Maya McFadden Photo
Mayor-Elect Garrett FaceTimes with her mom after Tuesday victory.
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Victorious Democratic Board of Ed candidate Mariam Khan and Council candidate Abdul-Razak Osmanu with Democratic Town Committee member Sana Shaw Tuesday night.
Hamden continued its progression to a deep-blue town Tuesday night as Democrat Lauren Garrett won election as mayor.
The race pitted Democrat Garrett against Republican Ron Gambardella, along with two write-in candidates: Al Lotto, who actively sought votes, and incumbent Mayor Curt Leng, who didn’t. (He said he wanted his name on the ballot in case one of the other candidates suddenly moved “to Pluto.” Such a move did not end up happening.)
The final count showed Garrett with 6,653 votes, Gambardella with 5,349 votes, Lotto with 278, and Leng with 57.
Click here for the official tally for all Hamden races, including district-by-district breakdowns.
Gambardella did win one of the nine polling precincts in town, District 9 (which votes at West Woods School), by a convincing margin, 1,238 – 680, and another, the First District (which votes at Miller Library), 445 – 392, and District 8 by 624 – 525.
Hamden began taking a pronounced deep-blue turn in 2016, when fellow Bernie Sanders presidential campaign volunteers helped Joshua Elliott captured a state representative seat from a veteran centrist Democrat. His supporters continued working on other campaigns in town, and winning, developing skills and a growing network of contacts. By 2020 progressive forces took control of the Democratic Town Committee. This year they amassed a racially diverse team of 10 candidates to seek positions ranging from mayor and town clerk to Board of Education and Legislative Council. They won all races, by close to a 2 – 1 margin, in the Sept. 14 Democratic Party, knocking out a three-term incumbent mayor and the old guard.
Garrett again ran, and won, with an extensive slate of progressive Democratic Council and Board of Education candidates, on ballot “Row A.”
Town Clerk-Elect Karimah Mickens with victorious Council candidate Cory O’Brien.
“Row A is so strong and amazing and talented and intelligent,” Garrett told supporters gathered at her home Tuesday night. “I know that we have gotten here together, and we will run this town together, and we will make changes to Hamden together.”