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Cope conceded the race just before 11 p.m. Tuesday.
In her time in the House, Esty, 57, has carved out gun control as well as STEM education as some of her top issues. She was first elected to the seat in November 2012, just weeks before the Sandy Hook School massacre. In June, she joined a protest sit-in in the well of the House floor to demand a vote on gun control measures, which ultimately failed.
Cope, the first selectman in the small town of Sherman, had attacked his opponent for failing to address the issues in many of the smaller towns in the district. Cope also ran on a strong commitment to uphold the Second Amendment and not allow gun control measures.
This is Esty's third term in the House. Her husband, Dan, is the former commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and a professor at Yale's School of Law.
She earned a bachelor's from Harvard College and a juris doctor from Yale Law School.
The 5th Congressional District covers most of northwest Connecticut, including Danbury, Bethel, Brookfield, New Fairfield, Newtown, and Sherman in Fairfield County.
The district, which stretches from the Hartford suburbs up to the northwestern corner of the state, also includes seven towns in Hartford County, six towns in New Haven County and 22 towns in Litchfield County.
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