LYME – Newly unaffiliated First Selectman David Lahm will not be seeking reelection in November.
“I’ll be 66 years old when I leave office,” he said from the Town Hall Tuesday night. “I’ve been a volunteer in one way or another in this town, and in the service of our country in the military, since 1975. It’s time for my wife and I to build some time for us.”
Lahm was a Republican selectman when he was appointed to the top seat in 2022 after the mid-term retirement of Democrat Steve Mattson.
He said he informed the leadership of both major political parties back in January of his intention not to run for another term. No candidates for the first selectman’s seat have been announced.
“All things considered, I would have liked to have spent another term, but I look at some people I know who are no longer with us, and I don’t want to be one of these guys who works and then, six months after he retires, dies,” Lahm said.
Lahm acknowledged that he switched his political affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated a few weeks ago. He said he based the decision on “national politics” under President Donald Trump.
“I can’t be affiliated with that administration,” he said.
But his discontent with the situation nationally did not drive his local reelection decision, according to the first selectman. He said officials in Lyme “have a long tradition of working across the aisle.”
Lahm recalled starting out his voting life as a Democrat. He became a registered Republican in 1992.
“I changed then because I felt the Democratic Party had left me, and I now feel the Republican Party has left me,” he said.
Lahm began volunteering in Lyme at age 16 as part of the Lyme Fire Company. He went on to join the U.S. Army, earn his law degree, and serve in the Connecticut National Guard until his retirement as a full colonel in 2012. His service includes tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Lahm was elected to the Board of Selectmen in 2021. Democrat Kristina White was appointed to take his place when he took over for Mattson as first selectman.
The board under Lahm’s leadership changed its name to the Board of Selectpeople in 2023, though he said at the time they would retain the gendered forms of their titles individually.
Republican Town Committee Chairwoman Mary Powell-St. Louis in a Wednesday phone call said the committee is finalizing its slate of candidates for all board and commission seats up for election in November. She expects to announce the full slate by the end of June.
Powell-St. Louis said she’s been the local Republican chairwoman since March of last year. She replaced Lahm, who resigned from the committee the previous December.
She said she wishes him well on “the next chapter of his journey.”
“I think he’s been a solid force for the town and I think his leadership was well received by the entire community – the Republican, Democratic and unaffiliated sides,” she said.
She described Lahm’s decision to change his political affiliation as a personal one.
She said the Republican Town Committee is more concerned with local issues than what happens on the national stage.
“Speaking for myself, I think that the national politics don’t belong in the small town of Lyme,” she said. “We’re focused on the local issues and local representation.”
John Kiker, a selectman and the chairman of the Democratic Town Committee, said Lahm’s inclusive leadership style will be missed.
Kiker and Democrat Kristina White serve with Lahm on the three-member board.
“He definitely sought our input on all matters,” he said.
Kiker also emphasized Lahm’s thoughtful way of addressing problems.
“He has a very calm way of dealing with people, taking things in and making a decision,” he said.
White in a Wednesday phone interview said Lahm’s commitment to Lyme, a town that has always relied on volunteers, is evident.
“I think he just exemplifies how we run the town, and exemplifies the character of the town that has always been for people to step up and volunteer,” she said. “And he did that, both as a selectman and stepping in after Steve Mattson resigned.”
Both Kiker and White said they will be running for reelection as selectmen.
Kiker said local Democratic leadership has identified a possible candidate for first selectman. He declined to announce the name pending a vote by the full Democratic Town Committee in May.
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