Al Lotto: I am not and was never looking for a career in politics.
Independent Candidate Al Lotto formally withdrew from Hamden’s mayoral race on Wednesday morning, citing pressure from “important people in town” urging him to drop out.
Lotto officially qualified for a spot on the ballot on Aug. 4, after collecting enough signatures through a nominating petition alongside Independent party council candidates Jay Kaye and Dave Bretko.
According to Town Clerk Vera Morrison, both Lotto and Bretko have been officially removed from the state’s list of nominated candidates. Jay Kaye, who ran for Mayor in 2019 as a Republican, is now the only Independent candidate set to compete for an elected office in the Nov. 2 general election.
Lotto informed Morrison that he would be withdrawing at 9:50 on the morning of Sept. 22. About four hours earlier, he posted a statement on his Facebook campaign page, “Hamden Needs Lotto,” asserting that since launching his campaign he began “receiving many calls and texts from members of this community with venomous opinions of not only myself but my family members.”
“I assure you I expected this,” he wrote. “Let’s face it, that’s politics.”
“But my family has and will always be my first priority at all costs.”
Lotto, who works three jobs as a Hamden school bus driver, a retail worker at a Branford music store, and a day aide to an autistic child, had not released a campaign platform in advance of his withdrawal from the race.
In his social media statement he added, “I have no reason to lie. I am not and was never looking for a career in politics.”
Morrison said that Bretko also personally told her he would not continue with the race, though he withdrew directly through the state.
Now, the mayoral race is down to two candidates: Democrat Lauren Garrett, who won a heated Democratic primary on Sept. 14, and Republican Ron Gambardella.
As we already know, since Leng failed to frighten the voters with his ominous mailings about Garrett, Gambardella has taken up the "Law and Order" mantle/fear mongering.
So obviously Gambardella and his fellow Republicans would feel threatened by a Lotto campaign, especially given Lotto's high level of support via his Hamden Crime Watchers page on Facebook with its 5,100 followers.
Thus, the only conclusion to be drawn from Mr. Lotto's comments is that powerful Republicans have been leaning on him, and hard.
Given that the de facto head of the Republican Party in Hamden is also Chair of the Police Commission, it doesn't seem a stretch to imagine that…
Actually, I dread to imagine. What about you?
Ann M. Altman