The three Democrats vying for the party's nomination to run for Hartford mayor are jockeying over the final days ahead of the Democratic Town Committee's meeting next Monday night.
Mayor Pedro Segarra, in the final year of his term, says he's not banking on the DTC to provide him a boost heading into the September primary election. He says he's going to depend on support he's built through working neighborhoods.
"I am asking for support, but at the same time that I am asking for support, I will not revert to the same machine style politics that people have played in order to get support," he said.
Segarra declined to expand on what he meant by "machine-style" politics.
It's safe to assume however, that the criticism was a dig at Luke Bronin, the former legal adviser to Gov. Dannel Malloy who has picked up momentum for the past several months with unprecedented fundraising for the city's top job.
"Remember, before I became mayor there were incidents that happen where people got into a lot of trouble by playing those kinds of games and I’m not going to revert to that," Segarra said.
Bronin, for his part, said he's not sure what Segarra is talking about. It's widely believed in city Democratic circles that Bronin will secure the DTC nomination next week.
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"I don’t think I could be any farther from machine politics," Bronin said.
He added that it's Segarra's weak support that has his campaign in its current position.
"I think the reason we’re even competing for the Democratic Town Committee endorsement just like we’re gaining support among voters is because Hartford needs a change," Bronin said.
The dark-horse candidate in the race is former probate judge Robert Killian. He takes credit for the campaigns discussing issues during debates that's he's brought to light over the past 12 weeks.
"No one was talking about being opposed to a baseball stadium. No one was talking about PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes). No one was talking about issues like the absolutely murderous mill rate that we have in the city of Hartford," Killian said during an interview Wednesday.
Killian said he, like the mayor, is focusing all his attention on the primary. He said his experience working directly with Hartford residents is what will drive him toward the nomination.
"I think the fact that I’ve had not just a media contact with people, but an eyeball-to-eyeball, hand-to-hand contact with people makes a significant difference," Killian said.
Then, with a nod toward the Bronin campaign, Killian remarked about how he could meet with people he actually knows in Hartford.
"Door knocking is a poor substitute for having sat with people and discussed crucial issues in their life and resolved as best you can those issues for them and with them," Killian said.
Bronin admitted Wednesday that door knocking has been his primary strategy but he stands by the campaign as a way to meet with voters.
"Look, I’ve knocked on over 3,000 doors so far and I could tell you that there’s a lot of support out there for new energy and strong leadership inside city hall and there’s a deep desire for change," Bronin said.
