Marcia Leclerc Declines to Seek Sixth Term in East Hartford, Avoids Bruising Primary. Walsh Frontrunner to Succeed.

Five terms is enough for Marcia Leclerc, East Hartford’s Democratic mayor. Leclerc announced in a Wednesday letter to the Democratic Town Committee that she will not seek another two-year term.

Leclerc was expected to face a difficult path to re-election. She became the author of her own crumbling political fortunes when the Democratic-controlled town council learned last fall that Leclerc had increased her own pension benefits without informing members.

Michael Walsh, who served on the town council as a Republican and later served as a well-regarded town finance director, will seek the Democratic nomination for mayor. Walsh was expected to make the race whatever Leclerc decided, and many party activists were expected to support him.