The sound of another shoe dropping on Stewart campaign.
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Erin Stewart talks like she can deliver a punch but continues to struggle trouble taking a punch–a punch it would not have been hard to be ready to block. This week it is her grab for an unearned pension as she was heading out the door late last year at the end of her sixth term as mayor of New Britain.
When Stewart left and Democrat Bobby Sanchez took office, there was, Daily Ructions understands, a line at his office door of city employees who wanted to report practices and procedures that they believed were not what they ought to have been under the Stewart administration. Nothing unusual about that after 12 years in office.
What is startling is the trail Stewart seems to be surprised she left behind. She must have known some of the details of the incidents in the tax collector’s office. The Republican mayor appointed the Democrat as tax collector when the position went from elected to appointed in a 2023 charter revision. Stewart seemed unprepared for the report of an investigation that was announced months ago.
This week, the CT Mirror reported that Stewart tried to nail down a generous pension as she left office in November, though she fell far short of qualifying for one. The mayor of a city the size of New Britain is required to pay close attention to the pension plan and its costs. The annual contribution to the plan is a significant piece of the budget. Negotiating pension benefits is not an annual ordeal but Stewart must have been immersed it the details ofter in 12 years.
Stewart must have known Sanchez was likely to be shown the Stewart email announcing she’d done some calculating and ought to be qualified for a pension. But she was considerably short of the 20 years she has to have known was a qualification for a pension. Her response to her bid for a big benefit she was not entitled to has the look of a grift. Her response: Why wouldn’t I try to get it? That initial reaction has the distinct look of a grab and go untethered to the rules. The sort of insider dodge Stewart wants to appear to disdain as part of her “Something Different” campaign theme.
Stewart congratulates herself in the Mirror story for not seeking the full 20 year pension. But she did not serve close to 20 years.
Republican jitters over the two weeks of revelations will not be calmed by the six-term Republican’s Thursday video response. There’s no conspiracy. This is documents, not dirty tricks. Documents that are in New Britain’s city hall and on the minds of employees who may not have delighted in Stewart’s administration.
Republican delegates will have to ask themselves and Stewart if there is more to come. You leave behind a lot of emails, letters, and invoices after 12 years. What are the chances the most damaging ones are now in the public square? What’s the plan to immunize candidates for other offices if the revelations continue to flow?
Published April 30, 2025.
0 comments
Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment