New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart wields influence in GOP governor’s race

New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart Photo: Jessica Hill / AP Photo/Jessica Hill Photo: Jessica Hill / AP Photo/Jessica Hill Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart wields influence in GOP governor’s race 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

Erin Stewart, the young Republican mayor of the reliably blue “Hardware City” of New Britain, is suddenly a commodity as a would-be running mate in Connecticut’s highly competitive governor’s race.

Both Mark Boughton and Tim Herbst, Stewart’s current and former counterparts from Danbury and Trumbull, have signaled interest in forming a political alliance with the third-term mayor at various stages of the campaign.

Stewart, 30, whose father Timothy Stewart previously served as New Britain’s mayor, said she is keeping her options open and hasn’t ruled out a run for the state’s top office herself.

“I don’t know how I feel being second best to anyone or how I feel about the current field of candidates,” Stewart told Hearst Connecticut Media Tuesday. “If I am going to be second to someone, it’s going to have to be someone on the same page as me. I don’t know if that person exists right now.”

A dozen Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination to run for what will be an open seat with the departure of Democrat Dannel P. Malloy, including Boughton for a third time. His previous candidacy for governor fizzled out in 2014 when he couldn’t qualify for public campaign financing under the state’s clean-elections program.

Boughton had been counting on pooling his qualifying contributions with his then-running mate Heather Somers, but just weeks before the state GOP convention, she abandoned the ticket to run for lieutenant governor on her own. Somers, now a state senator, won the lieutenant governor primary, but lost with Tom Foley at the top of the ticket in the general election.

This time, Boughton is trying to qualify for public funds on his own.

“I’ve had no discussions with Erin,” Boughton said. “I have much respect for her. I think she’s done a great job in New Britain and I wish her well in anything she chooses to do. Right now, it’s a little early. Certainly, Erin has had her own thoughts on what she would like to do.”

Stewart painted a different picture.

“He asked me about a year ago,” she said. “We had the conversation. At the time, I politely declined. But I have not heard anything since.”

Boughton said he and Stewart must have gotten their signals crossed and that the two discussed their political future over lunch more than 18 months ago.

“I wouldn’t come right out and ask somebody that,” Boughton said.

Stewart said that Herbst, who served as Trumbull’s first selectman from 2009 to 2017, has commented on multiple occasions that the two would make a good team.

“Has he alluded to it, most certainly,” Stewart said. “I know he has made comments to a lot of other people that he would love me to be his number two.”

Herbst said he isn’t ready to pick a running mate and is focused squarely on his campaign.

“I’ve told (Stewart) I would never let (her running for governor) get in the way of our friendship because I respect her as a friend, first and foremost,” Herbst said. “I have also said to her that given the fact that I’m 37 and she’s 30, that the state is ready to make a generational change in leadership. I respect what she has done and accomplished in her city and the contributions she has made to our party.”

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