Former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart is not just running for governor. She is envisioning eliminating the car tax, lowering energy costs and giving young people more opportunities in the state.
After leading New Britain for six terms, Stewart said she felt a calling to run for governor of Connecticut because of what she describes as a need for change in leadership due to an ineffective team that is not concerned with affordability.
“We have a governing class in Hartford who don’t live in our world. They don’t know what it’s like to sweat over the balance in their bank account. They don’t feel the awful dread of opening their utility bills each month and having to make sacrifices,” Stewart said. “There is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction and apathy among our residents that this is just the way it is in blue Connecticut. But that’s the lie.”
“We don’t have to settle for what is; we need a leader who can show us what could be, what is possible with balanced government, lower taxes, common-sense policy and engaged management that puts Connecticut residents’ quality of life first. That’s why I’m running.”
The biggest change Stewart plans to tackle in her first term, if she were elected, would be getting rid of the property tax on vehicles, though she also said she would like to get the state back on track and unlock potential for everyone.
“In my first budget address as governor, I will tell the Legislature that any budget they send me will include the elimination of the property tax on automobiles or they won’t have a budget at all,” Stewart said. “But the biggest change I want to see from my first term would be restoring the pride people feel in being from Connecticut. We have so much untapped potential and we need a governor who has the vision and the courage to leverage that potential and turn it into reality.”
Stewart said her experience as mayor of New Britain prepared her for the campaign because she has learned how to manage a government and lay out a clear plan for what she wants to achieve for the people she serves. She also criticized the administration of Ned Lamont, saying she believes it does not effectively manage crises.
“On the Republican side I’m the only candidate with the experience of having actually run a government and been accountable for it. The most important thing for any executive is to have a clear vision for where they are going, to clearly articulate that vision to their constituents, and to ensure that every decision they make is moving the state closer toward achieving that vision,” Stewart said. “For the past eight years we’ve had a governor who’s a nice enough guy but he’s an absentee landlord. He’s content moving from crisis to crisis but doesn’t know where he’s taking us. We cannot afford four more years lost to indecision and apathy.”
Stewart said her experience managing the budget in New Britain prepared her to oversee the state’s finances, particularly because she believes it is important to hear from all parties when trying to solve problems.
Stewart said she is aware that many young people, particularly members of Generation Z, feel Connecticut is becoming too expensive to live in and start a family. In addition to eliminating the car tax, she said she intends to pursue alternative energy policies.
“Getting rid of the car tax would be a good start, but there’s so much low-hanging fruit out there. Instituting a common-sense energy policy that drives costs lower will pay huge dividends for everyone, especially young people. Rooting out decades of waste, fraud and abuse is another,” Stewart said. “Creating the economic conditions necessary for businesses large and small to start, grow and thrive here will help fill the opportunity deficit that currently exists in our state and forces Gen Z to pursue their lives and careers elsewhere.”
Stewart said she plans to lower electric bills for residents by exploring alternative options for generating electricity.
“Increase supply by expanding generation options for nuclear and natural gas, keep more of the energy we currently generate here in CT instead of exporting it to our neighboring states, eliminate the public benefits charges from our utility bills, and hold the utilities’ feet to the fire to reduce the distribution charges that account for half of our bills,” Stewart said.
Stewart said she supports expanding renewable energy, specifically the New England Wind Project, but she believes it should not be the only solution and argues that it can harm waterways and farmland.
“It’s too expensive, too volatile and, ironically, too harmful to our environment,” Stewart said.
In terms of state cooperation with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Stewart said she believes it is best for the state to work with the federal government and not prevent federal authorities from doing their jobs. However, she acknowledged that there have been instances in which ICE agents have gone too far and said she believes operations should only be conducted in courthouses and other government buildings.
“I believe ICE made some critical and tragic mistakes in Minnesota and, as governor, I will do all I can to ensure that ICE confines their activities to detaining and removing criminals from Connecticut, not harassing or scaring law-abiding citizens simply because of their race, nationality or ethnicity,” Stewart said.
Stewart said she does not identify specifically as either a moderate or a conservative Republican. She said she sees value in both perspectives and believes that balance allows candidates to connect with voters.
“There are areas where I am personally quite conservative, and there are other areas where I have broken with my party in the past,” Stewart said. “I think that’shealthy. I don’t believe there are ideologically perfect candidates, but you can have a candidate that perfectly fits their state. And that’s where I fit in.”
Stewart said she supports a pro-choice policy on vaccinations and opposes Lamont’s initiative to mandate vaccinations and require coverage from insurance companies.
“I don’t support Lamont and his party’s aggressive move to mandate vaccines, restrict individual decision-making and remove the religious exemption,” Stewart said.
Connecticut has leaned Democratic in statewide elections for many years. Stewart said she plans to win the support of independent and Democratic voters by being open and genuine.
“I wasn’t able to win six terms as a Republican in a deep blue city because I pandered or changed who I was week to week or month to month,” Stewart said. “I won because I was clear about where I wanted to take New Britain, what our city could be if we all pulled together, and what I found was that success for New Britain didn’t come with an R or a D next to it, it came by getting people to work together toward a common objective.”
Stewart said she believes this is the true definition of leadership and that elections can be won by challenging the status quo and working to make life easier for residents.
“My party hasn’t fielded a candidate for governor since 2006 who inspired us to believe that we can have — and that we deserve — something better,” Stewart said. “We can close the education gap between our cities and the suburbs, we can have infrastructure that is ready to support growth in both residential and commercial sectors, we can be a leader in affordable and clean energy, and we can have a state that is an outlier from our neighbors in the Northeast for a lower-cost but much higher quality of life for all our people.”
