Top 10 of 2021: #7 – Stewart Wins Big

Republican Mayor Erin Stewart had arguably her biggest win in 2021, with Democrats’ early signs of momentum not manifesting in the November balloting.

The election result meant Erin Stewart is now a longer serving mayor than her father, Republican ex-Mayor Timothy Stewart, and the reign of the Stewart-Republican political machine in New Britain has extended to cover most of a generation.

The Democrats showed early signs of political energy, with three determined candidates running for mayor — community leader Veronica DeLandro, activist Alicia Hernandez Strong and Rep. Bobby Sanchez (D-25). Whether that early momentum will continue into success in future elections remains to be seen, but it certainly did not manifest in the November elections in 2021.

Stewart not only won solidly, herself, but also swept in Republican candidates for nearly every office possible for one party to win in the election, on the Council, Board of Education and other offices.

As in every year, there was so much news that the New Britain Progressive covered 2021 that choosing our traditional Top Ten stories of the year is difficult. But the results of the city elections in 2021 was #7 of the New Britain Progressive‘s Top Ten Stories of 2021.

Stewart Wins Election for Mayor, Carries in Other Republicans

November 2, 2021

Republican Mayor Erin Stewart is the winner of the election for New Britain mayor, for a fifth term, while Republicans appear to have won every seat on the City Council except for the two representing Ward 3 and possibly one in Ward 2, and apparently every other office possible for them to have won.

Unofficial results from the Office of the Secretary of the State show Republican Stewart winning the election for mayor by 5,854 to 3,283 votes over State Rep. Sanchez (D-25).

Stewart also appears to have had long coattails in this election – with Republicans winning nearly every every office that was possible for them to win in this year’s voting.

Sanchez campaigned for Mayor on his plans, include reversing underfunding by City Hall of New Britain’s schools, improving the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and investing in economic development, housing and quality of life in all of the city’s neighborhoods.

Stewart campaigned on what she claims about her budget management, public construction and the two percent cut in the mill rate in the most recent city budget. Stewart also has claimed to increase local funding for education, but those claims have been criticized as inaccurate.

Stewart appears to have won in four of the city’s five Wards, with Sanchez apparently only prevailing in Ward 3. Likewise, it appears that Republicans also won in the Council Wards carried by Stewart, except possibly for one seat in Ward 2, as well as all five of the At-Large Council seats.

That appears to leave Ald. Iris Noemi Sanchez (D-3) and Ald. Aram Ayalon (D-3), and possibly Angel Segarra who ran in Ward 2 as the only Democrats left on the City Council, though results in Ward 5 appeared to not be certain and a recount appears possible in Ward 2. That mean that the Republican caucus on the Council would increase from 9 to 6 before the election to 12 to 3 in the 2021 to 2023 term of office.

Republicans also appear to have won three of the five seats on the Board of Education up for election – the maximum amount that they could win – once again returning the Board to an even split of five Republicans and five Democrats.

2021 Election Results

The following are the election results reported unofficially by the Office of the Secretary of the State as of November 3, 2021 at 7:35pm.

At one point, Democrats had three candidates lining up to run against Stewart and the Democratic nomination was settled in a September primary. Democrats have been frustrated over the years that 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.

But, in no past city elections have the Republicans’ wins been so complete. Stewart now has a supermajority of Republicans on the City Council and may have enough votes on the Board of Education to largely end its independence from her political machine.

However, the results of the election maintain the status quo for Stewart and Sanchez. Sanchez will continue to serve in the state legislature, as Stewart continues in the mayor’s office in City Hall. Rep. Sanchez will face re-election to his seat in the legislature next year, in the 2022 federal and state elections.