Rep. Bobby Sanchez (D-25) has been endorsed for Mayor by the New Britain Democratic Party’s Town Committee, but a primary is expected.
Three Democrats are running for the Democratic Party’s nomination for Mayor — Democratic leader and Mayoral candidate Veronica T. DeLandro, political activist and Democratic candidate Alicia Hernandez Strong and Rep. Sanchez.
About 100 Democrats packed into the Pulaski Democratic Club for the Democratic Party endorsements, while supporters of DeLandro and Strong held rallies in a festive atmosphere outside of the Club.
Sanchez and DeLandro were both nominated for the party’s endorsement. Sanchez recieved 30 votes and DeLandro received five.
“I am humbled and honored to earn the support of the New Britain Democratic Party tonight,” Rep. Sanchez said. “This nomination is the result of months of knocking on doors, making phone calls, raising donations from New Britain residents and, above all else, building a coalition of support from every corner of this city.”
“For too long,” Sanchez said, “our poorest communities in New Britain have been ignored. Our schools and students have been ignored. Our taxes are too high for working families. Our city hall is not transparent.”
“Now is the time to change that,” said Sanchez.
“Onward to September 14th,” said DeLandro after the vote, adding that she plans to collect signatures to primary for Mayor, starting tomorrow. DeLandro commented online that,
Throughout the past several months our campaign has fought the good fight to address the concerns of New Britain’s residents and key stakeholders that hope for a better and sustainable city. We have worked to ensure that we engage with our city’s most valuable assets – its families and communities, to inform them of their rights and ability to aid in moving the City of New Britain onward.
Strong said that she boycotted the Town Committee process, opting, instead to form a “People’s Slate” with City Council candidates Richard Lacourciere and Nate Simpson, saying, “that their interests and their power come from the working class voters of New Britain, who often feel disenfranchised by party elites.” Strong’s campaign says that the slate, “plans on collecting the requisite signatures over the next two weeks to qualify for the ballot for the Democratic Primary.”
Nominations by the Democratic Party are a potentially two step process. 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.
Any primary in 2021 would be held on September 14th.
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.
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.
Editor’s note (7/27/2021): The article was updated with addition information, including with photography by Frank Gerratana and additional comments from the candidates.
