What vote share in Connecticut did the only president born in that state get in his first White House contest?

a) 36 percent

b) 38 percent

c) 44 percent

d) 52 percent

Answer: b) George W. Bush, the current occupant of the White House, was born in New Haven in 1946 and is the only native of the state to serve as president. But Bush, whose family moved to Texas when he was a young child, lost Connecticut, today a Democratic-leaning state, in both of his presidential elections.

Bush, who ran in 2000 as governor of Texas, lost Connecticut by 56 percent to 38 percent to Democrat Al Gore, then the incumbent vice president. Gore’s running mate that year was Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman.

Bush trimmed that margin a bit in 2004, but still lost to Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts by 54 percent to 44 percent.

Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush, actually lived in Connecticut for a longer period of time, growing up in the affluent New York City suburb of Greenwich and attending Yale University in New Haven (as his son did later). His father, Prescott Bush, was a Republican who represented Connecticut in the Senate from 1952 to 1963. But before moving to the state, Bush’s family lived in the Massachusetts town of Milton, where he was born.

The elder George Bush carried Connecticut in his 1988 victory for president, defeating Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis by 52 percent to 47 percent and extended a Republican presidential winning streak in the state to five elections. But it was the last GOP victory in the state, as Democrats have reeled off four wins in a row — beginning with Bill Clinton’s 1992 win over incumbent Bush by 42 percent to 36 percent, with independent Ross Perot taking 22 percent. Clinton also defeated Republican Bob Dole in the 1996 Connecticut vote by 53 percent to 35 percent.