Newcomer defeats two veteran Democratic senators for convention endorsement for Hartford mayor

A relative newcomer to Hartford politics – Arunan Arulampalam – defeated two veteran Democratic senators on Monday night by wide margins at a party convention for Hartford mayor.

Arulampalam is expected to run in a three-way primary in September against state Sen. John Fonfara and former Sen. Eric Coleman – two longtime Democrats who are well known at the state Capitol.

Arulampalam won by a wide margin with 46 votes, compared to 21 for Fonfara and 10 for Coleman.

As a member of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee for the past eight years, Arulampalam forged friendships with many of the local Democrats who voted Monday night. Only 77 Democrats were eligible to participate in the convention.

“This is a statement that Hartford is ready to stand together,” he said in his victory speech. “We’re going to win in September and again in November.”

Fonfara and Coleman have been working behind the scenes to win the nomination against Arulampalam, a relative newcomer who has never held elected office but has burst into second place in the all-important fundraising race.

As the fundraising leader, Fonfara has enough money to be running television commercials in recent days on news programs on CNN, as well as WTNH-TV Channel 8. But many of those seeing the commercials live in the Hartford suburbs and beyond and cannot vote for Fonfara in Hartford.

In a contentious race, some insiders had predicted that Arulampalam had the best chance among the candidates. State Rep. Minnie Gonzalez, a strong supporter of Fonfara, correctly predicted that Arulampalam would receive the convention endorsement.

“I think he will,” Gonzalez told The Courant. “But John [Fonfara] is the perfect candidate. He cares not only for the South End, but the whole city.”

Gonzalez said she and her colleagues are already preparing to gather enough signatures to get Fonfara on the Sept. 12 primary ballot. Those who did not get the endorsement Monday night need to gather about 1,850 signatures of registered Democrats by the Aug. 9 deadline in order to qualify for the primary. Gathering the signatures has proven to be much harder than many observers believe, but Democrats say it is not an impossible task.

“We’ve done it before — for board of education, for mayor, for city council,” said Gonzalez, a longtime state legislator who has emerged victorious in many political races.

The winner of the primary is expected to be the next mayor because Hartford is overwhelmingly Democratic and has not had a Republican mayor in decades.

The race is expected to be close in an increasingly diverse city with a high poverty rate that is 45% Hispanic or Latino, 34% Black and less than 20% white, according to U.S. Census records. The city’s population peaked in 1950 at 177,000 and has declined for decades to about 121,000 now. The stakes are high as the city chooses its next leader at the end of the era of Mayor Luke Bronin, who is not seeking re-election after eight years as mayor.

Coleman maintains support in the city’s North End, while Fonfara is strong in the South End, and Arulampalam holds support in the West End and other neighborhoods. Fonfara’s senate district covers about 60% of the city.

The votes are so divided that Fonfara and Coleman supporters had said in advance that it was possible no candidate would win the necessary 50% of the 77 delegates at the Democratic Town Committee convention.

Hartford Democratic Town Committee Chairman Marc DiBella told the audience in an auditorium at the Fox School on Maple Avenue that the Hartford police were there.

“We have zero tolerance of meeting disruptions,” DiBella said. “Thank you to the Hartford Police Department.”

Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, who is not seeking re-election, addressed the crowd about his eight years in office.

“We went from near bankruptcy to recovery,” Bronin said. “We’d gotten a lot done, and there is a whole lot that has not yet been done. … Our city is a great city. … There are tremendous candidates running tonight. … In Hartford, we play politics hard. But when the politics ends, it’s time to move forward.”

Arulampalam

The voting came down to 77 people on the town committee, where Arulampalam has served for the past eight years and personally knows many of those voting at the convention. He said he has been talking to town committee members for the past year, gathering in their living rooms and describing his vision for Hartford in one-on-one conversations.

A little-known candidate, Arulampalam has vaulted near the forefront in the contentious battle. He is not a household name to the general public, but he is well known to key political power brokers and donors who have helped him raise substantial money for his campaign, including multiple Republican contributors.

Arulampalam, 37, and his wife, Liza, are raising five children under the age of 10, including four in the Hartford public schools. A former deputy commissioner of the state consumer protection department under Gov. Ned Lamont, he now serves as chief executive officer of the Hartford Land Bank, a nonprofit that redevelops blighted and vacant properties to turn them into affordable housing.

His deep contribution list includes well-connected political insiders from both sides of the aisle.

Fonfara

Fonfara, 67, raised eyebrows when he collected money from about 100 lobbyists who represent clients at the state Capitol. The contributions are legal, but concerns were raised because state law prohibits legislators from accepting contributions from lobbyists during a legislative session when they are running for re-election — but allows it when they are running for a municipal office like mayor.

Among the key lobbyists who contributed to Fonfara was former state Senate Democratic leader William DiBella, who gave the maximum of $1,000 to his longtime Democratic colleague. DiBella remains a key player in Hartford politics as chairman of the powerful Metropolitan District Commission, as does his son, Marc, chairman of the Hartford Democratic Town Committee.

Besides DiBella, other prominent Capitol lobbyists contributed from both political parties, including Patrick Sullivan, Stephen Kinney, H. Craig LeRoy, Kevin Reynolds, Jay Malcynsky, Linda Kowalski, Eric George, and Michael Dugan.

Coleman

A longtime legislator who became a judge, Coleman received the race’s first official endorsement from a political group in the city with the support of the Greater Hartford Progressive Democratic Women’s Club.

Compared to his two major rivals, Coleman has a higher percentage of small-dollar contributors and fewer of the maximum $1,000 contributions from well-heeled donors. Coleman is being supported by high-profile Democrats like former House Speaker Chris Donovan of Meriden and former Senate colleague Toni Harp of New Haven, along with former Rep. Reginald Beamon of Waterbury, former Sen. Gary LeBeau of South Glastonbury and former Sen. Frank Barrows of Hartford, who once ran for mayor in 2007.

Now 72, Coleman served for 34 years in the state legislature before becoming a Superior Court judge. He retired as a judge after the mandatory retirement age of 70, but he says he is not yet ready to leave public life.

Beyond the three most prominent candidates, city council member Nick Lebron, longtime candidate J. Stan McCauley, Tracy Funnye, pastor Renardo Dunn, Jr., and U.S. Army veteran Giselle Jacobs are all running in the competitive race.

Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com