Sri Lankan American Arunan Arulampalam Takes Wide Lead in Campaign Donations in Hartford’s Mayoral Race
- The Connecticut banker says “the strong quarter” shows “real and growing support” for his campaign.
Sri Lankan American Arunan Arulampalam, CEO of Hartford Land Bank in Connecticut has taken a wide lead in second-quarter campaign donations in Hartford’s mayoral race, the Hartford Courant has reported. “His campaign has raised $123,568 in the second quarter spanning April to July,” the Courant reported, citing campaign finance filings to the city clerk. In the first quarter, “he raised $225,000, for a total of $348,393,” the Courant added.
“I’m the candidate who doesn’t have a long institutional history in office so what this quarter shows is a clear shift in momentum. It shows we have real and growing support for our campaign,” Arulampalam said in an interview with CT Insider.
In a press release, Arulampalam said that “this strong quarter” shows that his campaign is “building clear momentum and picking up key support as we head into this month’s Democratic nominating convention.” He said, as mayor, his administration “will make our city safer, our schools stronger, and create more economic opportunity for every neighborhood.” His fundraising for the quarter surpassed that of state Sen. John Fonfara, who co-chairs the state’s powerful finance committee, the Courant noted.
Arulampalam announced his mayoral campaign earlier this year. He is running for mayor to “empower our communities,” and “show the strength of our voice,” he says on his website. “Each and every one of us has the power to determine what the future of this city looks like.”
In 2017, Arulampalam explored a run for Connecticut State Treasurer. He ended his bid a few months later, “with a concession and a challenge,” as reported by Connecticut Mirror. “He declined to risk a potentially racially divisive primary, but challenged Democrats to look at diversity with a broader lens than a tradition of nominating only African Americans for treasurer,” the report said.
A naturalized U.S. citizen, Arulampalam was born in Zimbabwe to parents of Sri Lankan origin. He is a graduate of Emory University and Quinnipiac University School of Law. Before joining the Land Bank he served in the Lamont Administration as deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. Before that he was a lawyer at the firm of Updike, Kelly & Spellacy, P.C. He is on the Board of the Hartford Public Library and the House of Bread, and the Hartford Redevelopment Authority. He lives in Hartford’s south end with his wife, Liza, a senior minister of the First Church of Christ (Center Church), and five young children.