Democrats Looking to Election for Change

After a series of setbacks in the Republican-controlled City Council, New Britain Democrats are looking toward November’s city elections.

Emboldened by sweeping victories for their federal and state candidates among New Britain voters, New Britain Democrats have been increasingly exasperated by decisions from the Republican-dominated city hall.

Going into last autumn, Democrats had already been critical of decisions in city hall, such as Republican Mayor Erin Stewart flat-funding education again.

Then, in October, in a Council committee, City Council Republicans voted down a proposal that would have created a strong community police review board in New Britain.

In December, Stewart vetoed a resolution, approved by the Council earlier that month, to remove the statute of Christopher Columbus from a prominent city park. In January, Republican Council members upheld Stewart’s veto.

At the same meeting in January, the Republican Council members blocked the appointment of Democrat Veronica T. DeLandro to the City Council, choosing a loyalist to Stewart-Republican political machine, instead. DeLandro was widely supported in the community and was the Democrats’ choice for who should succeed newly elected State Rep. Manny Sanchez (D-24) on the Council. The move was widely seen as an undemocratic way of adding a Republican vote to the Council.

In response, Democratic activists and elected officials have been turning their attention, though it is months away, to the November city elections.

Democrats have already been seeking candidates to run for different city offices, from Council to Board of Education. In the Council elections, most of the Democratic candidates will be challengers. Republican incumbents hold nine of the fifteen seats on the Council. Democrats currently hold a six to four majority on the Board of Education. In each election, only half the Board seats are up for election. Each party runs three candidates and five are elected.

It is the election for mayor, though, receives the most attention.

Republican Mayor Erin Stewart is now a four-term incumbent, and is considered by most to have formidable chances of winning a fifth term this November.

But a growing number of people who have been energized to become active in politics in New Britain have been angered by many of Stewart’s decisions, building energy behind a potentially serious challenge Stewart and the powerful Republican political machine she leads.

The question is who, among the potential Democratic candidates for Mayor, will seek the office. If more than one candidate seeks the position, the Democrats’ candidate could be decided in a September 14th primary.

Most political activists observe that successful candidacies for Mayor begin in the coldest months of the year, leading many to expect that one or more Democratic candidates may emerge very soon.

Right now, Democrats, who have few incumbents in most city offices, have been advertising to encourage people to sign up as potential candidates.