Stamford chose a Democratic state lawmaker over a retired baseball player as its next mayor Tuesday, but Republicans claimed significant wins by retaining top offices in Danbury, Darien, New Britain and Westport and flipping seats in Bristol, Colchester and Windsor Locks.
In Stamford, hometown sports celebrity Bobby Valentine waged an unconventional race against Democrat Caroline Simmons, declining the Republican line to run unaffiliated in Connecticut’s second-largest and fastest-growing city. The winner wasn’t clear until after midnight, when absentee votes were counted and Valentine conceded.
Valentine, 71, a former major league baseball player and manager, came close despite gaffes in the closing weeks, including dismissing Simmons, 35 — a Harvard-educated, four-term state lawmaker — as a “girl” who grew up in Greenwich, not Stamford. He also seemed dismissive of the renters who have filled the city’s new apartments.
“I think that unfortunate divisive language of my opponent has been offensive to me and to a lot of our city,” Simmons said as she campaigned Tuesday. “And so we’re bringing a more positive, unifying message about the future and what we can do to fix challenges in our community.”
Simmons had beaten the incumbent, David Martin, in a primary. She will be the first woman to serve as the city’s mayor.
Even as votes still were being counted, Republicans were in a mood to celebrate their first substantial gains since the election of Donald J. Trump energized the Democratic base and put Republicans on the defensive.
Dean Esposito’s victory over Roberto Alves in Danbury was close but outside the margin for a recount, an Esposito advisor said. Alves, a Brazilian immigrant, was trying to become the city’s first Democratic mayor in two decades.
“I’m very excited about what we’re seeing tonight,” said Ben Proto, the new Republican state chair. “We’re back in play.”
Bob Stefanowski, the 2018 GOP gubernatorial nominee who has been trying to measure whether Gov. Ned Lamont is beatable next year, posted a Tweet that made him sound bullish about a rematch.
He called the results a repudiation of the majority party on crime, on a greater parental voice in the schools and on taxes: “@CTDems have failed on all 3 & @CTGOP can bring it back home!”
Democrats made their own gains, winning races for first selectman in Avon and Simsbury. In Madison, where Stefanowski’s wife, Amy, is the Republican town chair, the GOP had hoped to flip the first selectman’s office won by Peggy Lyons in 2019. She beat Republican Bruce Wilson.
A coalition of Democrats and Independents also defeated Republicans in Guilford who built their campaign around opposition to critical race theory.
Democrats still hold comfortable majorities in the General Assembly, as well as every statewide and congressional office in Connecticut, and the GOP has struggled financially without office-holding rainmakers.
But Republicans feared further dispiriting losses. In Danbury, the first election in two decades without Republican Mark Boughton leading the ticket made the race a toss-up.
Esposito, the new-mayor elect, is a former Democrat who ran against Boughton in 2005 then became his chief of staff. But he had moved out of the city to Brookfield, a liability that did not prove fatal.
In Westport, Democrats failed to flip an open seat for first selectman in what has become a solidly Democratic town. Jennifer Tooker defeated Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport.
Less surprising was the easy win in Darien by Republican Monica McNally over Democrat Tara Ochman to succeed Jayme Stevenson, who retired after a decade.
Rep. Irene Haines, R-East Haddam, won the open first selectman seat in her town, a GOP pickup. Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, was unopposed for re-election to first selectman in his community.
Spared a threatened Democratic primary in the summer, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker cruised to a second term over Republican John Carlson in the overwhelmingly Democratic city.
Open mayor seats in two reliably Democratic mid-sized cities also stayed in Democratic hands, as Lauren Garrett defeated Ron Gambardella in Hamden and Michael P. Walsh beat Matt Harper in East Hartford.
Garrett had defeated Curt Leng, the three-term Hamden mayor, in a primary. In East Hartford, Mayor Marcia Leclerc did not did re-election after a decade in office.
Republican Erin Stewart easily won a fifth term as mayor in New Britain, making her the longest-serving GOP mayor of a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly a 4-1 margin.
West Haven’s mayoral race, roiled by the eruption of scandal over allegations of mishandled federal aid, appeared headed to a recount.
Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, a Democrat, has been on the defensive since a prominent city employee, Michael DiMassa, was indicted by a federal grand jury and accused of directing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a company he created.
DiMassa has resigned his city job and his position as Democratic state representative.
While official results were hard to come by, there was no wait in 43 communities where the elections for mayor or first selectman were uncontested.
