Manchester Mayor Jay Moran. Source: CT Post

Overview

Since our last edition in February, there have been many retirements and announcements of runs for candidates across the state. With 169 municipalities to cover, we can’t cover everything, but I will try my best to get some notable ones out of the way.

Next week, from July 15th to July 22nd, town committees, caucuses, and conventions will announce endorsements for municipal offices at their respective events for each party. We will learn more about endorsed candidates that are on the ballot, and over the following weeks, we will learn more about who will try to petition for the primary ballot.

The petition deadline in the state is pretty short, as petition must be submitted to the registrar by August 6th. The primary is scheduled for September 9th, with early voting days from the 5th to 7th. Only if the candidates are opposed will that town have a primary. So it will depend on the town and position.

Let’s get to some of the mayoral/selectman/selectwoman developments of the last couple of months.

Note to readers: if there is no recent developments in certain towns on challengers, who haven’t been heard from for a while. We will wait till the following weeks for official primary challengers, and go from there. In addition, many races have had opponents in for a few months, we not much news since than, so we will wait for the next few weeks to see if they continue their campaigns past the convention. At the moment we will cover the largest cities/towns for now. But I will try to cover others in the next few weeks.

Norwalk

In March, after 12 years in office, Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling announced he would not seek reelection in November. The state’s 6th largest town has many people geared up for the open race.

Thanks to recent publications by Norwalk’s local publication Nancy on Norwalk , we have good detailed information about candidates gearing up to be the next mayor.

In the Democratic side, Common Council Members Barbara Smyth and Darlene Young are facing off against one another. Both have a lot of experience in city government.

Smyth has been a member of the common council for 8 years, elected president twice. Her priorities includes investing in public education, growing city as a responsible rate, and improving infrastructure and flooding issues.

Young has worked in the community under four different administrations, a member of the common council, elected president once. She is a founding member of Norwalk’s Community Health System. Her top pritories as mayor are addressing affordability, resolving budget process challenges, strength blught enforcement, and diversifying our housing options.

On the Republican side, Businessowner Vinny Scicchitano is the only person declared for the nomination. He has owned and operated a small business for over 40 years. His priorities include fiscal responsibility, educational excellence, and improving traffic and infrastructure.

Unaffilated candidate, Erik Vitaglione and Orion Party member Scott Merrell are also candidates for mayor, but they have to get on the ballot, and neither responded to the questionnaires from the publication.

Greenwich

First Selectman Fred Camillo announced on Tuesday that he will announce his re-election bid for a 4th term on Monday the 14th.

Camillo in his announcement, noted his good relationship with top legislators including State Sen. Bob Duff and State Rep Jason Rojas. He also noted the city’s gains in affordable housing stock, noting the importance of debate.

Hamden

Despite her announcement of seeking re-election earlier this year, two-term incumbent mayor Lauren Garrett announced on Monday she would not seek re-election to a third term citing a desire to be with family and friends in addition to mental health.

Garrett leaves offices with accomplishments ranging from stabilizing the town’s finances by securing more than $50 million in grants for community projects. She has faced challenges recently concluding in the town council overriding her veto of the town’s budget and some residents complaining about financial transparency.

Garrett’s exit means there are multiple candidates now vying for the Democratic nomination, the largest in at least 35 years. The large field is likely due to frustration over expected property tax hikes, in addition to appeal of a four-year term, which is longer than the previous two year term, giving candidates more time to carry out their agendas.

Democrats competing for the nomination include Legislative Council President Dominique Baez, Combat Veteran and Board of Ed member Walter Mortion, Businesswoman Jameka Morrison-Jefferies, Clean-Transportation Advocate Peter Cyr, Vet and Registrar of Voters Lushonda Howard.

In this open race, in a liberal city, hard to say who is favored here. Though I would think Legislative Council President Dominqiue Baez is favored here for the endorsement next week, she has many opponents who can all make the ballot, so hard to say what can happen. The winner of the primary will likely win the race in a town Kamala Harris carried 73-25 in November.

On the Republican side, 24-year-old, political newcomer paralegal Jonathan Katz has been running since last month, and seems to have the nomination to himself.

Manchester

Incumbent Mayor Jay Moran announced he would seek re-election as mayor. He has been mayor for over a decade, but Manchester started electing their mayor directly in 2023.

Though unopposed in 2023, Moran will have a republican opponent this time around. Manchester Republicans announced that Board of Directors Member Zachary Reichelt will oppose Moran. They expect he’ll get the nomination next week.

West Haven

West Haven Mayor Dorinda Borer. Source: CT Examiner

Incumbent Mayor Dorinda Borer announced she would seek re-election for a second term early last month.

The city was greatly mismanaged in previous years including stolen pandemic relief funds, behind on audits, and having no bond rating for the city. Former State Rep. Michael DiMassa was also arrested for stealing COVID relief funds from the city.

Borer has been credited by the town’s Democratic chair for restoring the city’s finances and massively improving transparency.

Stratford, East Hartford, Trumbull

Incumbent Republican mayor Laura Hoydick announced she would run for a third four-year term early last month in Stratford.

Incumbent Democratic Middletown mayor Connor Martin announced he would run for a second term in mid-June. He has noted in making investments to help families and improve quality of life. The Republican Town Committee said they would announce a candidate to oppose Martin during its caucus on July 17th

Incumbent Democratic First Selectwoman Vicki Tesoro announced last month she would run for re-election.

Middletown

In Late May, Demoratic Incumbent mayor Ben Florsheim make the surprise announcement that he would resign office and will leave his position as mayor on June 16th. Florsheim was in office since 2019.

Common Council President Eugene Nocera will be Acting Mayor until the special election is completed on the same day as the city’s municipal election.

Acting Mayor Nocera will run for the Democratic nomination. He seems to be the only one on the Democratic side. He is a former two-term Board of Education member and an educator who worked for nearly 40 years in the school district.

Four members of the town’s Republican party are vying for the committee’s mayoral nomination. Former Mayor and councilmen Sebastian Guiliano, Council Minority Leader Linda Salafia, Greater Middletown Military Museum president Ken McClellan, and Business Manager Konrad Lenart. It is unknown if any of them would continue to the primary ballot if they don’t receive the nomination.

Torrington

Republican incumbent mayor Elinor Carborne announced in April she would not run for re-election for a fourth term. She cited her age (68) noting the importance of passing the torch to a new generation.

Both Democrats and Republicans have chosen a candidate to run in the general election. The Torrington Democratic Town Committee are behind City Council member Stephen Ivain. Republicans are behind fellow City Council member Molly Spino.

Ivain lost his first attempt at the mayoral race when he lost to Carborne in 2021. He cites increased costs of living and the “challenging moment” as reasons to run again. He also wants to lead with economic development and attack the rising taxes.

Molly Spino, a marine veteran and paralegal, cites her experience and the importance of building relationships across the city to take the office of Mayor.

Spino is favored in the city where Trump won 56-42 in November.

Conclusion

There are many other cities to cover, and much drama is occurring across the state across the ballot. We will be sure to cover more races, especially of smaller towns in future editions. They are some open-seat in smaller towns and cities we want to highlight, as well as some competitive races. We will definitely provide updates next week following town conventions and caucus, and look towards the primaries in September. Thanks for reading!