Toni Harp | |
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50th Mayor of New Haven | |
Assumed office January 1, 2014 |
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Preceded by | John DeStefano, Jr. |
Member of the Connecticut Senate from the 10th district |
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In office January 1993 – January 2013 |
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Preceded by | Charles H. Allen III |
Succeeded by | Gary Holder-Winfield |
Personal details | |
Born | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater |
Roosevelt University Yale University (M.E.D.) |
Toni Nathaniel Harp is the 50th and current Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut. Harp, a Democrat, was a state senator in Connecticut from 1993 to 2013. A resident of New Haven, Harp represented the western half of the city as well as part of West Haven while in the Connecticut Senate.
Harp was born in San Francisco and graduated from Roosevelt University and received a Master of Environmental Design from Yale University. Prior to becoming mayor in the City of New Haven, Harp served as a State Senator and a New Haven Alderman; she defeated incumbent Senator Charles H. Allen III for the Democratic nomination in 1992.
In 2007 Harp introduced a bill to have the state pay for free diapers for poor mothers.
In Spring 2013, Harp announced her intention to run for Mayor of New Haven, a position long held by John DeStefano, Jr.. Harp won the election over her opponent, Justin Elicker, by 10,602 to 8,865 votes, or 54.46 percent to 45.54 percent. She is the first woman and the second African American (after John C. Daniels) to serve as Mayor of New Haven.