Elicker Endorsed By Working Families Party

Mayor Justin Elicker has secured a spot on the November general election ballot regardless of whether or not he wins Tuesday’s Democratic primary — thanks to the endorsement of the Working Families Party.

On Thursday afternoon, Elicker’s reelection campaign sent out an email press release about how the Connecticut Working Families Party has endorsed his run for a third term as mayor. The Working Families Party is an independent statewide progressive party that typically cross-endorses Democrats in an effort to promote policy goals around ​“fighting to reduce inequality and striving to achieve a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, multi-faith, egalitarian society.”

The endorsement comes less than a week before Elicker is set to square off in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election against former federal prosecutor and legal aid attorney Liam Brennan. Elicker is the local Democratic Party’s endorsed candidate in the primary election; Brennan successfully petitioned his way onto the ballot.

Elicker’s Working Families Party endorsement means that his name will appear on the Nov. 7 general election ballot even if he does not win the Democratic primary. Also running in November are Republican and Independent Party mayoral nominee Tom Goldenberg and unaffiliated mayoral candidates Shafiq Abdussabur and Wendy Hamilton.

“I am honored to receive the Connecticut Working Families Party endorsement. My administration is working hard to ensure that all New Haven residents have an opportunity to thrive no matter their economic status or which neighborhood they live in,” Elicker is quoted as saying in the press release. He goes on to point to as evidence for this claim the state and Yale doubling their annual contributions to New Haven; the launch of the non-cop crisis response team Elm City COMPASS; and the bringing online of 900 new and renovated units of affordable housing since 2020, ​“with 900 more in the pipeline.”

Connecticut Working Families Party State Director Sarah Ganong, who ran for mayor herself in 2017 in an effort exclusively focused on securing local ballot access for Working Families Party candidates, praised Elicker for showing ​“how a city like New Haven can become a place of inclusion and shared prosperity. His focus on building a city for everyone, not a privileged few, vibrant, welcoming, safe, and where everyone can thrive should be a model of what progressive leaders can accomplish in our state. We are proud to support his reelection and look forward to the bright road ahead for New Haven.”

At a candidate forum at the Yale Law School Thursday night that was hosted by the Yale Law School Democrats, Elicker was asked if he’d run in the November general election even if he lost the Sept. 12 Democratic primary.

“I am a Democrat. I’ve been a Democrat for all my adult life,” he said, ​“and I am proud to have received the endorsement of the Working Families Party as well. So my name will be on the ballot under the Working Families Party line in November. Should I not win the [Democratic] primary, I will be proud to be on the Working Families Party line in November.”

In answer to that same question, Brennan said he is staking his whole campaign on the Democratic primary, and will not try to run in November if he loses on Tuesday.

“I’ve been a Democrat my whole life,” he said. ​“My goal with this campaign is to win and to make real change here in New Haven. As a secondary goal, I think we can really shape the conversation here in New Haven and the changes that we want to see by shaping the conversation.” Looking at New Haven and how the city works today, he said, ​“I think that is best done … through the Democratic primary, and I have no intention to run if I don’t win the primary.”