Copyright Hartford Courant
Connecticut turned deeper blue this week as Democrats gained control of 29 additional towns across the state, prompting politicians to look forward to the next battleground of Congressional elections in 2026. The impact, officials said, will be felt largely on a town by town basis in the 169 municipalities across Connecticut, rather than in any bold statewide shifts that come only with changes in the presidency, governorship, and state legislature. Before Tuesday’s election, Democrats controlled 73 towns at the mayor and first selectman level, compared to 92 for Republicans. Now, Democrats will control 102 of the 169 cities and towns, officials said. In Gov. Ned Lamont’s hometown of Greenwich, the local finance board flipped to Democratic control — a rarity in the affluent Fairfield County suburb. “We flipped 29 seats. That is remarkable,” Democratic state chairman Roberto Alves told reporters in the state Capitol press room. “That is historic. … We had moderate candidates. We had progressive candidates. We are the big-tent party. … We flipped seats like Ansonia, but then we win places like Stratford. We flipped New Britain. So when [Republican gubernatorial candidate] Erin Stewart’s handpicked successor doesn’t win and Mayor-elect Bobby Sanchez does, it sends a message across our state.” President Donald J. Trump was a key factor in prompting Connecticut Democrats to be energized in a low-turnout, off-year election, and Trump himself said Republicans lost due to his name not being on the ballot and the fallout of the ongoing federal government shutdown that has lasted 35 days. The first electoral tests of Trump’s second term energized Democrats, and Democrats believe that the ongoing momentum will allow them to recapture the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026. They say that Democrats will continue to be fired up by the policies and statements of Trump. “Obviously, there was a lot of underlying concern about the dysfunction in Washington, D.C., the chaos in Washington, D.C., and just a certain sense that Connecticut is a bit of a safe harbor compared to what’s going on there,” Lamont told reporters Wednesday. “But more importantly, it was just the sense of the kitchen-table issues, taking care of people’s needs.” But state Republican chairman Ben Proto said that this year’s results are not an indication of what might happen in 2026. Instead, he said that Tuesday’s battles were fought over local issues on a local basis rather than on major national issues. “Look, if they think they can take what happened in 2025 and extrapolate it to 2026, they’re crazy,” Proto told The Courant in an interview. “The world is going to be a very different place in just a few months. The [federal government] shutdown is … going to eventually resolve itself. … The media are not going to be talking about the 2025 shutdown in August and September of 2026. So that’s not going to be on anybody’s radar.” For example, Proto said that Stratford’s two-term Republican mayor, Laura Hoydick, lost because of local issues after both the police and fire departments endorsed her Democratic opponent, David Chess. “She had taken a strong stance on their contracts and particularly their pensions,” Proto said, adding that national issues were not a key factor in the result. Mamdani in New York The highest-profile victory on Tuesday came in New York City where Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani defeated former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who represented the Old Guard of the Democratic Party and was part of a longtime dynasty dating back more than four decades to his father, former New York governor Mario Cuomo. Lamont said recently that he will be dealing with Mamdani after he takes office because of Manhattan’s close economic ties with lower Fairfield County. “Look, New York’s success is our success. It’s the global financial capital of the world,” said Lamont, whose Greenwich hometown is an epicenter for commuters to Wall Street and hedge funds that remain closer to home. “I look forward to working with Mayor Mamdani and seeing how we can work together. … Just calm down. Everybody overreacts. Let’s see how things sort out over the next few months.” Lamont also recently told CNN that running a highly effective campaign is far different from managing one of the greatest cities in the world. “Governing is hard,” Lamont said on CNN. “So, we’ve got to think about the next step, how you govern New York City. Govern, you know, 250,000 employees, $120 billion budget. So, they’ve got to think about that as well.” Lamont added, “Is he a mayor who can govern? Part of that’s going to be reaching out to the business community and Wall Street and say, ‘I’m here, you know, to fight for all the people. I know how important you are to the city. But, by the way, I’m doing everything I can to make sure life is a little more affordable for our working families.’ ” In his election night speech, Mamdani doubled down in his challenges to Trump and showed no signs of backing down. Repeating that he is a socialist, Mamdani said, “I refuse to apologize for any of this.” Former state Democratic chairman John F. Droney, an attorney who has been following politics for decades, said that Trump was a key factor in generating the Democratic turnout. “It was obviously a big night for Democratic candidates, mainly because of all the stuff that Trump has been doing that has been aggravating and making everybody furious – and they got out and voted,” Droney said in an interview. “However, if I was running the Democratic Party, I’d be happy, but I would be worried because the underlying problems that people have rejected the Democratic brand for still exist and will appear again and will affect elections in the future.” He added that Democrats have to continue cultivating the working-class base that has traditionally voted for the party, but some have broken off recently and voted for Trump. “They’re working every day for a living and are worried about the dollar in their pocketbook,” Droney said. “They’re not critical of the military or the police. They like both groups there. Until we find a way to put those groups together, we’re still going to be in trouble.” Socialists in CT Besides the high-profile win by Mamdani, Democratic socialists in Connecticut won four races across the state. Those elected include Nate Simpson on the New Britain board of aldermen, Adbul Osmanu and Maurine Crouch on the Hamden town council and Jeff Hart on the New London city council. The Democratic Socialists say they now have 900 members in Connecticut, along with 90,000 members nationally, that the group called “an unprecedentedly expanding movement for democratic socialism” on a nationwide basis. “The democratic socialist movement prepared me to be the principled elected official I am today,” Osmanu said. “Being a Democratic Socialist means not only calling out the ruthless capitalist system that strips us of our wages and our dignity; but also means being accountable to the organized working class and the principles of working class liberation.” The Democratic sweep was virtually complete. While Republicans maintained their advantage in various strongholds, several Republicans said they could not name a single Republican who had unseated a Democratic incumbent in a key race this week. When asked by a veteran reporter for his thoughts on “the move to the left” in the election results, Lamont backed away from the characterization. “What’s the move to the left? I mean, I saw two women get elected as governor in New Jersey and Virginia,” Lamont said before the reporter clarified that he was asking about Connecticut. “I’m not sure it was a move to the left or a move to the right. I think you had solid, strong Democrats who are going to lead their towns in a way that people felt comfortable with — holding the line on taxes and making investments in education.” Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com
