New London - City Councilor Michael Buscetto III, who was stunned by a defeat in the Democratic primary earlier this month, announced Thursday that he will conduct a write-in candidacy for mayor.

Buscetto, who made the announcement late Thursday morning on Twitter and Facebook, could not be reached by phone but said in an e-mail that the upcoming mayoral election is "extremely important."

"I continue to receive encouragement from throughout the city and I cannot ignore this strong support," he wrote.

Buscetto was the Democratic Town Committee's endorsed candidate when he lost to city newcomer Daryl Justin Finizio by a vote of 1,108 to 744 in a primary on Sept. 13.

About 30 percent of the city's 6,074 Democrats turned out to vote.

On the night of the primary Buscetto blamed the loss partially on the controversy surrounding police Chief Margaret Ackley, who had accused him of meddling in police business and undermining her authority. He said people don't like to hear or read about controversy and ethics complaints. He also said that he thought a lot of voters sat out the primary because they assumed they could vote for him in November and that there had been an organized effort to defeat him.

Finizio said Thursday that he supports Buscetto's right to run but said Buscetto should question his chances for victory.

"I fully believe that Mr. Buscetto has the right to run a write-in campaign if he chooses," Finizio said, "but I hope, before he follows through with the entire campaign, that he makes an honest assessment of his viability and determines whether what he is doing is in the best interest of the city of New London and the Democratic Party."

Finizio said the primary had seen an exceptionally good turnout and ranked among the highest for Democratic primaries in New London. He also said this Sept. 13 primary was eclipsed by just one other - the Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton primary, which drew 1,887 total votes in the city.

"So it was a very high turnout, and it was not close," he said.

Finizio added that the 60-40 percentage split was a "huge divide" and pointed out that Buscetto had also finished seventh in the 2009 election, narrowly winning the final spot on the council.

When asked whether he's concerned that Buscetto might leech votes from him in the general election, Finizio said he doesn't think it's likely. He said his campaign has strong support from independents and Republicans as well as Democrats and that he was cross-endorsed by the city's Green Party for the Sept. 13 primary.

"I think in the end it will not have a tremendous significant effect," he said. "I do believe that any voters that would still vote and write in Mr. Buscetto are probably not people who would have voted for me anyway; they would have probably voted for one of the other four candidates that are running."

k.crompton@theday.com

Editor's note: This version corrects an earlier version that was published on Sept. 30, 2011.