NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (WTNH) — Erin Stewart, the former mayor of New Britain, will fire the first major advertising salvo of the 2026 gubernatorial election when she begins airing campaign commercials this week.
The 38-year-old Republican is seeking her party’s nomination and to take on the popular Democratic incumbent, Gov. Ned Lamont, who is strongly positioned to carry the Democratic banner for a third consecutive election.New polling from Erin Stewart’s gubernatorial campaign shows commanding lead for former New Britain mayor
Stewart released three 15-second ads, each with a message more focused on Lamont than the two declared Republicans competing against her for the nomination — State Sen. Ryan Fazio and former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey.
“Erin Stewart here,” the former mayor says at the opening of one of the ads. “Lamont says our state’s fine. That’s BS.”
Two other ads hone in on energy prices and public safety.
“Our electric bills are insane,” Stewart says, clad in a UConn sweatshirt while addressing her young daughter. “I’ll end the public benefits charge and fire up Connecticut-made energy.”
The visuals of the energy-focused ad played to Stewart’s status as the only parent of young children in the race. Her UConn apparel was strategic as well. The ads will air during UConn basketball games and on Fox News Channel.
The crime-focused ad featured a familiar campaign motif, with law enforcement officers flanking the former mayor as she delivered a pro-police message.
“Hartford politicians think law enforcement is bad,” Stewart claimed. “But I don’t. Cops keep us safe. They deserve our respect.”
Coincidentally, the release of Stewart’s first ads came on the same day that Lamont was holding a press conference to roll out a new incentive program to recruit and retain first responders.
Lamont pushed back at the suggestion that the sweeping policing reform bill he signed in the wake of international outrage over the killing of George Floyd hinders the work of law enforcement. He also said he wasn’t too focused on getting his own ads on the air.
“Campaigns get going earlier and earlier and earlier,” Lamont said. “But I got a job to do. So, that’s what I’m gonna focus on.”
The timing of Lamont’s press conference was not the only coincidental development to occur on the same day Stewart rolled out her maiden campaign commercials.
Earlier on Tuesday, the City of New Britain announced its tax collector, Cheryl Blogoslawski, had been placed on paid suspension while an outside firm probes “years of alleged financial malfeasance.”
The city is now led by Bobby Sanchez, a Democrat who was elected mayor last year after Stewart declined to seek another term. The Sanchez administration released no further information about the nature of the allegations against Blogoslawski, who was elected multiple times on the Republican ticket helmed by Stewart. Since 2023, the role she’s served in has been an appointed one rather than an elected position.
A lawyer for Blogoslawski said his client vehemently denies any allegations of wrongdoing or malfeasance.
A source close to Stewart told News 8 that the whole episode has the “stink of political score settling.” Sanchez, the Stewart ally alleged, was seeking to purge allies of his predecessor from the government of a city that’s well known for its fractious politics.