Justin Elicker

Elicker was born in New York City and raised in New Canaan, Connecticut. He attended Middlebury College as an undergraduate.{{cite news |last1=Holahan |first1=David |title=JUSTIN ELICKER: Another Run For Political Office Is 'Very Much On The Table' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151321389/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=28 August 2016 |pages=P24}} Elicker worked as an elementary and high school teacher and as a diplomat, spending five years working in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Washington for the State Department.{{cite news |last1=Keating |first1=Christopher |title=New Haven's New Course\ Sharp Contrasts Between Mayoral Candidates |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151320618/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=1 November 2013 |pages=A8}}

He moved to New Haven in 2007 for a dual master's degree in the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the Yale School of Management. He quickly became involved in city politics and was elected to an alderman's seat in 2009. After finishing his master's program, he took a job in Yale University's Office of Sustainability.

Elicker first ran for mayor at age 38 in 2013, when 20-year incumbent John DeStefano Jr. announced he would not seek another term.{{cite news |last1=Keating |first1=Christopher |title=State Senator Seeks Mayor's Seat |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151319084/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=23 April 2013 |pages=B10}} Four candidates qualified for the Democratic primary, including state senator Toni Harp, who had won the endorsement of local party officials.{{cite news |last1=Keating |first1=Christopher |title=In The Elm City, Few Olive Branches |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151319332/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=29 July 2013 |pages=A1}}

In the primary, Elicker finished a distant second to Harp, receiving 23% of the vote to her 50%. But he gathered enough signatures to run in the general election as an independent.{{cite news |last1=Keating |first1=Christopher |title=Harp Easily Wins Primary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151319652/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=11 September 2013 |pages=A1}} Elicker labeled himself the candidate of integrity and sound government who would not show favoritism in hiring for city jobs.{{cite news |title=Elicker In 2nd Place |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151320097/ |work=Hartford Courant |date=11 September 2013 |pages=A3}} He attacked Harp over her family's real estate business being the largest tax delinquent in Connecticut.{{cite news |last1=Keating |first1=Christopher |title=Opponent Knocks Harp On Tax Issue |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151320265/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=23 October 2013 |pages=B3}} Meanwhile, Harp's supporters painted Elicker as a carpetbagger who had only lived in the city for six years.

Harp defeated Elicker in the general election, winning 54.6% of the vote.{{cite news |last1=Keating |first1=Christopher |title=Harp Makes History\ First African American Woman To Lead City |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151320949/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=6 November 2013 |pages=A7}} After his defeat, Elicker was hired as executive director of the New Haven Land Trust, an organization that manages and preserves open land in the city.

In January 2019, Elicker announced he would again challenge Harp, who was seeking her fourth two-year term. He pledged to tackle urban blight, absentee landlords, and growing income inequality.{{cite news |last1=O'Leary |first1=Mary E. |title=Elicker to run for mayor in New Haven |url=https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Elicker-to-run-for-mayor-in-New-Haven-13537900.php |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=New Haven Register}} Harp's campaign was impacted by a FBI corruption investigation into elements of city hall, specifically the youth services department. Harp's campaign manager, Edward Corey, accused Elicker's wife Natalie, a federal prosecutor who handled only civil cases, had been "manipulating the FBI" into the investigation, which received pushback.{{cite news |last1=Keating |first1=Christopher |title=A bitter battle for city's future\ Rivals Harp, Elicker run in New Haven mayoral rematch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151322383/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=8 July 2019 |pages=A4}} Harp, then 72, had won 17 consecutive elections in the city, between her time in the state senate and as mayor.{{cite news |last1=Keating |first1=Christopher |title=A bitter battle for city's future\ Rivals Harp, Elicker run in New Haven mayoral rematch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151322987/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=8 July 2019 |pages=A1}} She again won the endorsement of several local party officials, despite Elicker outraising her.{{cite news |last1=Blair |first1=Russell |title=Education commissioner pick creates uproar |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151323089/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=21 July 2019 |pages=B3}}

Elicker won the Democratic primary with 58% of the vote.{{cite news |last1=Keating |first1=Christopher |title=Elicker halts Harp in New Haven |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151323619/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=11 September 2019 |pages=B1}}{{cite news |last1=Breen |first1=Thomas |last2=Bass |first2=Paul |last3=Peak |first3=Christopher |title=Elicker upsets Harp in mayoral primary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/record-journal/151324594/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Record-Journal |date=12 September 2019 |pages=C1}} He and Harp each won about half of the city's wards, but turnout was higher in the whiter areas of the city than in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.{{cite news |title=Local elections begin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-day/151324643/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=The Day |date=12 September 2019 |pages=6}}

Harp already had a place on the November general election ballot thanks to her endorsement by the Working Families Party, so she had the opportunity for a rematch, just like the one Elicker had pursued in 2013. On September 25, she announced she would suspend her campaign and not actively seek votes in the general.{{cite news |last1=Blair |first1=Russell |title=Harp ends mayoral campaign |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151324939/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=29 September 2019 |pages=B3}} But a month later, she announced she was "unsuspending" her campaign and was "in it to win it."{{cite news |last1=Blair |first1=Russell |title=Harp 'unsuspends' campaign |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151325021/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=20 October 2019 |pages=B3}} Elicker won the general election with 68% of the vote.{{cite web |title=STATE OF CONNECTICUT OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE STATE |url=https://www.newhavenct.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?blobid=35306 |publisher=State of Connecticut Office of the Secretary of State |access-date=1 November 2019}}{{cite web |title=2019 Mayoral Election Results |url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/final_tally_69-28_percent/ |publisher=New Haven Independent |access-date=12 November 2019}} He was inaugurated as New Haven's 51st mayor on January 1, 2020.{{cite news |last1=Keating |first1=Christopher |title=Elicker defeats incumbent New Haven mayor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant/151325162/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Courant |date=6 November 2019 |pages=B3}}

As mayor, Elicker negotiated a new deal with Yale University that nearly doubled its annual payments-in-lieu-of-taxes to the city.{{cite news |last1=Breen |first1=Thomas |title=City-Yale Deal Wins Final OK |url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/yale_agreement |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=New Haven Independent |date=Apr 5, 2022}} In the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Elicker launched a new program called COMPASS that created non-police crisis-response teams to citizen issues.{{cite news |last1=Grace-Flood |first1=Nora |title=Crisis-Response Team Ups Its Game |url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/compass_3/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=New Haven Independent |date=Jul 19, 2023}} He also oversaw passage of a new inclusive zoning bill to require the construction of more affordable housing in the city and pushed for an expansion of Tweed New Haven Airport that attracted Avelo Airlines.{{cite news |last1=Breen |first1=Thomas |title=“Inclusionary” Housing Law Passes |url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/inclusionary_zoning_3/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=New Haven Independent |date=Jan 19, 2022}} During his second term, hackers stole more than $6 million from the city's school system, though $3.6 million was later recovered.{{cite news |last1=Fadulu |first1=Lola |title=Hackers Stole $6 Million From the New Haven School System |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/nyregion/new-haven-schools-hackers.html |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=10 August 2023}}

Elicker was reelected to office by wide margins in 2021 and 2023.{{cite news |last1=Stasiuk |first1=Yurii |last2=Cortés Castro |first2=Mia |title=Elicker wins third mayoral term |url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2023/11/08/elicker-wins-third-mayoral-term/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Yale Daily News |date=8 November 2023 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Schaefer |first1=Brittany |title=Justin Elicker sworn in for 3rd term as New Haven mayor |url=https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/new-haven/justin-elicker-sworn-in-for-3rd-term-as-new-haven-mayor/ |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=WTNH |date=Jan 1, 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Zaretsky |first1=Mark |title=Elicker wins 3rd term as New Haven mayor as challenger Goldenberg concedes |url=https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/new-haven-mayor-election-elicker-goldenberg-18472620.php |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=New Haven Register |date=Nov 8, 2023}}{{cite news |title=2024 Power 50: 14. Justin Elicker |url=https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/2024-power-50-14-justin-elicker |access-date=14 July 2024 |work=Hartford Business Journal}}

Elicker is married and has two daughters. His wife, Natalie Elicker, is an attorney in the U.S. Justice Department. He speaks Spanish and Chinese.{{cite web |title=Meet the Mayor |url=https://www.newhavenct.gov/government/office-of-the-mayor/meet-the-mayor |publisher=City of New Haven |access-date=14 July 2024}}

• [https://www.newhavenct.gov/government/office-of-the-mayor Office of the Mayor website]
• [https://www.newhavenct.gov/government/office-of-the-mayor/meet-the-mayor Official biography]
• [https://www.justinelicker.com/ Campaign website]

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{{s-bef|before=Toni Harp}}

{{s-ttl|title=Mayor of the City of New Haven|years=2020–}}

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Category:1975 births

Category:21st-century mayors of places in Connecticut

Category:Living people

Category:Yale University alumni

Category:Middlebury College alumni

Category:Mayors of New Haven, Connecticut

Category:Working Families Party politicians

Category:United States Foreign Service personnel