Sam Gurwitt file photo
Leng taking the oath of office in 2019.
Hamden Mayor Curt Leng is running for another two-year term in the town’s highest office — and he’s doing so as a Democrat, even though he’ll be skipping the town’s Democratic convention.
Leng broke that news to the New Haven Register on Monday. He confirmed his intention to run for reelection to the Independent on Tuesday.
The three-term incubment mayor’s announcement comes soon before Tuesday night’s Democratic Town Committee nominating convention for this year’s municipal elections. The convention will take place at the Keefe Community Center.
Mayoral challengers Lauren Garrett, Brad Macdowall, and Peter Cyr have been vying for the Democratic mayoral endorsement for months.
It wasn’t always a given that Leng, who is a Democrat, would be running for office again under the party’s banner.
He told the Independent earlier this month that he was “leaning towards” running for reelection. At the time, he was considering the possibility of doing so through a third party platform.
On Tuesday, he informed the Independent that while he will officially run as a Democrat, he will not attend the DTC convention. He said that while he does not want to “disrespect” the committee, he believes the Chair and Vice Chair of the DTC are “acolytes of my former opponent,” Lauren Garrett, “and don’t represent the average Hamden Democrat.”
The candidate who receives the formal support of the DTC will have their name listed first on the primary ballot and gain access to the committee’s financial resources, among other campaign benefits. Those who are not endorsed by the DTC can petition to be on a Democratic primary ballot. That involves the acquisition of 946 signatures, which is 5 percent of the 18,914 registered Democratic voters in Hamden. Those signatures must be turned into the town by Aug. 11. Running as an unaffiliated candidate requires only 127 signatures, or 1 percent of the votes casted in the 2019 election, though those signatures are due a week earlier on Aug. 4.
Leng said he decided to run for reelection two or three weeks ago. He said that decision took a significant amount of “serious thought,” adding that “the pandemic is certainly not an enjoyable time to govern.”
But, he said, he does not believe the other Democratic candidates “match the same set of positions or values or experience that I bring.” Leng stated that Hamden voters deserve more options than the current candidates offer.
He added that the need to continue forcefully fighting Covid-19 and his desire to continue the progress he believes he has made concerning town finances and policing efforts were some important issues that informed his choice to seek two more years in office.
As for his plan to run as a Democrat, he said: “I’ve been a Democrat all my life and I don’t see why I wouldn’t return to the Democratic voters. It’s where my head is and where my values stand.”
In order to begin fundraising, Leng must file papers certifying his run with the town. As of Tuesday morning, the Town Clerk said he has not filed those papers. Leng said he intends to do so later this week.
Lauren Garrett has stated that she will concede the race if she does not win the endorsement, writing on Facebook that “a 3‑way primary would be very messy and could give us an outcome that is antithetical to a key motivation for the current contenders for mayor (i.e., removing the current administration from power and beginning to right the ship on behalf of all of Hamden’s residents).”
Peter Cyr has stated that he definitely plans to petition. Brad Macdowall told the Independent that he is keeping all options open.
If Leng wins, he will serve his fourth full term in office. No other mayor has stayed in office over six years.
He waited so long to announce with hopes of another career opportunity materializing. He does not actually want this job, he just needs the salary because he has no other options. His plan was to use mayoral office as a springboard to something else, but the results of his "leadership" killed off any hopes of a legitimate state-level position (elected or not).
And yet, here is hoping that someone, anyone at the state level will throw him a life preserver (job) merely to get him out of Hamden. Surely there must be some bureaucratic office job with no real power or responsibility that can be offered to him in the months ahead.