Stewart switches it up

Drops Tesei; runs for Lt. Gov.

MASHANTUCKET —With head-spinning speed, Erin Stewart, the millennial New Britain mayor, dropped one running mate and cozied up to another.

Stewart declared Friday that she was dropping her run for governor and switching to the lieutenant governor’s race. The move leaves Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei out of the race and creates an opening for Stewart to possibly join forces to become Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton’s lieutenant governor candidate.

Stewart said she will vote for Boughton’s nomination on Saturday, but Boughton would not confirm that they have teamed up.

“I’m excited for Erin,” he said in a phone interview at the convention. “We do have a process here.”

In January, Stewart told Hearst Connecticut Media that Boughton had previously asked her to team up.

“He asked me about a year ago,” she said in January. “We had the conversation. At the time, I politely declined. But I have not heard anything since.”

Tesei said Stewart called him Thursday night to tell him of her intentions, and he said he understood.

“I’m not disappointed for myself but I’m disappointed for not having the opportunity to have us as a team in what would have been a very diverse field,” Tesei said Friday in a phone call from the Foxwoods Resort and Casino, where he is a delegate at the Republican State Convention. “She did not want to lose the opportunity to be a part of the race and put forth her credentials as a millennial professional

and chief elected official of a city.”

In a news conference outside Foxwoods, as hundred of Republicans lined up for the two-day nomination convention, Stewart said her appearance on a fall ticket will energize younger voters.

She admitted that getting into the race in February, with already a dozen hopefuls lining up for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, wasn’t the best strategy.

”When the numbers don’t work in your favor, they don’t work,” she said. “And that’s the reality that we have to face, but I certainly believe that no matter what happens, my presence on this ticket is going to assure victory in November. This is about unity for our Republican team. Certainly it comes as a little bit of disappointment, but I’m really excited I can bring to the table.”

In choosing Tesei as her running mate, Stewart had hoped to draw delegate and financial support from the Gold Coast. Tesei’s bid for lieutenant governor surprised his constituents in Greenwich.

As he had before joining the ticket with Stewart just three weeks ago, Tesei said he would once again support businessman Steve Obsitnik for governor.

With Stewart, there are now four candidates for lieutenant governor, including Darien First Selectman Jayme Stevenson, Tesei and state Sen. Joe Markley of Southington.

Stewart