2004 United States Senate election in Connecticut

The 2004 United States Senate election in Connecticut took place on November 2, 2004, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator Chris Dodd won re-election for a fifth term.

Democratic

 * Chris Dodd, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1981

Republican

 * Jack Orchulli, CEO and co-founder of a Michael Kors's apparel company.

Campaign
Incumbent Chris Dodd was one of the most powerful senators in Congress. In the election cycle, Dodd raised over $7 million. His top five contributors were Bear Stearns, Citigroup, National Westminster Bank, Lehman Brothers, and Goldman Sachs.

The Republican nominee, Jack Orchulli, ran as fiscal conservative and social moderate. He broke ranks with his party on gay marriage and abortion. He often talked about a "broken education system." He argued that Dodd hasn't done anything in his 30 years in Congress to fix such issues as traffic problems in Fairfield County.

Orchulli launched a statewide TV ad campaign in September, as he spent over $1.1 million and pledged to spend "whatever it takes" if polls showed that he was gaining ground on Dodd.