Democratic candidate Lauren Garrett won the Hamden mayoral race over Republican candidate Ron Gambardella with 6,144 votes while her opponent collected 5,052 votes, according to the preliminary results.
“I want to say thank you to you all,” said Garrett at a celebratory bonfire with Democratic Town Committee supporters and fellow candidates. “This is not my win, this is all of our win. I know that I would not be here without you.”
As votes continue to be tabulated, Garrett spoke about the Democratic hopefuls in “Row A” and her goals when taking office.
“Row A is so strong and amazing and talented and intelligent,” Garrett said. “I know that we have gotten here together, and we will run this town together, and we will make changes to Hamden together.”
Garrett will become the 14th mayor in Hamden’s history and the first woman to do so since Lillian Clayman, who endorsed Garrett, was the mayor from 1991-1997.
Just before 9 p.m, Gambardella stood in front of his supporters at Devonshire Hall and conceded defeat to Garrett. He left a voicemail on Garrett’s cellphone officially conceding.
“We got our message out loud and clear, unfortunately, the people of Hamden decided they want to go in a different direction,” Gambardella said. “I respect their decision, nothing I can do about it, but certainly it’s going in the wrong direction.”
Of the nine districts, Garrett won seven of them, only losing District 1 445-392 to Gambardella and District 9, where Gambardella almost doubled Garrett voters with a 1,238-680 win.
Residents have lined up outside polling locations throughout Hamden all day to cast their votes. While voting for many elected offices, Hamden’s mayoral race was contentious this year.
Incumbent Mayor Curt Leng, who will be out of office soon, has served three full terms as mayor since 2015. He failed to secure his spot on the ballot as he lost to Garrett during primaries in September.
From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, voters cast their ballots and shortly after polls closed, candidates awaited results at their headquarters surrounded by loved ones and volunteers.