by Paul Bass The New Haven independent
Insurgent candidate Joshua Elliott isn’t convinced the governor he’s taking on is so popular.
Elliott, a 40-year-old Hamden state representative, has launched a challenge from the left to incumbent Gov. Ned Lamont for the 2026 Democratic nomination. An incumbent with a 63 percent favorability rating, among the nation’s highest.
The numbers don’t daunt Elliott — because he sees them as squishy.
“There’s a big caveat here,” Elliott said during an interview on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program. The caveat: In push polls that number drops once people hear that Lamont is seeking to become Connecticut’s second-ever three-term governor — after former Gov. (and then twice convicted-for-corruption) John Rowland.
The numbers also drop, Elliott argued, when voters are told that Lamont is “abjectly unwilling to ask his class, the wealthy, to pay more to ensure that we have fair wages for teachers who are getting fired here in New Haven. Our higher education system, our public education system, generally, is getting gutted because we don’t have nearly the level of resources we need, precisely because we have a backwards tax structure that the governor wants to protect because it helps his friends back in Fairfield County.”
Hence the core platform of Elliott’s campaign: Embracing progressive ideas Lamont has prevented the Democratic legislature from implementing. Such as raising marginal tax rates on millionaires. Or passing legislation to promote affordable housing. (Read more about Lamont’s veto of that law here.) Or passing legislation to enable striking workers to collect unemployment compensation. (Read more about Lamont’s veto of that law here.)
Elliott has championed those positions since his upset election to the legislature in 2016 with the help of progressives with whom he worked on Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Elliott is also calling for the state to take a tougher stand against Trump administration immigration roundups.
“For a long time, Democrats stood for the working families and people that have been historically disenfranchised by government. I think that Democrats do best when we go back to those roots,” Elliott argued. “We’ve lost our way. We’re fearful about championing the issues and the causes that really matter, the day-to-day expenses of living in our state.”
Elliott also called for soul-searching among Democrats who have — as prominently detailed in Ezra Klen and Derek Thompson’s book Abundance – presided over sclerotic growth, including of affordable housing, due to excessive regulation and roadblocks created to appeal to interest groups.
Lamont spokesperson Rob Blanchard emailed the following response to Elliott’s critique of the governor:
Over the last several years, Connecticut has managed to turn its fiscal house around. Rather than raising taxes, the Governor has worked to cut taxes for working families and the middle class. Connecticut has also built up a historic Rainy Day fund to guard against the economic turbulence coming out of Washington, D.C. In an effort to make our state more affordable and ensure every child has the best opportunity, the Governor successfully championed and enacted Connecticut’s historic childcare endowment, which will provide free childcare for families making less than $100,000. Additionally, addressing our housing crisis in a collaborative way that encourages municipalities to join in that solution is a priority and the Governor hopes to continue working with the legislature on achieving that goal. The Governor understands that we must build in these efforts to further address the cost of healthcare, housing and energy and looks forward to partnering with the legislature to continue that progress.
While dedicating his efforts to pushing the Democrats to embrace a more grassroots progressive agenda, Elliott said he’s also running very much to win the governor’s job itself.
Specifically, he’s aiming to win the Democratic Party’s nominating convention next year. He said he already has support of 15 percent of convention delegates. If so, he could probably qualify to then take on Lamont in a Democratic primary, even if Lamont wins the convention’s endorsement.
However, Elliott said at this point he has promised his girlfriend, and others, not to pursue a “Line B” (challenger) primary if he fails to win the convention outright, “because the quality of life that would be entailed.”
Click on the below video to watch the full conversation with State Rep. Joshua Elliott about his campaign for governor, on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.” Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of “Dateline New Haven.”