The mood was congenial as politicians joked and laughed at a Tuesday celebration of the opening of a 154-unit affordable housing complex in New Britain.
Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat weighing a run for a third term, joked about the ease of building housing in Houston, which doesn’t have zoning. He spoke alongside Republican New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart, who has created an exploratory committee for a gubernatorial campaign, at the ribbon cutting of the building, which was funded through nearly $8 million in state grants.
Their easy banter and public comments Tuesday gave a potential preview of one issue that is unlikely to be a topic of heated debate between the two should they find themselves going up against one another in a 2026 gubernatorial race — housing policy.
Both politicians, who easily won the New Britain vote in their last elections, agreed their ideas on housing are similar, with a focus on local control.
“This is great for my neighborhood,” Stewart said, gesturing at the former homewares manufacturing factory behind her, which is now home mostly to families earning between $30,000 and $80,000 annually. “This is not good for a bedroom community that is home to two-acre properties and white picket fences. I think that’s what the argument is all about. When it comes to policy, you don’t want to take away local control from the people that live in those communities.”
Lamont has long adopted a more moderate stance on housing policy and spoken in favor of local control. He said he and Stewart have similar ideas on the issue.
“When it comes to transit-oriented we’ve been here,” Lamont said, of New Britain. “You have the FasTrak. We’ve done a lot of housing together along that [route].”
During Stewart’s tenure, New Britain has focused on building more housing and shops near its bus stations.
Lamont last month caused a political stir when he vetoed Democratic lawmakers’ housing omnibus bill, House Bill 5002. The sweeping measure would have required towns to plan and zone for a set number of units, removed some off-street parking mandates for smaller housing developments and prioritized state funding for towns that develop more housing near public transit, among other things.
Although the governor’s staff had negotiated the bill and previously indicated he would sign it, after pushback from local groups, Lamont sided with Republicans and vetoed the bill.
After the veto, another potential Republican opponent, Westport First Selectwoman Jen Tooker, who has already announced her candidacy for governor, said in a statement that Lamont’s veto was “a victory, for sure,” and criticized the proposal for diluting local control.
Lamont’s office is now in negotiations with lawmakers and plans to call a special session to vote on a reworked bill.
Stewart said she was among the local officials who reached out to Lamont to ask him to veto the bill.
“You have a lot of legislators who come up with great ideas for what may work for them in their communities, but it just doesn’t work in other communities across the state,” Stewart said. “And you know, Connecticut, we’re 169 different fiefdoms, and we have to be respectful of that.”
She said housing policy should be focused on giving communities the tools and training they need to develop what they want to see.
Lamont said his staff is working to “clean up,” and “clarify,” a few details of the housing bill, but declined to offer details. He added he’d like to have a special session later this month.