HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Republican who opposed Mayor Eddie Perez, a Democrat, during the 2007 mayoral election said the best way to enact change is to join the mayor's party.

J. Stan McCauley made the switch official at the Hartford Registrar's Office on Monday. He said he made the switch for one reason.

PDF: McCauley's Statement

"Hartford is a one-party town," he said. "It's impossible to get elected, it's impossible to have influence over the policies and decisions and the executions of those policies if you are not a Democrat."

McCauley added that the Democrats' vice grip on political power has created a corrupt mayoral administration and a dysfunctional City Council, which he wants to help fix.

South End resident Alison Bassell supported the decision.

"You know what? It is corrupt and there needs to be a change," she said.

McCauley wouldn't say whether he plans to run for mayor or City Council now that he has changed sides politically.

"Right now, I'm going to join the Democratic party, and that's my focus now," he said.

City Council Majority Leader rJo Winch, a Democrat, said McCauley's move is a way to oust a now fellow, and prominent, Democrat.

"I think it's more like to (figuratively) kill off a Democrat rather than to work with the residents of the city of Hartford," Winch said. "Basically, because you hear the conversation, it's about Eddie Perez, Eddie Perez."

Perez's office wouldn't comment on the move.

Another Councilor, Ken Kennedy, said he welcomes McCauley to his party.

"We have a big tent," he said, and he looks forward to working with him.