Martin Will Not Give Way to Simmons in Stamford Contest for Mayor.

Stamford’s popular mayor, David Martin, will decline to be steamrolled out of office, Daily Ructions can report. The two-term Democrat does not fear a primary challenge from state Representative Caroline Simmons. Martin has bucked the odds before.

Seeking his first term as mayor in 2013, Martin scored a stunning primary upset when he defeated William Tong, a local state representative who had made a bid for retiring U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman’s seat the year before. Martin was assisted by unpopular then-Governor Daniel P. Malloy’s endorsement of Tong. Malloy served as mayor of Stamford, eking out a narrow win for his final term in 2007.

Martin defeated Republican former lieutenant governor Michael Fedele in the 2013 municipal contest and was easily re-elected four years later.

Simmons, a Tong ally, has been telling local Democrats that she’s running no matter what Martin decides to do. Simmons’ who, according to Wikipedia, possesses an “energetic and refreshing presence,” might have been wise to refrain from trying to shove Martin out of the race before he’d decided to enter it.

The Martin-Simmons race will reveal whether or not Governor Ned Lamont cuts the cord with friend and fellow Greenwich cable mogul Steve Simmons, Caroline Simmons’ father and political booster.