With a margin of over 1,000 votes, Lauren Garrett secured her place as the Democratic nominee in the 2021 Hamden mayoral election.
Hamden held its Democratic mayoral primary on Sept. 14. Voters had to choose between Garrett, incumbent Curt Leng and Peter Cyr.
“I was just overwhelmed by all the support, because it wasn’t close,” Garrett said. “That’s what I’m really excited about. We won by more than 50% in a three-way race.”
Garrett first campaigned for mayor in 2019. When Garrett initially ran against Leng, the Democratic Town Committee (DTC), a group of Hamden Democrats dedicated to serving the community, backed the incumbent because of his stature within the organization.
“It’s very easy after a loss like that to just kind of hide away and be done,” said Sean Grace, chair of the DTC. “Losses are tough when you put so much energy into it, but Lauren and the rest of her team…after licking their wounds a little bit got to work and started organizing and decided that we needed to make some changes on the DTC itself.”
In January 2020, all positions within the DTC were contested and brought to caucus. The result led to a shift in power that brought the group’s endorsement to Garrett, costing Leng his seat on the committee.
A new focus of the DTC is inclusivity. Half of Row A, the progressive group of candidates endorsed by the DTC, are people of color. Garrett could also potentially be the first female mayor of Hamden in 20 years.
“I remember, two years ago, reading some of the newspaper articles and you could see men were winning and now it’s women that are having their turn,” Garrett said. “It’s just really exciting that our town is going to be represented by a very diverse slate.
Not only did Garrett win her election, all 20 members of Row A won their race.
Cyr endorsed Garrett on social media for the general election on Sept. 16.
Leng has not stated whether or not he will endorse Garrett since his loss on Sept. 14.
The next step in Garrett’s campaign is the general election on Nov. 2. She faces Republican candidate Ron Gambardella and Independent Party candidate Albert Lotto.
“I think that the Republicans have felt very comfortable with the Leng administration because he is very much a moderate,” Garrett said. “I think for the most part Republicans are not excited to have a person who really holds on to Democratic beliefs. I recognize that Republicans are probably not excited that I won.”
However, Garrett acknowledges that Republicans in town have similar concerns to her and her supporters. Garrett’s campaign is focusing on a lack of oversight in the town budget. This will become a primary focus of the campaign going into November.
“We have to change our strategy a little bit,” Garrett said. “Our messaging is going to absolutely stay consistent, but now we’re going to be talking to unaffiliated voters and a broader range of Democrats … I’m … making sure that I have a good handle on what needs to be done, what’s currently going on and how we need to move forward.”