New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart is dropping out of the race for governor and will instead run for lieutenant governor, according to a Connecticut Republican Party official.

"When the numbers don't work in your favor, they don't work," Stewart said at a news conference.

The revelation comes as the Connecticut GOP begins its convention Friday at Foxwoods.

Stewart said she will use her superdelegate vote for Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton's gubernatorial bid, but stopped short of a full endorsement.

Stewart entered the governor's race in March, much later than the rest of the crowded field.

Her planned running mate, Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei, supports her decision and is dropping out of the race for lieutenant governor, Stewart said.

Stewart won her first of three terms as the New Britain's mayor in 2012 becoming, at the time, the youngest mayor of a city of New Britain’s size in the country.