The statewide voter turnout among Democrats was 37 percent, about average for a Connecticut primary.

The choice became even clearer after Mr. Brown visited Mr. Cuomo here last month after his victory in the Connecticut primary.

If the outcome of the Connecticut primary was bad news for Gov. Bill Clinton's Presidential campaign, at least it was the kind of adversity he likes best - the political kind.

The Republican State Chairman, Chris DePino, said that because the results were close in New Hampshire, the Connecticut primary would have more importance because of the feeling that every vote counts.

Until Governor Brown won this week's Connecticut primary, party leaders had appeared satisfied that they had accomplished just that.

Exactly one week later, he cemented his position as a major threat to Clinton when he eked out a narrow win in the bitterly-fought Connecticut primary.

Despite his victory in yesterday's Connecticut primary, Michael S. Dukakis's campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination is a troubled candidacy.

And the Connecticut primaries will be held when the candidates are all someplace else.

Paul Tsongas's decison not to contest yesterday's Connecticut primary and pull out of the Democratic Presidential race may dishearten those of us who felt 1992 might see a victory of political substance over style.

Campaigning before next week's Connecticut primary, he was unusually conciliatory about Gov. Bill Clinton's triumphs in the Midwest and spoke of his economic remedies, not of how he would capture the White House.