Erin Stewart

Erin Elizabeth Stewart (born May 4, 1987) is an American politician and the 40th Mayor of New Britain, Connecticut.

Stewart has raised awareness about breast cancer due to the death of an aunt who died from the disease in 1998 at the age of 51.

For the past several years, Stewart has served with Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman as the honorary co-chair of the Connecticut Race in the Park, a race held to raise funds and awareness for the Connecticut Breast Health Initiative.

Stewart is the daughter of the former Mayor of New Britain Tim Stewart, who served from 2003 to 2011.

Elected to the Board of Education in November 2011, Stewart advocated for a return to neighbourhood schools, greater parental engagement, and enhanced accountability measurements for teachers and administrators, while keeping costs down.

While Stewart served on the Board, the Board expanded Pre-K to all day programming.

At that time, the Board of Education also decided to outfit the classrooms with SMART Board technology.

After less than two years, Erin Stewart stepped down from the Board of Education to campaign for mayor.

She was elected to her first term on November 5, 2013, at the age of 26, to become the youngest mayor in New Britain's history and the city's second female mayor.

On June 6, 2013, Stewart announced her intent to run for mayor.

She was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Stewart ran on a platform of government transparency and accountability while promising to restore financial health to the city in the face of a potential State takeover.

On election day, Stewart beat the Democratic incumbent, Tim O'Brien, 56-44%.

Stewart was re-elected to a second term on November 3, 2015, and a third term on November 7, 2017.

Stewart has been considered a rising star in the Connecticut Republican Party.

During her 2015 campaign, Stewart received endorsements from the city's police and fire unions, along with Local 1186 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a union consisting of more than 300 city employees.

Stewart was elected to a second term on November 3, 2015, after beating both Democratic candidate John McNamara and petitioning candidate Alfred Mayo, garnering more than sixty-six percent of the vote.

She became the first female elected New Britain mayor twice.

Stewart's ticket, which was a "fusion ticket", consisted of registered Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

For the first time in 44 years, the Common Council had a Republican majority, accounting for twelve of the fifteen seats on the Council.

On January 19, 2017, Stewart announced that she was seeking a third term.

In her re-election campaign, Stewart stressed the importance of economic development and committed to completing the "Complete Streets Master Plan".

Stewart was re-elected on November 7, 2017, by defeating Board of Education member Merrill Gay 57.5% - 42.5%, becoming the first female mayor of the city to win a third term.

In March 2018, after much speculation, she entered the race for Governor of Connecticut.

However, her late entry caused problems with fundraising and accumulating delegate support, so she switched her campaign to one for lieutenant governor.

She then lost the Republican primary for that race on August 14, coming in second against State Senator Joe Markley.

Stewart's political career began as a campaign staffer for former Congresswoman Nancy Johnson.

Working alongside Congresswoman Johnson, Stewart worked directly with municipal political leaders for various candidates around the State of Connecticut and to develop campaign strategy.

Stewart interned for Governor Jodi Rell's Administration in the Office of Policy and Management, then in the Legislative Affairs Office.

Before becoming mayor, Stewart worked as a legislative aide in the Connecticut General Assembly.

Stewart was responsible for working on constituent problems for Kevin C. Kelly's state senate district of 100,000 residents and providing research to the senator on state laws.

While working at the Connecticut General Assembly, she was elected member of the city's Board of Education.

Stewart served as vice chairperson on the planning and budgeting subcommittee of New Britain's Commission on Community and Neighbourhood Development.

She is also a Justice of the Peace.

On April 14, 2019, Mayor Stewart announced that she was seeking a fourth term.

On November 5, 2019, she defeated Chris Porcher and secured another term.

On January 26, 2021, Mayor Stewart announced that she will seek a fifth term.

On March 14, 2021 after much speculation she announced that she will not be a candidate for Governor in 2022.

On November 2, 2021, Mayor Stewart won a historic fifth term to become the city's longest-serving Republican Mayor.

During Stewart's tenure the city restored a structurally-balanced budget.