NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, riding the support of organized labor and national minority leaders, won the Democratic primary for governor Tuesday to set up a general election showdown with Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell in November.

DeStefano beat Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, despite indications that the race was tightening in recent days. A poll released Monday showed DeStefano with a seven-point lead, the closest the race had been for months.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, DeStefano had 51 percent, or 133,049 votes, to Malloy’s 49 percent, or 128,957 votes. “I’m just so excited. We won the election,” DeStefano told The Associated Press.

Malloy said late Tuesday that it appeared DeStefano had won.

Asked if he were conceding the race, Malloy told the AP, “No. We did what we did.”

In an odd twist to the campaign, voters chose Malloy’s running mate, Mary Glassman, for lieutenant governor over DeStefano’s partner, Scott Slifka.

Both mayors touted their records in reviving the cities they have led since the mid-1990s. Both also outlined plans for universal health care and promised to create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

DeStefano wasted no time tying Rell to former Gov. John G. Rowland, who resigned amid a corruption scandal in 2004 and later served 10 months in a federal prison.

“Connecticut deserves better than what it had under 12 years of John Rowland and Jodi Rell,” DeStefano said.

Rell issued a statement congratulating DeStefano.

“I look forward to a spirited campaign based on the issues,” she said.

Responding to DeStefano’s comments, Rell campaign spokesman Rich Harris repeated that the governor was hoping the campaign would focus on the issues.

“It’s certainly the kind of campaign that voters would like to see,” Harris said.

DeStefano campaign workers and supporters watched the returns on television Tuesday night at a New Haven club while waiting for their candidate to appear. Some in the crowd were members of labor unions, where DeStefano has a large base of support.

“He’s been a supporter of the unions for years. We want somebody to pay attention to the folks working hard in the city and around the state,” said union member Shirley Lawrence.

Former East Hartford Mayor Robert DeCrescenzo also arrived at the DeStefano camp to support the New Haven Mayor.

“I think he’ll bring an energy and focus to state government that we haven’t seen for a long time,” DeCrescenzo said.

At Malloy headquarters in the Hartford Hilton, several hundred partisans crowded into a ballroom, cheering occasionally when their candidate started out with an early lead. The cheers continued but were sporadic when DeStefano pulled ahead.

Malloy supporter Martha Bugella, 78, of Wethersfield, brought along her trusted stuffed toy – a Democratic donkey, festooned with campaign buttons from Bill and Hillary Clinton, Michael Dukakis and John Kerry.

“I’m looking for changes,” Bugella said. “Our economy in Connecticut is bad. They’re laying them off right and left.”

Mike Pohl, an officer of the Manchester Democratic Party and Malloy backer, said Democrats will unite behind the winner on Wednesday.

The election drew a record turnout for a statewide primary. The secretary of the state’s office said, with a few precincts left to count, turnout would be at least 43 percent. It surpassed the previous mark of 39 percent set in the 1970 U.S. Senate Democratic primary that featured three candidates.

With much of the attention drawn to the U.S. Senate primary between incumbent Joe Lieberman and challenger Ned Lamont, DeStefano and Malloy’s campaigns scrambled for attention as the primary approached.

“Honestly, I think either one of these guys is going to lose to Jodi Rell so when it comes to voting, I’m actually going to vote for the Green (Party),” said Reiner Beckmann of Norwich, who voted for DeStefano. “Either one of those guys is going to lose to Rell, the writing is on the wall.”

The candidates traveled to polling sites around the state in their final effort to capture votes.

DeStefano’s campaign strategy involved intensive voter identification efforts, including having union supporters call fellow members.

Both campaigns had problems at the polls Tuesday. Malloy’s campaign filed a complaint with the state, saying that a New Haven machine was “corrupted” because it didn’t show Malloy’s name. Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said the ballot strip was merely misaligned.

DeStefano was unable to vote when he showed up at his precinct at 6 a.m. in New Haven. Mechanical difficulties forced the candidate, and other voters, to wait about 30 minutes before casting ballots.

The candidates increasingly traded accusations that each side was distorting the other’s positions.

DeStefano has raised $4 million, while Malloy reported about $3.8 million. The candidates also hit voters with a blitz of television and radio ads.

—

Associated Press Writer Susan Haigh and Stephen Singer in Hartford contributed to this report.