Thomas Breen Photo
Mayor Harp aboard the Amistad schooner.
Mayor Toni Harp has made her long-awaited decision: You can still vote for her in November. But she’s not asking you to.
Harp’s office issued a news release late Wednesday afternoon announcing that she has suspended her reelection campaign. Her 50 Fitch St. campaign office has been cleared out.
However, she has decided to leave her name on the Nov. 5 ballot as the candidate of the Working Families Party. The party endorsed her earlier this year but then announced it would not help her in the general election.
Harp, a three-term incumbent, lost a Democratic primary election on Sept. 10 to challenger Justin Elicker 58 – 42 percent.
Harp’s decision ends 15 days of soul-searching and rampant rumors about her political future after she lost a Sept. 10 mayoral primary to challenger Justin Elicker by a decisive 58 – 42 percent. Some supporters pressed Harp to fight on in the Nov. 5 general election . Others gravitated to Elicker’s general election campaign and stayed quiet while awaiting the mayor’s signal.
“I’ve been blessed – and remain grateful – for enthusiastic assistance from thousands and thousands of supporters, contributors, and voters and it’s been my good fortune – literally – to have the opportunity I’ve had to be mayor these past nearly six years,” the release from the mayor’s office quoted Harp as saying. “We’ve worked together to advance this city well beyond where it was six years ago and among so many accomplishments, I’m most proud of the partnerships and collaborations at the heart of them.”
The release said Harp made the decision “despite some inclination – and repeated and passionate pleadings from supporters – to continue.” It stated that she left her name on “so voters have an opportunity to vote for the mayor at that time, but there will be no active effort to seek voter support between now and November 5.”
“On one hand it’s completely counter-intuitive to walk away from all this progress and allow coalitions to be shattered that’ve been irrefutably successful, yet on the other hand there are simply too many practical considerations and obstacles to overcome for my team to effectively campaign for another term,” Harp is quoted as saying.
A spokesman for Gov. Ned Lamont, Max Reiss, confirmed late last week that his boss has been in discussions with Harp about coming to work for his administration.
“No job has been offered to Mayor Harp,” he stated. “The two speak often and the discussion about her future has occurred, but there is no job offer, nor a specific opening that’s been identified. Governor Lamont has a great deal of respect for Toni Harp, a loyal public servant with rich government experience, would could be an asset to the administration.”
“I want to thank Mayor Harp for her many years of public service and commitment to improving the lives of so many New Haveners. She has shown dedication, tenacity and compassion to the people she has served. New Haven is a better place because of her contributions.” Elicker stayed after the announcement.
Barrier Broken; Era Ends
Christopher Peak Photo
Mayor Harp.
Harp’s decision signals the end of a 32-year career as one of New Haven’s leading elected officials.
She reached a point in 2019 that John DeStefano reached in 2013 in his 20th year and Biagio DiLieto in 1989 in his 10th year as New Haven’s mayor: They were popular, unbeatable, for the most part, above the fray. Until all of a sudden they weren’t. Times had changed and voters wanted to move on.
DeStefano and DiLieto read the tea leaves (and polls) when that happened and packed it in rather than dive into a bloody last campaign to retain their seats. Harp, too, saw warning signs in an early poll. But she decided to press ahead with a Democratic primary that reflected a new era that requires crack digital chops and seemingly unavoidable two-way strong criticism in any competitive campaign.
Being on the receiving end of some of that criticism this month appeared to bruise Harp and her supporters most of all. They worried about her legacy.
They needn’t worry. They can just ask, say, Chris Murphy or Dick Blumenthal. Each of them became the target of a savage $50 million character-assassination media blitz when they ran for the U.S. Senate. No one remembers those TV ads and mailers now. Those attacks were forgotten pretty much the day after the elections. Murphy and Blumenthal are known for their records.
Similarly, this month’s primary campaign flyers, on both sides, will disappear from most people’s minds with the passing of the next news cycle. And Toni Harp will be remembered for the work she has done in elected office since 1987. As the alderwoman who wrote the community policing plan that transformed New Haven. As the powerful state senator who wrote laws and sent millions of dollars back home to support New Haveners most in need of help. As a mayor who rallied the community to save the lives of young people most in risk of getting shot and keep them in school, who tore down a despised fence separating public housing from a suburban town, who found creative ways to capitalize on a building boom to open a downtown music hall, fill in a long-vacant stretch of land in the Hill, create a state-of-the-art tech innovation center churning out jobs and new careers for New Haveners.
She will be remembered as New Haven’s first-ever female mayor. Thanks to the barrier she broke, many more will follow.