Daniel Thomas Drew (born 1979) is an American politician from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

and the former mayor of Middletown, Connecticut. Drew was elected mayor in 2011 and was re-elected in 2013 and 2015. He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. In July 2017, Drew announced his candidacy for

Governor of Connecticut The governor of Connecticut is the head of government of Connecticut, and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Connecticut Military Department, military forces. The Governor (United States), governor has a duty to enforce state laws, ...

, withdrawing from the race in January 2018.

Early life and education

Dan Drew was born in New York City and was raised in New York and Connecticut. At age 18, Drew volunteered as an EMT in Connecticut. He attended the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

(UConn) where he served as the editor-in-chief of ''

The Daily Campus ''The Daily Campus'', founded in 1896, is a student-run newspaper at the University of Connecticut that has a circulation of 2,000 on weekdays during school term. ''The Daily Campus'' has the largest circulation of any college paper in Connectic ...

'' student newspaper, graduating in 2002 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. On May 3, 2002, while still a UConn student Drew appeared on the

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

television show ''

The O'Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...

'' and defended a fellow student's right to free speech despite the controversial content of the student's student-activity-fee-funded TV show. In 2015, Drew graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

with a master's degree in

organizational psychology Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology), an applied discipline within psychology, is the science of human behavior in the workplace. Depending on the country or region of the world, I-O psychology is also known as occupational ...

Political career

In 2009, Drew ran against incumbent mayor Sebastian Giuliano and lost 52–47%. He ran again in 2011, defeating Giuliano 53-46%. Facing no major party opponent, Drew was re-elected in 2013 with over 80 percent of the vote. In 2015, he was elected to a four-year term as Middletown voters approved an increase in the mayor's term. In 2016, Drew made news when he donated a kidney to one of his constituents. In 2018 Drew gave a TED talk at Wesleyan University on the misconceptions surrounding kidney donation. On January 12, 2017, Drew announced he was forming an

exploratory committee In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to candidates for pre ...

to run for

. On July 12, 2017, Drew announced that he was running for Governor of Connecticut in the 2018 election. He withdrew from the race on January 12, 2018, exactly one year after forming an exploratory committee to run, stating that, "Ultimately it became very difficult to raise the required funds to qualify for public financing." In 2019 Drew was named Co-Chair of the Board of Connecticut DonateLife.

Electoral history

References

External links

Campaign website

Official page at City of MiddletownWesleyan Newsletter Blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drew, Dan 1979 births 21st-century American politicians Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Connecticut Democrats Living people Mayors of Middletown, Connecticut University of Connecticut alumni