Erin Stewart’s Day.

She’s in–sort of. It’s late to begin exploring a race for governor, but New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart embarked on the quest Monday. Stewart, who is in her third term as mayor, confronts a formidable fundraising challenge at the starting gate. Stewart will need to raise money at a recording-breaking rate if she’s to get close to collecting the $250,000 in small contributions to qualify for the state’s generous public financing program before Republicans convene in May to select a nominee for governor.

As candidates are discovering, it takes a lot of lists with plenty of names to reach–or fall short–of the $250,000 plus a buffer. The pattern has become fundraising in the year before the statewide election followed by intense wooing of town committees delegates once the money is in hand. Stewart will have to do both in the next three months while also honoring her commitment to serve full-time the people of New Britain. There’s also the task, common to each candidate, of explaining how you would address a $4 billion deficit a year from now or find a convincing excuse to avoid the question. So far, no one has been able to do either.