Logan Dinkins, Contributing Photographer

On Tuesday, 14,895 New Haveners voted in the mayoral election, with 84.3 percent opting to reelect three-term incumbent Democrat Justin Elicker, according to data from the city’s Registrar of Voters.

Across the city, total voter turnout rose to 26.1 percent from 24.5 percent in 2023.

Elicker won handily in almost all of the city’s wards. His share of the vote was below 75 percent in just three — the Hill’s Ward 3, where he won 72.8 percent, the Annex’s Ward 17, where he won 64.4 percent, and East Shore’s Ward 18, where he won 56.6 percent. Ward 18 saw a higher share of its residents vote for President Donald Trump last fall than any other ward.

In a Tuesday night victory speech at Da Legna at Nolo, Elicker attributed the margin of his victory to his administration’s focus on crime, affordable housing, climate change and his commitment to “fighting back to ensure that we embrace our values and push back on a Trump administration that is attacking the very core of what we stand for.”

Elicker increased his vote share everywhere in New Haven except the Hill’s Ward 3 — which was home to a competitive alder race this cycle marred by allegations of misconduct — and Fair Haven’s Ward 15. 

Vincent Mauro Jr., who chairs the city’s Democratic Town Committee, said in an interview the night of the election that the mayor’s win was “a testament to people feeling like, okay, we’re still pushing in the right direction. Is everything perfect? No, absolutely not. But we keep trying.”

Overall, Elicker’s vote share was up slightly from 2023, when he faced Republican and Independent challenger Tom Goldenberg. Since he beat then-three-term incumbent Toni Harp in 2019, Elicker has won with comfortable margins. 

Voter turnout — generally low in New Haven — surpassed 30 percent in six of the city’s 30 wards. It was highest in West River’s Ward 23, which is represented on the Board of Alders by the body’s president. 

Turnout has risen slowly since 2021. This cycle, it was still down from 2019, when Elicker challenged Harp.

Turnout in Ward 1 — which includes eight of Yale’s 14 residential colleges, Old Campus and many University buildings and is sometimes dubbed the “Yale Ward” — dropped steeply from the Democratic primary in September. In that tumultuous and uniquely competitive race, 36.2 percent of eligible voters cast their ballot. In the general election, that figure plummeted to 10.9 percent. Elias Theodore ’27, who won the primary, was running unopposed. But he aimed to channel the excitement he generated in the primary towards getting Yalies engaged in the mayoral contest. 

“If you’re living in a city,” Theodore said in an interview the night of Elicker’s win, “you should know who the mayor is and what they stand for.” 

New Haven saw little shift in partisan affiliation from the 2024 presidential election. Wards 3, 18, 22 and 30 moved towards the right; all others moved slightly to the left.

Elicker’s Republican challenger Steve Orosco won 15.6 percent of the vote.