(NEW BRITAIN--WTIC News) Saying Connecticut is “stuck in neutral—more likely, we’re in a decline,” outgoing New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart announced that she’s officially exploring a run for governor in 2026.
The Republican held a press conference Tuesday morning at her City Hall office, with dozens of supporters in attendance, focusing on the economy:
“Taxes and the cost of utilities are simply way too high. Young families like mine struggle every day to make ends meet. We’re losing businesses and talent to other states. We have no long-term vision of where, as a state, we want to go.”
Stewart says she engineered a turnaround in New Britain, where she took office in 2013, and she promises to do the same for Connecticut.
“When I took office twelve years ago, the city was also seeming lost. It was stuck in neutral, and it was drifting into decline. We were dangling perilously from a fiscal cliff. Community pride was nonexistent. Downtown was an economic dead zone.”
Stewart and her supporters say New Britain is in a much better position as a result of her leadership.
“Just look around,” says Republican Alderman Jason Gibson. “There was a lot of blight. There was a lot of undeveloped businesses and property. It’s just that whole vibe… it’s a new energy.”
Stewart recently announced she won’t be running for a seventh two-year term in the city where she grew up.
Asked what she would do differently than two-term Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont, Stewart responded, “Everything.” Lamont hasn’t declared his intentions for next year’s race.
A press release from the state Democratic Party proclaims the Connecticut economy under Lamont “healthier than at any time in recent history.” It goes on to ask, “What, exactly, would Erin Stewart do differently?”
Stewart is hopeful about her electoral prospects, in part because of increased voter support for fellow Republican Donald Trump in Connecticut last year, compared to his previous showings. He lost the state to Kamala Harris.
Stewart said she supports what Trump has done in one week since returning to office, emphasizing that she’s voted for him three times. She did not want to go into detail, however, when asked about the recent development of Trump placing a hold on many billions of dollars in committed federal aid. Democrats call the move illegal.
“We’re not going to go down the Donald Trump rabbit hole now,” said Stewart.
Filing paperwork with the state allows Stewart to begin fundraising. Saying she’s not independently wealthy and can’t fund her own campaign, she’s set an initial goal of $350,000. She says she’ll decide by this fall whether to go forward with a candidacy.