Voting was light but filled with patriotic sentiment Tuesday as Connecticut cast ballots in the Republican primary for U.S. senator, both parties’ races for secretary of the state and the Democratic nomination for state treasurer, as well as local races scattered across the state.

After casting his vote at Ellington High School, Gary Frye, a Republican, said the most important issue to him is the economy and cost of living.

“I would like Connecticut to be more affordable,” he said.

In November, he plans to vote for Bob Stefanowski for governor, and said former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Greenwich Republican Leora Levy for U.S. Senate did not affect his voting. Frye voted for former House Minority Leader Themis Klarides to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

Two other Ellington voters, who identified themselves as just Dennis and Amy, are Democrats. The most important issue for them, they said, was the still-unfolding Jan. 6 investigation.

”The important thing is preserving democracy, protecting how the voting process is conducted,” Dennis said.

Melissa Osbourne cast her vote at Latimer Lane School in Simsbury for the state primary. (Douglas Hook / Hartford Courant) (Douglas Hook)

Trump hailed Levy on Monday night in a tele-rally. Last week, he endorsed Levy in the race against Blumenthal, who is seeking his third six-year term.

Gov. Ned Lamont and State Rep. Tammy Exum meets with voters outside the Sedgwick Middle School in West Hartford. (Douglas Hook / Hartford Courant) (Douglas Hook)

Levy, a Greenwich fundraiser, faced Klarides of Madison, the endorsed candidate, and Peter Lumaj, an immigration attorney from Fairfield.

Carolyn Palmquist, poll moderator at Bristol’s Greene-Hills School voting center, said numbers were up there.

“We’re definitely seeing more voters trickling in than usual for a primary,” she said. “It’s been steady most of the morning here. It’s died down a bit this afternoon so far, but we expect to see that pick up this evening when people leave work.”

[  Here’s who you can vote for in the Aug. 9 primary. Campaigns are working to turn out the vote. ]

Plainville resident George Fensick III, a Republican voting for Stefanowski in November, said Trump’s endorsement of Levy had no impact on his decision because it came too late.

“I had made my mind up a few weeks ago, so it was surprising to see Trump back Levy only a couple of days ago,” he said. “By the time he backed Levy, I already made up my mind. I think he should have done it a bit sooner.”

Fensick said the economy was his major issue. “Taxes and high cost of living are making things unaffordable. The spending is out of control,” he said.

By midmorning, voter turnout in Burlington was remarkably low, especially among Democrats.

“I think it’s going to be low today,” said longtime Republican state Rep. John Piscopo as he stopped by Town Hall about 9 a.m. to check how the polls were doing. Piscopo had just come from Harwinton, where the numbers also were low, he said.

As of 9:30 a.m., Burlington registrars reported that 19 of the town’s 1,782 Democrats had voted, barely more than 1%. Turnout was better among Republicans: 78 of 1,979 had voted, or just under 4%.

Piscopo talked for a while with Dave Rackliffe, a Bristol Republican who had stationed himself alongside a Themis Klarides-for-governor campaign sign on the Town Hall lawn and waved to voters as they drove into the parking lot.

The lawn typically is filled with campaign signs during elections, and frequently local candidates or their representatives stand outside all day to wave to voters. But Rackliffe and his Klarides sign stood alone, and only a handful of voters stopped to chat with him.

“One guy told me he’s for Themis because she represents herself as more moderate — he’s tired of the extremes having control of both parties. I told him we need a lot more people like him to be vocal,” said Rackliffe, who ran for the 79th District House seat in Bristol two years ago.

Rackliffe works part-time in the General Assembly, and said he volunteered to help Klarides based on what he saw of her work as House minority leader.

“She is relentless and has very strong convictions,” he said.

“And it was fun watching her and [then-House Speaker] Joe Aresimowicz work together,” Rackliffe said. “They were political adversaries but they had respect for each other. It was fun to watch them -- that’s how we got to the 2017 budget. We need more of that.”

Voters weren’t eager to talk with the press Tuesday morning: Four in a row left Town Hall declining to discuss the primary or even say which party they belonged to.

A bicyclist rides past a barn with political banner on it as the sun rises on primary election day, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, in Suffield, Conn. Suffield is one of several small towns in Connecticut where control was flipped from Democrats to Republicans in 2021 municipal races. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) (Jessica Hill/AP)

In Glastonbury, voter turnout at midmorning was less than half of what it was for the last primary in 2018, according to Republican Registrar of Voters Lisabeth Becker.

As of 10 a.m., 526, or 3.7%, of registered Republicans and Democrats had cast ballots, compared with 1,014, or 7.8% in 2018. And the number of voters eligible to vote Tuesday numbered 14,212, a 9% increase from 13,024 in 2018. Becker said she expected a lower turnout.

“I dare say, from my perspective, there didn’t seem to be a lot of advertising about it,” Becker said. “Certainly if you are a registered Republican or Democrat, which I am, I got plenty of campaign literature from the races that were being run. But I also think because we don’t have a headliner, we don’t have the governor running, and I’m not sure how people tune in with this U.S. Senate race, which is our big race, you’d think people would be paying attention.”

Outside the Academy Building polling place on Main Street, Democrat Sharon Danio said she makes it a point to vote in all elections, but this time she felt even more urgency,

“Just, in general, the Republican position, I needed to vote Democrat, across the board,” Danio said, pointing to such hot-button issues such as abortion and climate change.

At the District 1 polls in Wethersfield, Moderator Kelly said that voting has been slow, but a steady crowd has come in. “It’s a little slow but pretty steady. So easy election.”

At the Branford Fire Headquarters, Peter Stolzman voted in the Democratic primary.

“I hate missing an election. I think it’s at least my responsibility,” he said. “I always think that one candidate, whether I’m in love with that candidate or not, is better than the other. You can’t complain if you don’t participate. So now I can complain.”

There was just a trickle of voters at the firehouse at 9 a.m., and moderators said turnout was light so far. There were no supporters standing outside, just two signs for Republican General Assembly candidates.

“I think voting is always important,” said Rebecca Weiner at New Haven’s Edgewood School. “I think participation is the lifeblood of democracy and I don’t believe I’ve ever missed a chance to vote since I was 18 and it’s a record I intend to keep.”

Alder Adam Marchand, D-25, who said the ward usually has the highest turnout in the city, said “turnout’s been modest.” While 140 had voted just before 10 a.m., he said that would usually be a far higher total.

In Rocky Hill, interest in the midterm primary election has been low, according to moderator Linda Peterson at the West Hill School poll.

Peterson said just 110 of the 160 absentee ballots given out had been returned as of midday Tuesday morning, down from more than 700 in the November 2021 election, according to election results. There were 148 ballots submitted in person at the polls as of 11:22 a.m. Tuesday, according to the ballot box counter.

Republicans Ralph and Patricia DiMartino came out to vote for Klarides. “She has the best shot to beat [Blumenthal],” Ralph DiMartino, 78, said.

Reporters Susan Dunne, Kenneth R. Gosselin, Stephen Singer, Deidre Montague, Don Stacom and Stephen Underwood contributed to this story.