Log In


Reset Password
  • MENU
    State
    Thursday, December 05, 2024

    New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart considering ’26 bid for governor, not Congress

    Mayor Erin Stewart isn’t saying whether she’ll run for governor in 2026, but took pains to lay out a campaign platform during a speech Tuesday morning announcing that she won’t be running the city of New Britain by then.

    Stewart convened a rally of about 120 supporters and previous campaign aides outside City Hall, and they cheered repeatedly as she laid out accomplishments New Britain has made during her 11 years in office.

    “Just take a look around. I’ve led the transformation of our downtown, paved the way for development projects in every corner of our city,” she said. “This is the first time in 11 years the city of New Britain will finish its fiscal year on an exceedingly positive, strong fiscal note.”

    Stewart’s speech was far more than the standard victory lap of a long-time mayor, and instead pitched a case that her fiscal management brought a stagnant, near-bankrupt city to vibrancy and solvency.

    “When I first took office in 2013, New Britain was at a precipice. Years of spending beyond our means had brought the city to the brink of bankruptcy. We were this close to having to turn the keys to our finances over to the state of Connecticuut,” she said.

    “There were times when we weren’t going to make payroll, when we had to issue tax anticipation notes because we weren’t going to have enough money to pay our bills,” she said. “Here we are now, coming out on top. And that’s my legacy.”

    Successful fiscal policy would be a key campaign theme for a socially moderate Republican whose views antagonize the hard-right voters that dominate state GOP primaries.

    Stewart on Tuesday ruled out running for Congress because of the toll a frequent Connecticut-to-Washington commute would take on her husband and two young children. She said she’ll serve through November of 2025 to complete her current mayoral term, but emphasized that she believes her mission in New Britain will be completed then.

    In a video announcement of her decision against seeking a seventh term, Stewart left the future as undecided.

    “Perhaps I’ll run for higher office, maybe I’ll enter the private sector. Those answers are still unknown for me at this juncture. But I can’t figure that out until I close the books on this chapter,” she said.

    At Tuesday’s announcement and rally, she committed to deciding on a gubernatorial run by early 2025.

    “I know my clock is ticking. I think for anyone whose thinking of running for governor, it’s going to be early ’25 when they have to make that decision. Including Gov. Lamont: The clock is ticking for him, too,” she said.

    Stewart told reporters Tuesday that she doesn’t want to focus on the hot-button culture war fights that divide much of the country, saying they’re not relevant to running Connecticut.

    Annalisa Stravato, one of Connecticut’s representatives on the Republican National Committee, traveled to New Britain for the speech and predicted afterward that Stewart could fare well in the governor’s race.

    “She’s shown that she’s grown, she’s proven that she’s a leader and can get the job done,” Stravato said.

    Mary Ann Turner, vice chair of the state Republican Party, offered a similar assessment, saying “She has a proven track record.”

    Since making history by getting elected as the city’s youngest mayor in 2013, Stewart has drawn political attention far out of proportion to what the leader of a midsize city usually gets. Perhaps most remarkable has been her unfailing ability to win as a Republican in a poor immigrant city with enormous minority populations and a strongly Democratic voter registration.

    Through six elections, Democrats fielded a series of challengers and tried a range of strategies, but never came close to dislodging her. Voters sometimes gave her a GOP majority or super-majority on the common council, and in other years chose the Democratic ticket instead — yet Stewart’s popularity never appeared to falter.

    She will leave office tied with the late William McNamara for the title of the city’s longest-serving mayor. McNamara, a conservative Democrat, was elected in 1977 and won re-election five times.

    Council Majority Leader John McNamara, no relation, said Tuesday that “the wheels are turning” in the city’s Democratic Party as potential mayoral candidates consider a 2025 campaign.

    “There was certainly some movement before this, but it might create more interest,” said McNamara, who chaired the Democratic Town Committee during much of her tenure. “I don’t see another Republican replicating this.”

    Stewart has been a rarity: the Republican leader of a diverse city who is wildly popular in the most low-income neighborhoods as well as the wealthier ones. She is eagerly embraced by Black and Hispanic shopowners when she walks through North Oak or other impoverished sections, and consistently gets municipal union endorsements — even against Democratic challengers with strong union credentials.

    But her last-minute bid for GOP endorsement to run for governor in 2018 fell flat, and she went on to lose a primary for the lieutenant governor’s job. She accurately predicted that conservative Bob Stefanowski wouldn’t win the general election, and has publicly cautioned her party that insisting candidates follow hard-right positions on social issues is a losing strategy.

    But Stewart has emphasized that none of this changes her position as a Republican.

    Stewart told The Courant that part of why she’s undecided is that she wants to review data after the upcoming election to measure the political climate. But much of what she told the crowd Tuesday sounded like a campaign speech.

    “The goal the entire time was to leave our city better than I found it, and we did it,” she said, citing parks revitalization projects, school reconstructions, and more than $200 million in new private investment in apartments and commercial development.

    “We changed New Britain from a financial charity case to a financial role model for other Connecticut cities,” she said. “My foot will remain on the gas pedal until our final day here.”

    Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.