I admire your optimism on his reelection prospects.
That epic fail dirtball in Maryland won a second term.
CT, however, has been used to electing GOP Governors over the past 2 decades (and Tom Foley just as likely lost due to Dem chicanery as Brady did in IL). MD isn’t used to electing Republicans statewide (after all, as for the Governorship, the last three times they won were in 1954, 1966 and 2002, with the prior two being outright liberal Republicans - Ted McKeldin and Agnew). Ehrlich’s win, it seems, in ‘02, alas, was a fluke, predicated on the visceral unpopularity of Parris Glendening (who stole the ‘94 race) and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend got the receiving end of it.
Even just looking at the other two offices for MD (excluding Lt Governor, which goes with the Gov, and Sec of State, appointed by the Gov) whom face the voters: Attorney General and Comptroller, the Republicans last won the AG office in 1919 with Alexander Armstrong (and that, only because the left split the vote allowing a narrow plurality win for our side, and he promptly lost 4 years later to the incumbent Dem Governor, Albert Ritchie, also his predecessor as AG). Even when Ted McKeldin appointed a Republican in 1952 when the Dem AG moved up to a judgeship, he lost in ‘54 even as McKeldin won a second term. Prior to that, only in 1895 was another Republican elected (and before that, only one other served in 1865 when the office was reestablished, and I don’t think he was formally elected statewide). And, yup, aside from the ‘94 performance, the closest race for AG was in that aforementioned 1954 race by the appointed incumbent, and he still lost 53-47%.
Comptroller is even worse, with our having last won the office in 1897 with future U.S. Senator Phillips Lee Goldsborough. Not since 1946 has a GOP candidate gotten near 45% of the vote and only once since have they broken 40%, when current occupant Peter Franchot beat Anne McCarthy (a niece of legendary IL Chicagoland Republican Ed Derwinski) by a 59-41% margin after knocking out the incumbent (ex-Gov) William Donald Schaefer in a brutal 3-way primary.
Connecticut has been a bit less hostile to Republicans running in downballot races (although still not great). Last elected a Sec of State in 1990 (though nearly held it in ‘94, losing by only 2,000 votes) and our side held the Dem to a 53-44% margin in ‘10, the closest race in 16 years. Last won the Treasurer office in 1994 (and almost did so again in ‘98, but Paul Silvester turned out to be a crook). Held the current incumbent (who beat Silvester in ‘98) to a 54-44% margin this time, the closet race since ‘98. Comptroller we haven’t won since 1970 (though we nearly took it in 1990, losing by 51-49%), and lost it by 54-43% this time. Only Attorney General is the worst, not having held it since 1955-59. Alas, even with the parasite Blumenthal vacating it, we still only did about as well as the other races, with our candidate losing 54-44%.