Bronin's campaign contributions far outpace mayoral field

Photo | Contributed Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.

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By Joe Cooper

Four Democratic candidates vying for Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin’s seat raised only a fraction of the $509,661 the 39-year-old incumbent collected during the first quarter.

State Rep. Brandon McGee trailed Bronin in the six-man mayoral field by a wide margin, raising just over $30,000 from Jan. 1 to March 31, according to city records. Meantime, TV station owner J. Stan McCauley raised $1,060 during the quarter and author and entrepreneur Aaron Lewis raised $250.

Hartford Public Schools board chair Craig Stallings earned less than $1,000 during the period, and was not required to report his earnings. The sixth candidate, former Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, also a Democrat who announced his candidacy earlier this month, did not report campaign contributions during the quarter.

Added together, the four candidates raised just over 6 percent of the total Bronin generated during the first quarter.

According to Bronin’s campaign filings, hundreds of donors, many hailing from outside Hartford, contributed the maximum donation of $1,000.

That list includes high-ranking members of New York's Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC, a prominent landlord downtown, including principal Bernard Bertram and managing member Benjamin Schlossberg.

Others who contributed the maximum amount include LAZ Parking CEO Alan Lazowski; Travelers Cos. CEO Alan D. Schnitzer; Travelers Executive Director Andy Bessette; Jay Benet, vice chair of Travelers; Connecticut Science Center CEO Matt Fleury; Charles “Chuck” Bunnell, chief of staff for the Mohegan tribe; and West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor.

The maximum donor list also includes Stanley Black & Decker CEO James Loree; The Bushnell CEO David Fay; Hartford Steam Boiler CEO/President Greg Barats; United Bank CEO William H. W. Crawford IV, city records show.

Many other notable donors contributed to Bronin’s campaign on a much smaller scale.

Those include former Windsor Mayor Francis Brady ($500); former UConn President Philip Austin ($150); and Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) CFO Benjamin Barnes ($100), who served as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget advisor.

Bronin, as of the April 10 filing, still had $443,852 on hand after spending $65,808 so far on his re-election campaign.

The primary election for Hartford’s mayoral race is scheduled for Sept. 10 and the general election is on Nov. 5.

Bronin is scheduled to submit his recommended fiscal 2020 budget on Monday at 3 p.m.