Anderson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Anderson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

A native of California and graduate of UC Berkeley, I moved to Connecticut in 1995 to pursue graduate work at Yale, where I earned a master’s degree in Latin and Ancient Greek. I have been teaching at an independent school in New Haven since 2004 and have lived in West Haven, Connecticut since 2006. I am married with one child. I have never sought political office. I have been dissatisfied with the platforms of both major parties for over 20 years and am a long-term unaffiliated voter. I believe that the type of party loyalty that has emerged over time has contributed to the inability to collaborate, model civility, and even challenge glaring missteps made by members of one's own party. Moreover, I believe party intransigence has led to an inorganic and illogical clustering of issues in party platforms. With due humility, I hope to offer an alternative.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Our nation needs to work concertedly toward balanced budgets through increasing revenue and reducing spending.
• Our nation needs to limit greenhouse gas emissions and encourage expansion of nuclear and wind electricity production.
• Our nation needs to champion the freedoms of those who have been systematically repressed and marginalized and recognize the rights of unborn persons.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As a teacher, I love watching my students succeed. I hope to give them tools and to encourage the habits that allow them to thrive: to search, to question, to synthesize, to contribute. I view government the same way. Its goal is not to wield power and issue top-down demands but to guarantee freedoms and to produce the conditions conducive for the flourishing of people today and future generations: to form and enjoy their family, to be productive, to learn, to better themselves and pursue virtue, and to be fully integrated into the community around them. Everything that bears on these concerns are issues I am passionate about. However, I am particularly interested in working for the those whose chances of flourishing as I have described are most tenuous--members of historically excluded racial and ethnic groups such as Indigenous People and African Americans, people with mental and physical limitations, and the unborn.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The first historical event that I remember was the kidnapping of US embassy staff in Tehran. I was 6.

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Environmental change, the influence of China, energy

What qualities does the U.S. Senate possess that makes it unique as an institution?

I find the fact that every state in the U.S. Senate has equal representation remarkable. A senator from Rhode Island has the same standing as one from California.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for senators to have previous experience in government or politics?

In general, yes.

What do you think of the filibuster?

I believe the filibuster serves a valuable purpose. Some contentious issues should indeed have a 3/5 majority to back them.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2022 Elections

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External links

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Footnotes

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Connecticut's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Richard Blumenthal (D)

Christopher Murphy (D)

Representatives

District 1

John Larson (D)

District 2

Joe Courtney (D)

District 3

Rosa DeLauro (D)

District 4

Jim Himes (D)

District 5

Jahana Hayes (D)

Democratic Party (7)