Elliott Challenges Lamont Before New Haven Democrats
Progressive challenger Josh Elliott took his campaign directly to New Haven's Democratic Town Committee, attacking Gov. Lamont on tax reform ahead of the May 16 convention.
Josh Elliott brought his challenge to Gov. Ned Lamont directly to New Haven Democrats on Monday, telling a meeting of the city’s Democratic Town Committee that the governor protects “his friends” by blocking progressive tax reform.
Elliott, a Hamden state representative, made the accusation at the Betsy Ross Parish House on Kimberly Avenue during a DTC gathering that drew a noticeably smaller crowd than the one that turned out two weeks ago for Lamont. The timing is deliberate. The Democratic state convention is set for May 16, where more than 2,000 delegates will choose between Lamont, a two-term incumbent, and Elliott, a progressive challenger seeking the party’s nomination for governor.
“We have collectively built an economic model that is simply broken,” Elliott told the committee. “My contention for this race is that somebody who makes $55 million a year in passive, generational banking income is not going to be the person that solves the problem.”
A Smaller Room, A Receptive Audience
New Haven will send 74 Democratic delegates to Hartford for the convention. After Lamont’s appearance before the DTC two weeks ago, more than a dozen delegates told the New Haven Independent that they plan to vote for him. After Monday’s meeting, no one who spoke to reporters was ready to endorse Elliott. That’s the bad news for his campaign.
But the good news is that the room wasn’t hostile. Many DTC members said they found Elliott’s platform compelling, particularly his calls to increase taxes on the wealthy, expand the housing supply, and create a public option for healthcare.
Even Mayor Justin Elicker, who endorsed Lamont on the first day of the governor’s reelection bid, acknowledged the pull of Elliott’s ideas. “A lot of what Josh said tonight resonates with me,” Elicker told reporters, pointing specifically to Elliott’s push to reduce the school system’s reliance on property taxes, a pressure point for families across New Haven and the rest of the state.
Ward 18 Democratic Co-Chair Jeremy Jamilkowski was more direct. Challengers like Elliott, he said, “recognize that special interests, billionaires, and corporations have more say in government than the people, and some incumbent candidates play well in the sandbox of those interests.”
Sharpening The Attack
Elliott launched his campaign in July and has consistently framed Lamont as disconnected from working-class Connecticut. His criticism has sharpened as the convention nears, and Monday’s remarks were his most pointed yet on the question of who Lamont actually represents.
The governor, ranked the fourth most popular in the country, addressed the same DTC two weeks prior and pitched himself as a “progressive that gets stuff done,” citing his record on legalizing marijuana, raising the minimum wage, and expanding access to early childhood education.
Elliott doesn’t dispute the record. His argument is about what hasn’t happened. Connecticut still leans heavily on the local property tax to fund public schools. A wealth tax and other structural reforms that progressive legislators have pushed for years haven’t cleared the General Assembly. Elliott says that’s not an accident.
He also took aim at Lamont’s posture toward the Trump administration, calling for a louder and more confrontational response. “We are at an existential turning point in our nation’s history,” Elliott said.
New Haven DTC Chair Vincent Mauro Jr., who has endorsed Lamont, offered a careful read of the governor after Monday’s meeting. Lamont is a “steady hand on the wheel,” Mauro said, but he could afford to “get a little uncomfortable.”
That’s a line that probably fits both men’s campaigns on a bumper sticker. Lamont has the delegates. Elliott has the argument.
What Happens At The Convention
The May 16 convention in Hartford won’t necessarily end the race. A candidate who wins at least 15 percent of the delegate vote can collect signatures to force a primary election later in the year. Elliott’s strategy almost certainly runs through that threshold. His campaign needs to keep making the case in rooms like the Betsy Ross Parish House, persuading enough delegates to stay open to a summer primary before the convention vote locks in the outcome.
New Haven’s 74 delegates are a meaningful bloc, and Monday’s meeting showed that Elliott can move the conversation even when he can’t yet move the endorsements.