With Gov. Ned Lamont seeking a third term this year and facing a primary from the Democratic Party's far left, Connecticut Republicans have high hopes of capturing the statehouse for the first time in 20 years.
Erin Stewart, who just completed 12 years as mayor of New Britain, recently announced her candidacy. It came on the heels of a similar announcement by fellow Republican and state Sen. Ryan Fazio.
In Connecticut, the GOP spells youth. Stewart is 38 and Fazio is 35.
"I am a firm believer in term limits. And while we don't have any here, I felt that it would be best for me personally, you know, to step away, put it in the hands of someone else, give someone else a chance," she told Newsmax in the final days of her sixth two-year term as mayor of one of the Nutmeg State's larger cities.
Stewart said that before she took office at age 26 in 2013, New Britain was not a city that was widely admired.
"New Britain was used as a punch line when speaking of dilapidated communities across Connecticut," she said.
"Today, they're talking about New Britain as a success story."
Stewart said people once spoke poorly of New Britain, but that it is now discussed more admirably because of her leadership.
Under Stewart's aegis, an eight-figure deficit was turned into a $7.8 million surplus by the time she won her third term in 2017.
"We had a Republican mayor and a Democratic-controlled council, and it forced us to have a conversation," the mayor told Newsmax at the time.
"It will work and perhaps send a message to Congress on how to get things done," she said.
Stewart has long described her philosophy as "fiscally conservative and socially liberal."
She says without qualification that she is pro-choice, and she has presided over several same-sex marriages.
In terms of immigration, the former mayor told us she favors "getting rid of the bad people, especially the criminals."
"But then I think of the hardworking families who have been on a work visa for however many years and still can't get access to become a citizen that they so desperately want to be," she said.
Stewart said of immigration policy, "So it has to be a combination of both, right? You definitely need to get the bad people out, and you also have to create a better pathway for those who have been here for a long time."
Stewart's major opponent for nomination so far is Fazio.
He pointed out he has been in the race longer than Stewart and that Stewart has faced criticism for having a diversity, equity, and inclusion policy as well as an increase in property taxes while she was mayor.
"Mayor Stewart implemented a DEI regime that called for implicit bias retraining of city employees and bragged about it as the first in the state to do it," Fazio told us.
"I believe that all people are created equal and should be judged equally, irrespective of their race."
Fazio represents Connecticut's 36th District, including Greenwich, Stamford, and New Canaan.
"I have won campaigns in a blue district against all the money imaginable," he said.
"And I have been the leading advocate for Republicans on state issues of consequence to voters, including cutting their electric bills, cutting their taxes, and defending local control and public safety," he continued.
"So I'm well positioned not only to win this election but, most importantly, to govern for the future."
Both Stewart and Fazio feel especially hopeful about taking out Lamont, in part because the governor faces a challenge from his far left in state Rep. Josh Elliott.
A member of the House Progressive Caucus, Elliott has said Lamont is "really weak on the issues people care about."
Elliott told the Connecticut Examiner that Lamont "killed" several popular measures while governor: a child tax credit, free universal schooling, and a bill to protect striking workers.
Elliott also favors the recently enacted proposal in Massachusetts for a 4% surcharge on individuals making $1 million a year or more.
Often likened to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Elliott told the Examiner that the new mayor "represents the progressive ideals, and he represents extremely hard work, and those are two things I'm aiming to emulate."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now. Mary Barnes is assistant to John Gizzi in Newsmax's Washington, D.C., bureau.
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