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How a 26-Year-Old Beat a 42-Year Incumbent—and What It Means for Democrats

As the only undergraduate managing a primary campaign in the state, I helped a 26-year-old beat a 42-year incumbent. Here is what Democrats can learn from our win.

Eli Sabin at an anti-ICE protest.

On a Tuesday evening, two weeks before the August 11 Democratic primary in Connecticut, more than 100 people piled into New Haven’s Coogan Pavilion for a debate among the three candidates running for state representative. Seniors, students, and young couples filled the local community center’s folding chairs, so I stood at the back with dozens of other attendees. 

I had been working for months as Eli Sabin’s campaign manager—and was the only university undergraduate managing a primary campaign in the state. I knew the race was getting some local attention, but I was surprised by the size of the audience and the energy of the supporters for all three candidates. 

The 26-year-old Eli was challenging Pat Dillon, the incumbent in Connecticut’s State House District 92, which covers the southwest side of New Haven. Dillon has been in office for 42 years, and if reelected would have been the longest-serving lawmaker in the state. The city’s Democratic Party, many state and local unions, and several members of the New Haven Board of Alders (the local city council) backed Dillon. The only elected officials who endorsed Eli were New Haven’s mayor, Justin Elicker, and Board of Education member Edward Joyner. The third candidate in the race, Justin Farmer, had the support of the Connecticut chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). 

Eli ran as a strong progressive. Through his years of work on the Board of Alders and at CT Voices for Children, he had built a reputation as an advocate for families. He championed New Haven’s “Downtown for All” affordable housing legislation, fought to increase penalties on absentee landlords, and spearheaded measures to empower tenant unions.  

In the end, our campaign........

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