Ned Lamont continued a trend of political redemption for longtime statewide candidates during the convention season and locked up the party’s endorsement for governor during an anti-climactic single ballot.
Lamont said it was a good feeling to be on the stage as the endorsed candidate for the first time.
“I’ve been here on the floor not winning as you know,” Lamont said. “And it just meant a lot, standing there with the support of a lot of people who took a while to support me and I’m going to earn their support every day as their governor.”
Over the past month, state Democratic political forces have been aligning for Lamont. First Attorney General George Jepsen provided his endorsement, and later New Haven Mayor Toni Harp as other candidates dropped out of the race.
Lamont and many other Democrats would prefer to see an uncontested primary, allowing the Democrats to unite around one candidate from late May through November, as Republicans fight for their nomination amongst possibly seven candidates.
Bridgeport Joe Ganim thinks the opposite. Ganim did not emerge with the 15 percent needed to secure a spot on the August primary ballot, and already started the process to petition his way on to the ballot through collecting the signatures of registered Democrats.
Ganim says he wants to see the Democratic process play itself out through a contested primary.
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“The campaign starts today, if you will. We’ve laid the foundation. I think I’ve made a lot of new friends around the state, here.”
Numerous Democratic delegates said privately they are worried about what kind of message the party would have sent if they provided enough support to Ganim to send a convicted felon to the August primary. Ganim took on the issue head on, talking about how he has learned his lessons and served his time as he’s worked to put Bridgeport back on its feet for the second time.
Democrats will have a hotly contested election for Lieutenant Governor, as both Susan Bysiewicz and Eva Bermudez Zimmerman qualified for the primary. Bysiewicz secured the endorsement, running as Lamont’s preference for the office. She beat back a strong late charge from Eva Bermudez Zimmerman, a thirty year old former union organizer and member of the Newtown Legislative Council.
Bermudez Zimmerman entered the race following a backlash of some black and Latino Democratic party leaders who expected to see a person of color alongside Lamont.
Bermudez Zimmerman could make history as the first ever Latino nominated for statewide office in Connecticut, and is running on a platform of economic equality, but even she couldn’t escape discussing the issue of race as the driving force for her candidacy.
She said, “To have a nomination of a majority white ticket is not a positive step forward.”
