Rep. Bobby Sanchez (D-25) has announced that he has raised nearly $70,000 in donations toward his campaign for Mayor of New Britain.
“We are focused on growing a coalition of support from every corner of this city,” Rep. Sanchez said, “with a clear message that no one neighborhood should be prioritized over another, and no one child should be given different opportunities simply because of where they grow up.”
Rep. Sanchez called the fundraising total, “truly humbling,” noting that it meant, “more than doubling my effort from last quarter.”
Rep. Sanchez said that, “It is time that we have leadership in the Mayor’s seat that is ready to take the responsibility of running this city and answering the call of today’s most pressing issues.”
“Our school performance is unacceptable,” Rep. Sanchez said, “our taxes are unacceptable, and our economic development pales in comparison to other cities in our state. As Mayor, I will not find someone to blame for these challenges, but do what I have always done in my ten years of serving as a State Representative for this great city, roll up my sleeves and get to work.”
Rep. Sanchez said that,
As a kid growing up in Malikowski circle, I was never aware of who the local elected officials were in New Britain. It played no role in my life at that time. My family was simply focused on getting through the week with food on the table. And what is sad, is that same struggle that my family faced, is the same exact struggle that I know families are facing across our city today. Now is the time to change that. While New Britain has different neighborhoods, we are one community, and we need leadership that is ready to put in the work to reflect that through policy and action.
Three Democrats are running the Democratic Party’s nomination for Mayor — Democratic Mayoral candidate Veronica T. DeLandro, political activist and Democratic candidate Alicia Hernandez Strong and Sanchez.
In the last quarterly campaign finance report in April, DeLandro had the highest fundraising total among Democratic mayoral candidates, with $45,000 in contributions. DeLandro has continued fundraising since then and recently told campaign supporters that, “Thanks to your support, we were able to hit our fundraising goals for the second quarter.”
DeLandro has been focusing her campaign on visiting New Britain residents door-to-door, saying, “Canvassing is more than just door-knocking. It’s about engaging and listening to people from all walks of life. I’m running for Mayor to make sure their voices, cares and concerns will be heard.”
DeLandro has been campaigning on her “Core 4 Issues” of education, economic opportunity, health and wellness and affordable housing and homeownership. Her priorities include investing in early childhood education, diversifying the educator workforce, supporting neighborhood business development, workforce development and promoting access to affordable health care.
Strong has said that, ”My priority is working people,” saying that she is, “running on a working class platform.” A founder and former President of the New Britain Racial Justice Coalition, Strong is calling on residents to, “get involved in the movement to transform New Britain,” and has active grassroots volunteer support for her campaign.
Strong is campaigning on issues including economic development, affordable housing, greater support for education and addressing racial and economic disparities in public health. She recently announced her priorities for youth development, saying, “New Britain’s youth are our future — yet the current administration has not only let them down, but also actively criminalizes them and jeopardizes every chance they have at success.”
Nominations by the Democratic Party are a potentially two step process. The Democratic Party’s governing Town Committee makes endorsements of candidates for city offices in late July. If there is no primary, the Town Committee’s choice becomes the nominee of the Democratic Party. But, candidates not endorsed by the Town Committee can send the decision on the nomination to a Democratic primary by collecting petition signatures.
While the same process applies to the Republican Party, most observers believe that Republican Mayor Erin Stewart will become the Republican nominee without a primary of Republican voters.
Any primary in 2021 would be held on September 14th.
It remains to be seen if the eventual Democratic nominee for Mayor will prevail against Stewart in the November 2, 2021 city elections. Stewart has repeatedly eluded political consequences to her own re-elections of unpopular policies and politics of her administration, including low funding for the city’s schools, higher property taxes, increased City Hall spending, floating city annual budgets with long-term taxpayer debt, the failed attempt to allow mining on public watershed land and what many view as the generally uncouth brand of the politics of her political machine.
