5 people, including 3 city council members, facing charges relating to Bridgeport ballot fraud case

Judge cancels Mayor Eric Adams’ trial and leaves corruption charges intact until mid-March

Suffolk Republican Committee nominates Chad Lupinacci for seat on county Legislature

Gov. Hochul won't remove Mayor Adams for now, but plans to increase oversight of City Hall

Latino leaders slam congressman after controversial citizenship comment

Mayor Adams continues to conduct city business amid scrutiny

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I'm Mark Sudall. Welcome back to Power and Politics. New Britain Mayor Aaron Stewart recently announced she is exploring a run for governor next year. News 12 Connecticut's Rebecca Saran spoke with her on mornings on News 12. Erin Stewart is the Republican mayor of New Britain, and she's currently exploring a run for governor in the 2026 election. She joins us now from New Britain with more. Mayor, welcome to our program. Thank you, thanks for having me on. I know this is not a formal announcement, it's a formal announcement of an exploratory committee. Part of that is finding out about your viability as a candidate, and that's money. So have you heard from key Republican donors about raising money for a campaign? Yes, so one of the reasons why I chose to file an exploratory committee instead of a full-blown candidate committee is because you want to see if, you know, your candidacy has what it takes to to be successful. Uh, I ran for governor in 2018. I've been mayor of the city of New Britain for almost 12 years now. I certainly learned a lot from the 2018 experience, and I know that I have to give myself a long runway to raise the money, uh, build support. And see, you know, if, if we've got, if we, if we're gonna get there and get and have what it takes. It's been very overwhelming thus far, uh, and I've been very pleased with the amount of calls of support and offers for fundraisers, um, that we've had thus far. So, but it's a long road, you know, I've given myself a goal of raising $350,000 between now and, you know, uh, later this summer. So we're gonna see if we can get there. Well, part of a race for a Republican governor is very difficult. Uh, last time we had a Republican governor was in Jody Re left office in 2011. How do you differentiate yourself and stand out? My former boss, Jody Rell. Uh, I, I had the opportunity when I was coming up in this world of politics, uh, to work for Governor Re very early on. I, I learned a lot from her. I admire her, uh, a lot. Um, but one of the things that I, I did learn from her, uh, was how to be an empathetic and a compassionate leader, while also, uh, uh, succeeding in And your mission, your, your values, and, and your vision. Uh, and I think that it's very easy for me to differentiate myself, uh, from the current cast of characters that we have in Hartford. Just based on my experience in an urban center in the state of Connecticut, um, my age, uh, and, you know, I think demographics play a big role in that. Just looking at me, I certainly don't look like a Hartford insider. That, that's That's for sure, um, but I know that I have what it takes to lead our state into the future, uh, and I know that I'll be able to apply all of the basic administrative principles that I've learned here and succeeded with here in New Britain over the last 12 years, uh, to really put our state back on the right path. If you were elected governor, where would you start? What's the the one thing you think is the thing that you would need to address right right away? You know, I, I think the affordability issues in our state is something that absolutely uh needs to be looked at and taken seriously. I think we've got a lot of lip service from our state leaders all the time, you know, about the band-aid approach. Oh, we're gonna, we're gonna fix this, we're just gonna, oh we have an issue here, we're gonna put a band-aid on that, you know, it, it's just enough with the band. A Band-Aid Band-Aid, we've got to look at affordability in our state as a whole, whether that's through electricity rates, whether that's through taxes, whether it's through the income tax, uh, there's so many pieces to this puzzle we need to make sure that people can afford their lives here um and that they want to stay here. We're never gonna grow if we're not prioritizing our own people. You know, as a Republican, would you seek an endorsement from President Trump and would you weigh in on initiatives from the Trump administration as part of your campaign? As part of the campaign, probably not. Um, would I accept an endorsement? Yeah, of course I would, you know, um, I've been, when I've been in office here, I've had the pleasure and the really the honor of meeting the last three presidents that we've had since, since I've been mayor, you know, I hosted President Obama. I've spoken to President Biden. I've met with President Trump before. In the White House these are are things that I'm I'm very proud of. I have earned a reputation here as a Republican of someone who has worked across the aisle in order to get things done. um, so of course I'd I'd welcome an endorsement and support from President Trump. um I'm generally supportive of what he's done. however, uh, I'm not afraid to speak up or speak out when I think he's in the wrong. So when do you think you're going to make a decision? You say you need a long runway. I know Governor Lamont has not decided or at least made public his decision whether he's going to run or not. Will you wait until he decides whether he's going to run for re-election or will you make your decision on your own timetable and that might be before him. So I'm, I'm the only person so far who's taken this affirmative step, you know, the governor certainly hasn't indicated whether he's going to run for, you know, officially or not. He said he's going to make that decision in June. Uh, I know that filing this exploratory effort, I'm giving myself from now until the fall. Um, I think sometime the fall of 2025, I will be making the decision whether or not we're going to transfer over to a full blown candidate committee or not. Um, I have full faith that we'll be heading in that. Direction, uh, but I've got to make sure that we're doing everything right, uh, and then some because there's no room for error here. All right, Mayor Aaron Stewart, thank you so much for taking some time to talk with us today. Thank you. I hope to be back soon. I hope so. Well, Connecticut's Linda McMahon is President Trump's pick to be Education Secretary. Her confirmation hearing was this week. She was answering questions in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. A longtime Greenwich resident faced questions about Pell grants and increasing teachers' pay. McMahon was also questioned about President Trump's stated desire to eliminate the Department of Education. Earlier this month, the president said he hopes she puts herself out of a job. Do you agree? let me just once again, get your, your feelings on this, that if there is a movement to abolish the Department of Education, it has to go through the United States Congress. Yes, it is set up, uh by the United States Congress and we work with Congress, uh, it clearly cannot be shut down without it. McMahon was previously Trump's head of the Small Business Administration, and she spent a year on the Connecticut Board of Education. Well, next, a ban on pet stores that has brought animal rights groups to Hartford.

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Animal rights groups packed the state capitol. They want to ban pet stores from selling dogs, cats, and rabbits. Store owners think the move could actually put animals in danger. News 12 Connecticut's John Craven tells us why. If you're looking for puppies, it's hard to miss the sign on Westport Avenue in Norwalk, Connecticut breeders has been open for a decade. We oppose House Bill 5112, but Monday, owner Gary Neoleman spent the day defending his business before state lawmakers. Our puppies come from licensed inspected breeders. exceed USDA standards, many of whom we worked with for over 3 decades. A new bill would ban pet stores from selling dogs, cats, and rabbits. This legislation is critical to shutting down the cruel pipeline from large scale breeding operations commonly known as puppy mills. Similar proposals have failed in the past, but recently New York passed its own ban. At least 3 former New York puppy stores, all with terrible records, have already moved over the border into Connecticut. But pet stores like this say they aren't the problem. The real problem, they say, are unregulated breeders and internet retailers. This bill will not stop bad actors. What it will do will be to eliminate the most transparent source of pets that provide consumer protection. And drive prospective pet owners to unregulated and unlicensed pet sellers. Back at Connecticut Breeders, each supplier is licensed by the USDA. Have you gone to these actual sites in Missouri or Iowa personally? Have I been to them? Yes, I've been to them on several occasions, and I do get to meet them. They literally will come to Connecticut. But will Connecticut ban breeders from coming here? In Norwalk, John Craven, News 12, Connecticut. And critics say the federal USDA enforcement is too lax for puppy breeders. A separate bill would give local cities and towns the option of banning pet sales. Well, that's all our time. I'm Mark Sudall. Thanks for watching.

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The candidates met at News 12's studios – Republican State Rep. Jason Perillo from Shelton and Democratic Stratford Town Councilman Tony Afriyie.

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The candidates met at News 12's studios – Republican State Rep. Jason Perillo from Shelton and Democratic Stratford Town Councilman Tony Afriyie.

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