Elections are currently held every four years to elect the mayor of Hartford, Connecticut.
From 1947 until 1969, rather than being individually elected, a mayor was chosen from among the members of Hartford's city council. Both prior and subsequent to this, partisan direct elections have been held to sleet the city's mayor.H. George Frederickson, Gary Alan Johnson & Curtis H. Wood, The Adapted City: Institutional Dynamics and Structural Change (M.E. Sharpe: 2004), pp. 145–47.Wendy L. Hassett, "Hartford: Politics Trumps Professionalism" in More Than Mayor or Manager: Campaigns to Change Form of Government in America's Large Cities (James H. Svara & Douglas J. Watson eds., Georgetown University Press: 2010), pp. 70–75.
Elections were originally to two year terms. On November 5, 2002, residents of Hartford voted to make changes to the Hartford City Charter taking effect on January 1, 2004, including extending mayoral terms to four years.
1935
General election result
Mayor-elect Pilgard died at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford (Saint Francis Hospital & Medical Center) on November 14, 1935. On December 3, 1935, by a 14-6 vote, the city council chose Thomas J. Spellacy to finish Pilgard's term in office."Spellacy Takes Office, Inaugurated Mayor To Fill Out Pilgard Term," The Hartford Courant, December 4, 1935, p. 1.
1937
General election result
1939
General election result
1941
General election result
Mayor Spellacy was also endorsed by the Socialist Party and Union Party tickets.
1943
General election result
Mayor O'Connor was also endorsed by the Socialist Party ticket. He received 22,970 votes on the Democratic Party ballot line and 195 votes on the Socialist Party ballot line. In July 1943, O'Connor had replaced Mayor Thomas J. Spellacy, who had resigned."Hartford's New Mayor," The Hartford Courant, November 3, 1943, p. 10.
1945
General election result
Turnout was approximately 59% of the 82,700 eligible voters. Mayor Moylan died in office in late December 1946. By a 15-4 vote, the city council chose Edward N. Allen to finish Moylan's term in office.William K. Paynter, "Opposition Ballots Given To McCook," The Hartford Courant, January 4, 1947, p. 1.
1947
General election result On November 4, 1947, the voters elected a nine-member city council in a non-partisan election. The council was tasked with selecting the mayor and city manager.Jack Zaiman, "Election Sweeps Charter Slate Into Office Kerrigan, Orsini, McCook Win Council Seats," The Hartford Courant, November 5, 1947, p. 1.
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
The 1979 Hartford mayoral election was held on November 6, 1979. It saw George A. Athanson win reelection to a fifth term.
Democratic primary The Democratic primary was held on September 11. Candidates George A. Athanson, incumbent mayor Nicholas R. Carbone, deputy mayor
Results The city's Democratic committee endorsed Carbone for election ahead of the primary.
Anthanson won by a large margin. The slate for the Democratic nominations for city council he had backed, which was regarded as the "weaker" slate by political observers, also won election.
Turnout was over 46%.
Republican nomination Hartford's Republican Town Chairman Joseph P. Mozzicato attempted to make sure no Republican nominee would run for the mayoralty, seeing the mayoral election as a losing race, and preferring to spend the party's money focussing on the City Council election. Registered Republican voters comprised only 7,000 of Hartford's roughly 140,000 residents. The Republican Party, however, ultimately nominated Michael T. McGarry. McGarry had previously been an unsuccessful Republican nominee for state representative in both 1970 and 1978.
Independent candidates William E. Glynn (independent Democrat), former mayor (1961–1965) Joseph Mazzafera (Independent)
Withdrawn Donna C. McDonald (U.S. Labor Party)
General election result
1981
The 1981 Hartford mayoral election was held on November 3, 1981. It saw Thirman Milner win election. The election made Milner the first popularly elected black mayor of a city in New England. Black people made up one-third of the city's population at the time. Milner defeated five-term incumbent mayor George A. Athanson in the Democratic primary.
Democratic primary Candidates George A. Athanson, incumbent mayor Robert F. Ludgin, deputy mayor and city councilor Thirman Milner, Connecticut state representative Johanna C. Murphy, community activist
Initial primary (September 8) Incumbent mayor George A. Athanson won the initial primary held on September 8, defeating runner-up Milner by a mere 94 votes. This result would ultimately be nullified in court.
Heading into the election, Athanson was regarded to be a well-liked figure in the city.
Milner's strong performance regarded as a surprise, outperforming polls and many expectations. One Hartford Courant poll ahead of the primary had shown Athanson leading Milner by a much greater 14-point margin (35% to 21%).
The result had largely corresponded to racial lines, with Milner performing well in the predominantly black North End (where he lived), and with Athanson and Ludgin splitting the predominantly white South End. Murphy had performed her best in the liberal West End of the city (where she lived). Athanson performed well in the South End of the city. However, he underperformed on the North End, and lost the West End to Murray. Milner performed strongly in the North End of the city, and had some strong performances in some parts of the West End. In the Blue Hills portion of Hartford, Milner routed Athanson.
Ludgin, elected in 1977 to The Hartford City Council as an outsider, had made many enemies and put-off many voters through his aggressive leadership style in his two years in office. Murray, a community activist, was a first-time candidate for elected office.
Unlike in 1979, the city's Democratic committee endorsed Athanson for reelection ahead of the primary.
Rerun (October 13) Voting irregularities in the September 8 Democratic primary led Connecticut Superior Court judge Douglass B. Wright to order a rerun of the Democratic primary to take place on October 13, after Milner brought a challenge to the court and city officials and Athanson agreed in court to allow a rerun.
In the rerun of the primary, Milner defeated incumbent mayor George A. Athanson, in large part, due to a very strong showing in the city's North End.
Republican primary Michael T. McGarry won the Republican primary. He defeated Donald B. LaCroix. LaCroix had been endorsed by the city's Republican Party organization ahead of the primary. LaCroix had a record of running losing campaigns for elected office. McGarry had been the more known figure of the two.
Independent candidates Robert F. Ludgin (Democrat)
General election Milner continued to receive strong support from the city's North Side, winning 90% of the roughly 9,500 votes cast there in the general election.
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
The 1991 Hartford mayoral election was held on November 5, 1991. Incumbent Carrie Saxon Perry was reelected to a third consecutive term, defeating a challenger in the Democratic primary, and running unopposed in the general election.
Democratic primary The Democratic primary was held on September 10.
Ahead of the Democratic primary, the city's Democratic Party organization endorsed Robert J. Jackson over the incumbent mayor Carrie Saxon Perry. Perry had gone against the city's Democratic machine and ran her own slate of candidates for City Council in the coinciding city council primaries, which ultimately prevailed over all of the incumbents they were challenging.
Republican nomination The Republican Party nominated no candidate.
General election
1993
The 1993 Hartford mayoral election was held on November 2, 1993. Incumbent Carrie Saxon Perry lost reelection to Michael P. Peters.
Democratic primary Candidates Yolanda Castillo, Hartford City Council majority leader Henrietta S. Milward, deputy mayor Carrie Saxon Perry, incumbent mayor Michael P. Peters, firefighter
Results Incumbent mayor Carrie Saxon Perry won renomination, carrying a plurality, with 35% of the vote, defeating three opponents. She carried 10 of the 27 precincts for the election. Her margin of victory over runner-up Peters was roughly 700 votes. Turnout comprised roughly 35% of the city's registered Democrats.
Peters was a firefighter who had previously considered an independent run for mayor in the 1991 mayoral general election, but was dissuaded that year after Perry won that year's Democratic primary by a significant margin.
Republican nomination The Republican Party nominated no candidate.
Petitioning candidates Kennth A. Mink (Independent) Michael P. Peters, firefighter (Democrat) Nora Wyatt Jr., reverend (Independent)
General election Facing the strong prospect of a loss to Peters, a white candidate, the black Perry brought in several notable black national political figures, such as Carol Moseley Braun and Jesse Jackson, to endorse her. Perry's supporters, at a rally featuring Jackson, distributed flyers which implied that Peters would undo the last decade of progress for the city's black populace.
Perry also received endorsements from mayors of other Connecticut municipalities, such as Bridgeport's Joseph Ganim, New Haven's John C. Daniels and West Haven's Richard Borer. She also received the endorsement of John DeStefano Jr., the Democratic nominee in the coinciding New Haven mayoral election.
While Perry and her supporters adopted the tactic of attacking Peters, Peters largely went without even mentioning Perry, instead focusing on promoting his proposals for the city.
Peters unseated Perry, becoming the first independent to become mayor of Hartford since at least 1953.
Peters benefited from strong support and turnout among the city's white electorate. Turnout in the city's white South End wards averaged 60%, while the citywide turnout only averaged 45%. In the three most predominantly white precincts on the city's South End, Peters won 90% of the vote. Peters also received more support in precincts located in the predominantly black North End than most white candidates had managed to receive there in election over the previous decade, receiving roughly 20% of the vote in those precincts.
Peters carried 19 districts. Perry carried 8 voting districts, most of them being in the North Side.
1995
The 1995 Hartford mayoral election was held on November 7, 1995. Incumbent Michael P. Peters was reelected.
Democratic primary Incumbent mayor Michael P. Peters defeated city councilwoman Elizabeth Horton Sheff in the Democratic primary.
Republican nomination The Republican Party nominated no candidate.
Petitioning candidates Elizabeth Horton Sheff (Democrat), city councilwoman
General election
1997
The 1997 Hartford mayoral election was held on November 4, 1997. Incumbent Michael P. Peters won reelection to a third term.
Democratic nomination For only the second time in two decades, Hartford did not have a competitive Democratic primary. Activist Kenneth Mink, who had been an announced challenger of incumbent Mike Peters, failed to file on time the proper forms to run against him in the Democratic primary. The last two times that there had been no competitive primary for the Democratic mayoral nomination were 1989 and 1977.
Republican nomination The Republican Party nominated no candidate.
Other parties The Pro Hartford Party opted against running a candidate.
Petitioning candidates Kenneth Mink, activist and 1993 mayoral candidate
General election Michael P. Peters received the endorsement of the Hartford Courant.
Michael P. Peters won every precinct in the city.
1999
The 1999 Hartford mayoral election was held on November 1, 1999. Democrat Michael P. Peters won reelection to a fourth term.
Democratic primary