He’s Out. Dan Drew Will Not Seek Fourth Term in Middletown.

Dan Drew concludes a difficult run by announcing he will not seek a fourth term as mayor of bustling Middletown. If all had gone according to plan, Drew would have been devoting the end of the year to preparing for his new administration as governor. Drew was the first Democrat into the 2016 race for the state’s top office. He was ready to challenge unpopular Democratic incumbent Dannel P. Malloy. Malloy, however, abandoned the doomed notion of a third term during Holy Week in 2017. That opened the field to many other Democratic contenders.

Drew became embroiled in a series of campaign finance snafus–first reported on Daily Ructions–that made fundraising more difficult. He erred in hiring campaign consultant Geoff Luxenburg as his chief of staff in Middletown. Lines became blurred and resentments built in the hothouse that is Middletown’s city hall.

In January, an insurgent slate of candidates for the Middletown Democratic Town Committee delivered a humiliating defeat to Drew’s incumbent slate by a 118-41 margin. The silent coup was so successful that Susan Bysiewicz tried to associate herself with it after it ended in victory.

Since then, it has been difficult to see a way forward for Drew in the tumultuous Middletown political culture.