On Nov. 4, Democrat Adam Sendroff became the projected winner of the mayoral race. He will be the first mayor to serve a four-year term.
Sendroff became the Democratic candidate after winning the primary election in September, beating petitioning candidate Jameka Jefferie.
Current Mayor Lauren Garrett, also a Democrat, announced in July that she wouldn’t be seeking a third term, saying in a public statement, “I have worked very hard for the Town of Hamden and made many difficult decisions. Today I am making another difficult decision, to spend more time with my family and prioritize my wellbeing. Therefore, I have decided to end my campaign for Mayor.”
Since 2020, elections have increasingly favored incumbent candidates, so Garrett’s decision left the race highly contested, with no candidate seeking reelection.
Sendroff won with 8,518 votes — about 2,000 more votes than Garret secured in the 2023 election, reported by the Secretary of the State’s Office.
Sendroff ran against Republican Jonathan Katz, Green Party candidate Patricia Vener-Saavedra and petitioning candidate Jameka Jefferie. Before Garrett announced she wasn’t running for reelection, he was also planning on running against her.
Katz didn’t concede Tuesday night, with his team claiming he wanted to wait until all of the results were counted. He conceded Wednesday morning saying, “I plan to reach out to Adam Sendroff to congratulate him on his victory and wish him success as he takes on the important responsibility of leading our town,” he said.
Katz received 3,839 votes, compared to the 5,042 votes that former republican mayoral candidate Crystal Dailey received in 2023.
Hamden has seen a growth in the town’s long-term debt. Property taxes were a key issue for voters, both Katz and Sendroff agreed.
The town clerk candidates were Democrat Karimah Mickens and Republican Debra Rigney, with Mickens winning.
The Councilmen-At-Large section in column 6 of the ballot allows voters to choose up to four candidates. This year, the Democratic candidates were Tasha Hunt, Douglas J.C. Foley, Katie Kiely and Maurine M. Crouch. Crouch and Fouley were also on the ballot under the Working Families Party, respectively. The Republican candidates were Victor Mitchell, Thomas Figlar and Robert Anthony.
The winners were all the candidates in Councilmen-At-Large Row A.
Row A lists the Democratic candidates, Row B lists the Republican candidates, and other rows will include third-party, petitioning and write-in candidates. Voters are allowed to mix their vote between parties, and don’t have to necessarily choose the same party for every position.
While the constituents of the Councilmen-At-Large are all of Hamden, the Councilman position in column 7 is different, as the position is exclusive to respective districts. The winners, Sean Cardwell (District 1), Jeron Alston (District 2), Abdul Osmanu (District 3), Sarah Gallagher (District 4), Rhonda Caldwell (District 5), Grace Teodosio (District 6), Adrian Webber (District 7), Ted Stevens (District 8) and Tameeka Parks (District 9), will make up the district council.
The final positions up for election included the Board of Education. Voters could choose up to six candidates. The Democratic candidates included Quinnipiac’s Administrative Director of the Honors Program, Melissa Kaplan, who sought re-election for the Hamden Board of Education as Board Chair.
Nancy Edmonds-Hill, Christopher M. Piscitelli and David Asbery were the other Democrats running. The Republican candidates were Marcia Brown and Crystal Dailey. The winners were Kaplan, Hill, Asbery and Piscitelli.
This is the first election using the state’s new tabulators, more commonly known to voters as the “ballot box.” These new machines are more digital and include more features. For example, they can alert voters if they’ve overvoted or missed something on the ballot.
Quinnipiac alumni Thomas Peters ‘24 won the Treasurer seat in Durham as a Democrat against Republican Brett W. Eagleson. Peters won by only 27 votes. He will serve a two year term.
This will be the first “clean sweep” for Hamden Democrats since 2017, with the party winning nearly every race.
