If Ned Lamont Runs For a Third Term As Connecticut's Governor, He Will Not Be Running Unopposed.
State Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, a liberal who recently predicted that Gov. Ned Lamont would not go unchallenged for the Democratic nomination if he runs in 2026, filed papers Tuesday creating a gubernatorial campaign committee.
Unclear was whether Elliott was committed to an all-or-nothing run for governor or a campaign to test Democrats’ appetite for an alternative to Lamont, whose centrist politics on fiscal issues are a source of tension with some on the left.
Elliott, who has called for a more progressive tax structure, said by text he will make a formal campaign announcement Monday in Hamden.
Elliott, who declined further comment, ran for secretary of the state in 2022, staying in the campaign through the nominating convention, then opted to quit and seek reelection to the House.
“I don’t think it’s an all-or-nothing,” said Rep. Anne Hughes, D-Easton, a progressive ally of Elliott. But she also cautioned against a comparison to 2022, saying, “I think this is a really different moment.”
Hughes said the party needs a more aggressive approach to a Trump administration that she says is promoting “a police state” and dismantling the social safety net, and there is a desire for generational change.
“The governor doesn’t understand the urgency,” she said.
Elliott, 41, a five-term state lawmaker, is the first Democrat to file papers creating a gubernatorial campaign committee. Lamont, 71, said last month he was seriously considering a third term but stopped far short of an announcement.
While I don't see Elliot as another Mamdani, the fact that two decades ago Ned Lamont was seen as a radical leftist and now is seen as a centrist shows how much he (and the Democratic Party frankly) has changed.
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