Tom Egan Is Running Again For Mayor Of Ansonia

ANSONIA – Tom Egan isn’t deterred.

Egan, the 2023 Democratic candidate for mayor, is now launching a second campaign for the city’s top job – this time as an independent.

“The city’s in desperate need of economic redevelopment, and the current administration, they’re not doing anything for it,” Egan told The Valley Indy.

At his campaign kickoff at Retro Bar & Char July 30, Egan told a crowd of 20 to 30 people that his campaign is centered around economic development. He said he has a $150 million redevelopment plan which he said would bring up to $30 million in annual revenue to the former Farrel and Copper & Brass sites downtown.

Egan said he plans to secure $150 million in investment funds through conversations with firms including Cosmostring Ventures and the International Strategists Alliance, a non-governmental organization under the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Egan said he’s been in conversations about bringing investments to Ansonia since around March this year. He said he would also seek investment from foreign individual investors through the EB-5 visa program, in addition to redevelopment grant money.

At his campaign kickoff, Egan said he believes that tariffs implemented under President Donald Trump’s administration are bringing manufacturing back to the United States.

“These tariffs are actually bringing back manufacturing here, and it’s bringing it back here to Ansonia, of all things. If it helps us, it helps us,” Egan said.

He said he wants to bring a steel mill, a solar panel manufacturer, and an office park with a data center to the former downtown industrial sites.

“We can bring back American manufacturing. We can make Ansonia great again,” Egan said.

He said he attempted to submit a redevelopment proposal to city officials, and that they told him they wouldn’t look at his plans.

Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini said that isn’t the way cities do business.

“The city solicits proposals through bids, not through random people that stumble into City Hall,” Marini wrote in an email. “If a developer has a proposal, they must submit a bid in response to a request for development proposals, such as the one recently published for Ansonia Copper & Brass.”

Egan said that, if his plans go through, the city will be able to further invest in itself while lowering taxes.

“We’re going to be able to go ahead and fix all our budget issues, get the schools fully funded, get all the potholes fixed, make sure all of the pensions and municipal employees are fully funded,” Egan said.

He said his plans would allow the city to stop relying on what he called poor financial decisions, including the city’s $41 million sale of its sewer system last year and the practice of including “use of future revenue” in its yearly budgets.

“We had the issue with the water treatment plant, everyone’s water bill went up. I said ‘Don’t do it,’ they went and did it anyway. It seems that everything I’ve warned everyone of, that the city then goes out and does, has disastrous consequences for the people,” Egan said.

Egan, Twice Knocked Down, Says Time Is Right For Independent Government

Egan plans on running for mayor as a petitioning candidate. He had not received the necessary signatures as of July 31, which means he doesn’t yet have ballot access. The deadline to file with the Town Clerk’s office is Aug. 6, according to the state elections calendar.

In the 2023 election, he ran under the Democratic Party’s endorsement. He lost in a landslide to incumbent Mayor Cassetti, netting 741 votes to Cassetti’s 2,676.

That campaign was mired by the fact that Egan and the local Democratic Party weren’t talking to each other. Town committee chair Dave Hannon said the party pulled resources from Egan because Egan wasn’t campaigning. Egan said Hannon simply didn’t see his campaign work.

In 2024, after Cassetti challenged state Rep. Kara Rochelle for her seat representing the 104th District, Egan entered the race on the Independent Party ticket. Rochelle comfortably won, scoring 5,042 votes to Cassetti’s 4,176. Egan came in a distant third, with 118 votes.

Egan said he has what it takes to win as an independent candidate in 2025. He said he’s been ringing the bell on issues such as the slow redevelopment of Olson Drive and the city’s WPCA sale for years, and that people are starting to see it.

“I think people are starting to come around and say ‘Tom was right. Maybe we should look into him,’” Egan said.

Egan said at his campaign kickoff that he’s sick of the partisan divide. He said he’s also working on organizing a political third party to field candidates in the future.

He said that he doesn’t see any difference between the economic plans proposed by Cassetti or by his Democratic challenger, Frank Tyszka.

“Frank Tyszka’s campaign is the same thing as the Cassetti administration’s economic development,” Egan said.

The Valley Indy called both Cassetti and Tyszka for a reaction to Egan’s campaign, but did not hear back.

Egan, 37, operates a law firm on State Street which focuses on personal injury, real estate, insurance and tenant defense. Single and with no kids, he holds a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Tampa, FL, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Connecticut.

Election day is Nov. 4.