John DeStefano Jr.
John DeStefano, Jr. (born May 11, 1955) is the current mayor of New Haven, Connecticut. He is a Democrat and lives in Upper Westville, a neighborhood in New Haven.
A high-level aide under mayor Biagio DiLieto, DeStefano first ran for the mayor's office in 1989, after DiLieto announced he would not seek re-election. DeStefano won the endorsement of the New Haven Democratic Party, but was defeated in a Democratic primary by John Daniels. DeStefano ran again, successfully, in 1993. He has served six consecutive terms, during which his efforts have included a massive overhaul of New Haven's public schools, based principally on the magnet school model, and New Haven's selection as a federal "crack zone." Despite this progress, the crime level in the city remains high, with political figures of both parties throughout the state calling New Haven simply "unsafe".
In 2004, DeStefano announced that he would run for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Connecticut.
DeStefano is currently running against Mayor Dan Malloy of Stamford for their party nomination. He will face Malloy in an August 8 primary.
On June 30, DeStefano compared Governor Jodi Rell's proposal to combat violence in Hartford , New Haven and Bridgeport to the racist tactics of Jim Crow Mississippi. http://connecticutlocalpolitics.blogspot.com/2006/06/destefano-gov-rell-offers-mississippi.html
See also
External links
- New Haven Mayor's Office
- John Destefano for Connecticut - official campaign website
- Official bio on campaign website