Stewart rules out run for governor
New Britain mayor says she’s ‘keeping it local for now’
Erin Stewart, the high-profile mayor of New Britain for the past nine years, announced Sunday evening that she won’t be running for governor next year.
“Love to my supporters from all corners of the state but #teamstewart is keeping it local for now,” Stewart wrote while posting a formal message on Facebook.
Stewart, 33, tried a last-minute bid in 2018 to get the Republican nomination to run for governor, but hit a solid wall of opposition from the dominant conservative bloc at the state GOP convention. She abruptly dropped out and made a pitch to be the lieutenant governor candidate, but lost in a threeway primary.
That’s been the only setback in an otherwise textbook political career; she became the state’s youngest mayor — and only New Britain’s second female mayor — when she first won office in 2013. She has handily defeated Democratic challeng
ers every election since then, even winning public union endorsements in a heavily Democratic and pro-union city.
On Sunday, Stewart made clear she expects to run for a higher office in the future, but said she’s going to focus on her family and seeking a fifth term this November leading her city of 70,000. Stewart and her husband, Dominic Mutone, had a baby last summer and are building a house in the city.
A half-dozen supporters added messages after her 6 p.m. announcement.
“You have your priorities in the right order. Carry on, Mama Mayor!,” wrote Susan Thomas DeFrancesco.
Elected Republican officials in New Britain praised the decision.
“Running for governor requires a huge amount of time and energy,” said state Rep. William Petit. “I believe Mayor Stewart has much more she wants to accomplish in New Britain and wants to keep her focus there.”
Common council Majority Leader Danny Salerno called her decision “a reflection of her maturity as a political figure,” and said she has plenty of time to pursue higher office later in life.
“She is committed to doing the best for her community, and that shows every day,” Salerno said.
“Erin Stewart is a trailblazer whose star is still on the rise,” former Republican state Sen. Gennaro Bizzarro said. “Her political career is really just getting started and time is on her side.”
Democrats took a very different view.
“I think it has become clear to the mayor and her staff that while they had their eyes onthe governor’s office, they lost track of running the city,” said state Rep. Robert Sanchez, who is seeking Democratic endorsement to run against her this fall.
“The timing of this announcement, following multiple public missteps, is not coincidental,” Sanchez said. “It is a clear response to more and more residents realizing that this administration is focused on figuring out their next career move and not on the lives of our residents.”
Stewart made political waves last week when she slammed the city’s school administration in her State of the City speech, complaining that academic performance in New Britain is dead last among Connecticut communities.
Sanchez and other Democrats argued that the city is also at the bottom of the list for funding education. They also criticized her for panning the state’s response to the pandemic, and charged that the city has mismanaged its COVID-19 strategy from the state.
“I hope this (announcement) means she stops blaming other people for the problems New Britain has with its education system and with the pandemic response, and that she finally starts concentrating on New Britain,” state Rep. Rick Lopes said.
Stewart directed her statewide political action committee, STEWPAC, to endorse mostly moderate Republican candidates in the last statewide election, and she has consistently warned the GOP that it can’t win by hammering hard-right social issues in a predominantly Democratic state.
As recently as last week, most local Democratic politicians were privately predicting that she’d be running for governor next year. Her announcement Sunday appeared to take both parties by surprise.
“I greatly appreciate the constant encouragement I receive from people all across our state on a daily basis — so many of my friends, constituents, family members, and acquaintances have been unequivocal in their enthusiasm and, as such, I have spent the past year giving it the most serious consideration,” she wrote.
She said the state could use “new ideas and a fresh perspective,” but said she wasn’t willing to consign marriage and motherhood to a secondary role. She also said the city needs her full attention.
“There has never been a more critical time to have an experienced mayor steering the ship,” she wrote. “I have already announced my candidacy to seek a fifth term this November, and I intend to run, win, and lead New Britain into a post-pandemic boom.”