This story has been updated.

Gov. Ned Lamont filed papers Friday that create a candidate committee and make him an official, if still unannounced, candidate for governor, an anticlimactic start to a campaign for a third term as Connecticut’s 89th governor in 2026.

Lamont, 71, a Democrat who had left no question in recent months of his intention to run while lining up a manager and a campaign consultant, still plans a formal public kickoff, a spokesman said.

The creation of a campaign committee, “Ned for CT,” is a step allowing Lamont to begin making expenditures and accepting contributions, though the independently wealthy governor has largely self-funded his previous campaigns and is expected to do so again.

By state law, he became candidate at 1:20 p.m., the moment his papers were filed with the State Elections Enforcement Commission. 

Lamont said at a press conference Friday to outline a housing bill that there would be more details about the plans for the campaign next week.

“[Lt. Gov.] Susan [Bysiewicz] and I are ready to go,” he said.

Asked why they waited so long to file, Bysiewicz said they were waiting for municipal elections to end.

“We had some really impactful municipal elections, and we’re glad they’re over with,” Bysiewicz said. “The people of Connecticut have spoken very loudly, and now we can think about what’s next.”

Lamont and his staff had been more focused on waiting for next week’s special session, not the municipal races. The two-day session is expected to be over Thursday, pointing to a formal campaign kickoff the next day.

If the special session goes as planned, Lamont can begin his campaign with a revised housing bill on the way to his desk, a salve to Democrats furious at his veto of the version passed in regular session.

Lamont backed into his campaign for a second term with a similar filing Nov. 8, 2021, though he initially confused reporters then by saying the filing “facilitates” his getting into a campaign, but he’s got to “make up my mind formally in the months to come.”

Bysiewicz quickly clarified they were running at the time.

On the form he filed Friday, Lamont did not disclose if he once again will opt out of the state’s voluntary system of publicly financing campaigns.

The public grants for a gubernatorial race are $3.2 million for a primary and $15.4 million for the general election. Lamont spent $15.1 million on his 2018 campaign and $25.7 million on his 2022 reelection.

Lamont could face a primary. Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, opened a gubernatorial campaign over the summer, saying the governor is too conservative on taxes and spending.

The contenders for the Republican gubernatorial nomination are Sen. Ryan Fazio, 35, of Greenwich and Mayor Erin Stewart, 38, of New Britain. Fazio opened his campaign in August, and Stewart has been raising money through an exploratory campaign committee since January.

They have hinted at an intent to tap into a desire for generational change.

Lamont is the first Connecticut governor to seek a third term since Republican John G. Rowland in 2002 and the oldest to seek reelection since the 76-year-old Wilbur Cross, a Democrat, lost a bid for a fifth term in 1938, when gubernatorial terms were two years.

On Friday, Fazio quickly tried to make incumbency a liability, not an asset. He blamed Lamont for the state’s high electric rates, which preceded Lamont’s election and have continued.

“Gov. Lamont’s first eight years in office have seen Connecticut’s electricity rates rise to the third highest in the nation and our economic growth plummet to fourth worst in the country,” Fazio said in a press release. “Two terms are more than enough.”

Connecticut, which has no term limits, is one of only 13 states that allow a governor to seek three consecutive terms. Over the summer and into the fall, Lamont had been a running a soft campaign, holding events publicizing the state’s fiscal stability and economic growth. 

A month ago, he acknowledged in an interview he soon would have to have to shift to outlining a third-term agenda.

“You can’t sit around and talk about the past,” he said. “That’s for damn sure.”

CT Mirror reporter Ginny Monk contributed to this story.