HARTFORD, Conn. — The Hartford Democratic town committee voted to endorse candidate Arunan Arulampalam for mayor.
"For this town committee to support me and to back me as the standard bearer of this party I think shows where the city is. That we’re ready to come together, that we’re ready to have one voice and one vision for our future," Arulampalam said.
Arulampalam is the CEO of the Hartford Land Bank. Monday evening, he beat the two other nominated candidates, state senator John Fonfara and former state senator Eric Coleman.
"I pretty much expected tonight to go the way it did and I’m looking forward to going forward," Fonfara said.
"The politicians have spoken, I’m very eager to see what the people will say," Coleman said.
The candidates are all vying to be the next leader of the capital city and are looking ahead to the next steps in the process to get there.
"My campaign is composed of a lot of hardworking, dedicated people. We’ve already been door-knocking and phone banking," Coleman said.
"I’ve lived in this city all my life and we deserve better city government has to take on the fundamental challenges of our city," Fonfara said.
"We’ve already hit the ground running, we’re knocking on doors, we’re talking to people one on one. I think we’ve got a ground swell of support out there and that’s what led to this nomination," Arulampalam said.
Current mayor Luke Bronin is not seeking re-election. He addressed the democratic party Monday evening, reflecting on his time in office.
"We’ve been through a lot over the last eight years. We went from near bankruptcy to recovery, to a global pandemic to a new recovery," Bronin said.
He also called for unity regardless of who the next mayor is.
"When the politics end, it’s time to pull together and move forward as one Hartford and keep the city moving forward," Bronin said.
Several other candidates are also running for mayor, including Nick Lebron, J. Stan McCauley, Tracy Funnye, Giselle Jacobs, and Renardo Dunn Jr.
---
Have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
----
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.