[2][3] In the succeeding general election, Lieberman received 49.7% of the vote, defeating Democrat Ned Lamont and Alan Schlesinger of the Republican Party.
[4] The party was established on July 10, 2006, and began collecting signatures in case Lieberman did not win the Connecticut Democratic primary.
On August 23, the Secretary of State announced that the party had filed enough valid signatures and would appear on the ballot in November.
[citation needed] After the election, contention developed between two different groups, one supportive of Lieberman and one critical of him, with each faction asserting that it controlled the party.
[7] "When Mr. Korchin filled out a short form in August at the Cheshire Town Hall changing his party affiliation from Democrat to Connecticut for Lieberman, the information could not be properly entered in the state’s electronic voter database.
[8] Orman, a professor of politics at Fairfield University, had briefly challenged Lieberman for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination in 2006.
Korchin announced the annual party meeting would be held in August and left, after which the Milford gathering elected Orman as chair, by a 5–1 margin.
Orman's contention was that Lieberman had violated state law by knowingly circulating false petitions, in that he had no actual intent to join or form a new party.