2021 Stamford mayoral election

The 2021 Stamford mayoral election was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Democratic mayor David Martin sought re-election to a third term in office, but lost renomination to state representative Caroline Simmons. Simmons, who was also endorsed by the Independent Party, faced unaffiliated candidate Bobby Valentine.^[1]

2021 Stamford mayoral election

← 2017 November 2, 2021 2025 →
Turnout	41%
Candidate Caroline Simmons Bobby Valentine Party Democratic Independent Alliance Independent Party Popular vote 15,566 14,060 Percentage 52.54% 47.46%
Mayor before election David Martin Democratic Elected Mayor Caroline Simmons Democratic

Initial results indicated Simmons had a huge lead over Valentine.^[2] Absentee ballots swung heavily in Simmons' favor resulting in a 5-points lead over Valentine.^[3] Following her election, Simmons became Stamford's first female mayor.^[4]

Democratic primary

On July 25, the Stamford City Committee narrowly voted to endorse Simmons over the incumbent Martin, with 21 members voting for Simmons and 19 voting for Martin. Shortly thereafter, Martin declared his intention to continue with his candidacy and force a primary. According to the Connecticut Secretary of State, Martin was required to collect 1,550 signatures, 5 percent of the total number of registered Democrats in the city.^[5] Martin collected over 3,000 signatures, guaranteeing a Democratic Primary.^[6]

The primary was held on September 14.^[7][8] The ballot also included elections for the Stamford Board of Representative District 5, and Stamford Board of Representative District 19.^[9] Simmons won in a landslide, earning a majority of support in all of city's 20 voting districts. Martin conceded the night of the primary and endorsed Simmons.^[1]

Democrats

Nominee

• Caroline Simmons, state representative^[10][11] (endorsed by Stamford Democratic City Committee, won primary)^[7][12]

Eliminated in Primary

• David Martin, incumbent mayor^[10][11] (endorsed Simmons)^[13]

Declined

• Christopher Malloy, former member of the Stamford Democratic Committee and nephew of former mayor and former Governor of Connecticut Dannel Malloy (endorsed Simmons)^[14][11][15]

Results

Democratic primary^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Caroline Simmons	4,156	63.28%
	Democratic	David Martin (incumbent)	2,412	36.72%
Total votes			6,568	100%

Republican endorsement

The Republican Stamford City Committee endorsed Joe Corsello as its mayoral candidate. However, he withdrew from the race on September 8 and endorsed Bobby Valentine.^[17]

Withdrew

• Joe Corsello, drummer and retired police detective^[18]

Independent endorsement

The Independent Party of Connecticut endorsed Caroline Simmons for mayor in August 2021.^[19]

Endorsed candidate

• Caroline Simmons, state representative^{[a][10][11][19]}

Unaffiliated

Declared

• Bobby Valentine, former baseball player and manager and former Stamford Director of Public Safety^{[20][21][22][23]} Valentine's candidacy has increased outside media scrutiny which included coverage of Valentine accidentally uploading a Cameo video that included him not picking up after one of his dogs pooped in a neighbor's yard. Valentine disputed that he recalls ever having failed to pick up after his dog.^[24]

Fundraising

Democratic primary

Campaign finance reports as of July 17, 2021
Quarter	1st quarter (January—March 2021)			2nd quarter (April—June 2021)
Candidate	Total raised	Contributors	% who live in Stamford	Total raised	Contributors	% who live in Stamford
David Martin	$52,800	100	58%	$25,600	94	70%
Caroline Simmons	$158,000	484	33%	$81,600	420	60%
^[25]

Caroline Simmons

Campaign finance reports as of October 24, 2021
Quarter	1st quarter (2/11/2021—2/31/2021)			2nd quarter (4/1/2021—6/30/2021)			7th day preceding primary (7/1/2021—9/5/2021)			3rd quarter (9/6/2021—9/30/2021)			7th day preceding election (10/1/2021—10/24/2021)
Candidate	Total raised	Contributors	% who live in Stamford	Total raised	Contributors	% who live in Stamford	Total raised	Contributors	% who live in Stamford	Total raised	Contributors	% who live in Stamford	Total raised	Contributors	Total
Caroline Simmons	$157,688	484	33%	$81,619	420	60%	$35,695	67	N/A	$148,854	126	54%	$247,145	131	$681,751.49
^[26]

Bobby Valentine

Campaign finance reports as of October 24, 2021
Quarter	1st quarter (January—March 2021)			2nd quarter (4/1/2021—5/30/2021)			3rd quarter (7/1/2021—9/30/2021)			7th day preceding election (10/1/2021—10/24/2021)
Candidate	Total raised	Contributors	% who live in Stamford	Total raised	Contributors	% who live in Stamford	Total raised	Contributors	% who live in Stamford	Total raised	Contributors	Total
Bobby Valentine	did not file			$303,219	964	50%	$208,876	834	66%	$44,719	99	$556,814.21
^[25]^[26]

General election

Public Debates

Date	Location	Link
October 19, 2021	Ferguson Library	Full Debate-Prometheum Foundation

Results

General election results^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Caroline Simmons	14,886	50.25%
	Independent Party	Caroline Simmons	680	2.3%
	Total	Caroline Simmons	15,566	52.54%
	Independent	Bobby Valentine	14,060	47.46%
Total votes			29,626	100%
	Democratic hold

Votes by district

District	Caroline Simmons	Bobby Valentine
1	881	1054
2	463	405
3	515	365
4	455	359
5	431	86
6	713	493
7	592	425
8	543	567
9	455	236
10	633	404
11	803	646
12	637	497
13	1105	1228
14	935	772
15	897	736
16	1246	1057
17	879	861
18	984	1469
19	1158	1130
20	1241	1270

Notes

1. Simmons is a member of the Democratic Party, but can seek any party's nomination or endorsement because of Connecticut's electoral fusion system.

References

1. Gurciullo, Brianna; Valle, Verónica Del (September 15, 2021). "State Rep. Caroline Simmons defeats Mayor David Martin in Stamford Democratic mayoral primary". StamfordAdvocate. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
2. Dixon, Ken (November 3, 2021). "Valentine concedes Stamford race but GOP claims widespread wins". Stamford Advocate. Hearst Communications. from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
3. Gurciullo, Brianna (November 3, 2021). "A 1,500 vote difference put Caroline Simmons over Bobby Valentine to become Stamford's next mayor". Stamford Advocate. Hearst Communications. from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
4. Gurciullo, Brianna (November 3, 2021). "Caroline Simmons wins Stamford mayoral election as Bobby Valentine concedes". Stamford Advocate. Hearst Communications. from the original on November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
5. Gurciullo, Brianna (July 25, 2021). "Simmons narrowly wins Stamford's Democratic endorsement for mayor; Martin looks to force primary". StamfordAdvocate. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
6. Gurciullo, Brianna (August 12, 2021). "Martin hands in signatures to force primary against Simmons". StamfordAdvocate. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
7. "Simmons narrowly wins Stamford's Democratic endorsement for mayor; Martin looks to force primary". July 25, 2021.
8. "Who will Democrats choose for Stamford mayor? Simmons, Martin to face off in Sept. 14 primary". August 13, 2021.
9. Ruijter, Lyda. "Notice of Primary". from the original on September 10, 2021.
10. "State. Rep. Caroline Simmons to challenge incumbent David Martin in Stamford mayoral race". News 12 - The Bronx. February 10, 2021. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
11. Laguarda, Ignacio (February 14, 2021). "'I truly love it': Martin seeks reelection as Simmons challenges him for Stamford mayor". StamfordAdvocate. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
12. Keating, Christopher (September 15, 2021). "State Rep. Caroline Simmons upsets two-term incumbent mayor in Stamford primary; Sanchez wins in New Britain". Hartford Courant. Tribune Publishing. from the original on October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
13. Gurciullo, Brianna (September 15, 2021). "Democrats unite after primary: Simmons and Martin take aim at November election - and Valentine". Stamford Advocate. Hearst Communications. from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
14. Carella, Angela (December 26, 2020). "At least 2 Stamford Dems weighing 2021 runs for mayor". StamfordAdvocate. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
15. "Simmons outraises Martin by $100,000 as field for Stamford mayoral election could still change". April 20, 2021.
16. "Public Reporting". ctemspublic.pcctg.net. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
17. Gurciullo, Brianna (September 8, 2021). "Joe Corsello, Republican candidate for Stamford mayor, drops out of race and endorses Bobby Valentine". StamfordAdvocate. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
18. "Republican Joe Corsello - a vet, former cop and drummer - gets GOP endorsement for Stamford mayor". July 27, 2021.
19. Gurciullo, Brianna (August 20, 2021). "Independent Party endorses Simmons for Stamford mayor". StamfordAdvocate. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
20. "Home run: Ex-manager Bobby V. in mayoral race". ESPN.com. May 7, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
21. "Bobby Valentine Running For Mayor of Stamford". NBC Connecticut. May 7, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
22. "Stamford mayoral hopeful Bobby Valentine seals position on November ballot". August 2, 2021.
23. "OP-ED | Local Primaries Are Shaping up. But What do Voters Want?". August 3, 2021.
24. "Hometown legend vs. State rep. Who beat Stamford's mayor. Valentine, Simmons: Not your average race". September 25, 2021.
25. "George Bush, Linda McMahon among donors: Valentine outraises Simmons and Martin in Stamford mayoral campaign". July 17, 2021.
26. "SEEC Campaign Filing | Stamford, CT". www.stamfordct.gov. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
27. "Candidate list". stamfordct.gov. Retrieved March 21, 2023.