Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra is still up for reelection in November, but his name is not where he expected it to be on the ballot.
Segarra collected and submitted enough signatures to secure a spot a petitioning candidate. It was meant to act as security in the event he lost his bid for the Democratic nomination.
Luke Bronin, a political newcomer and former legal adviser to Gov. Dannel Malloy, soundly defeated the incumbent Segarra by a margin of 55 to 45 percent in Wednesday's primary.
It is currently unclear whether Segarra will continue his bid for reelection. He said Wednesday night that he needs time to think about the decision.
High-ranking Democratic sources told NBC Connecticut that Gov. Dannel Malloy spoke by phone with Segarra about the future of his mayoral run, but the details of the call were not made public.
Bronin said Thursday he respected the mayor and his service to the city, after previously paying for a barrage of television ads that attacked Segarra.
The new Democratic nominee said he would have left the race had he come out on the losing side of Wednesday's primary election.
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"I was going to respect the results of the Democratic primary either way. Obviously, I hope Mayor Segarra does the same thing," Bronin said. "He has said he’s going to take some time. I respect that. I hope for the strength of our city and for the sake of our city that we could all move ahead."
Malloy formally endorsed Bronin for Hartford mayor during a celebratory press conference Thursday. He said repeatedly that he respects Segarra.
Despite his personal connections to Bronin, he never formally endorsed either candidate in the race.
"Quite frankly, I’ve known Luke longer than I’ve known the mayor, and the fact that I stayed out of the race was out respect to the Democratic process as it was playing out in this community," Malloy explained.
He said he will continue to play an active role in Hartford as he has in many other urban areas in Connecticut. Malloy said no one should expect preferential treatment with Bronin as the presumed next mayor.
Malloy did say, however, he will not provide any additional state resources for Hartford's new stadium in the Downtown North development.
"I’ve made it very clear," he said. "I’m not the stadium guy."
