A 2026 Preview? Bysiewicz and Stewart release videos.
A tale of two videos on this first Friday of the year.
In the first, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, veteran of ten statewide campaigns since 1998, uses a prop to wish Governor Ned Lamont. That Bysiewicz used X to extend her birthday wishes suggests the widespread belief that Lamont and Bysiewicz have little direct contact. Bysiewicz has been known to suggest to fellow Democrats that they urge the 71 year old governor to take a bow and make way for the Middletown Democrat to mount her fourth campaign (2006, 2010, 2018) for governor.
Bysiewicz ends the mercifully brief video birthday card with a prop.
Erin Stewart, who spent the Christmas holiday contemplating a 2026 run for governor, released her first narrative introductory video Friday. Stewart, in her sixth and final term as mayor of New Britain, initially promoted it as a Netflix production in the run-up to its debut. It has no connection to Netflix.
The 11 1/2 minute video includes annotations explaining some Stewart references. The content is an extended recollection of a hostile encounter Stewart had with the city’s deputy mayor in her first term. Viewers will recall that Stewart won a stunning victory in 2013 at the age of 26. She ran unsuccessfully for governor and lieutenant governor in 2018.
Stewart’s unscripted tale includes details of the deputy mayor’s alcohol-fueled rant. She says she offered to have the city pay for him to go to rehabilitation.
And then Stewart, who sprinkles her trade mark foul language throughout the video, spoils it all by including a video of a news story of the encounter, which in professional hands took only a few moments to tell, with the revelation that from the deputy mayor that he had tried to apologize to Stewart but received no response from her.
If, as Stewart says in her monologue, she wanted to help a guy who has just attended his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, wouldn’t she at least listen to his apology, pretend to accept it and wish him well in recovery? The ending feels like it not only misses the point it reflects badly indeed on her.
An own goal from someone Republicans like and have high hopes for in 2026.
Published January 3, 2024.
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