Bridgeport mayoral candidates Joe Ganim and John Gomes are vying for the voters' attention once again and they are urging people to come out and vote in Tuesday's special primary for mayor.
Last November, a state judge threw out the results of the Sept. 12 Democratic mayoral primary in Bridgeport and ordered a new primary to take its place.
At issue was evidence that supporters of Ganim had stuffed multiple absentee ballots into outdoor ballot collection boxes. Ganim said these supporters broke the law but denied any knowledge or involvement in the scheme.
In Connecticut, it is only legal for a few select people to handle absentee ballots.
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In the September primary, Ganim defeated Gomes by 251 votes out of 8,173 cast.
The Gomes campaign later sued the city, demanding a new primary after obtaining video surveillance evidence of the ballot box stuffing. The Nov. 7 general election went ahead as scheduled, and Ganim once again prevailed in a close race over Gomes, who ran as an independent, and two other candidates.
But the judge’s order rendered that election moot as well, and now Ganim and Gomes will face off for the third time in four months.
Ahead of this special primary, there is a new complaint that someone, not associated with the Town Clerk’s Office, is circulating absentee ballots. The Secretary of the State filed a complaint and is urging people in Bridgeport to vote in person on Tuesday.
“Anytime information comes to us, about any action that might be illegal, we refer to the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) so now they will go through their investigation and they are the ones who make that determination,” Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas said.
Ahead of Tuesday’s special primary, Gomes and Ganim faced off in a debate on WICC.
Gomes said the city “cannot afford another second chance as we’ve given this administration."
Gomes said, “We have subpar education, lack of consistent economic growth. Crimes are up, we are under by over 138 officers. Our community remains blighted, and we need to bring to horizon that Bridgeport deserves.”
“This is about something bigger than myself. It’s about restoring democracy, integrity back and faith to our voters when they show up to vote,” Gomes said.
Ganim responded by touting what is being accomplished in Bridgeport.
“The last couple of weeks, we announced a tax cut for seniors on fixed incomes, with incomes up to $75,000 for $1,500 tax break,” he said.
“We need to focus on getting people out to the polls tomorrow, to end this thing with Gomes,” Ganim said.
He spoke about the new Bassick High School that will be built, a groundbreaking for 400 waterfront units at Steelpointe Harbor and a professional soccer team coming to the city.
The candidates also debated about who is representing them and the allegations of absentee ballot mishandling.
“Your people were caught on 22 trips to the ballot box, dropping applications. I mean let’s be honest with the people in the city of Bridgeport,” Ganim said.
“That case has been dismissed,” Gomes said.
“The hypocrisy has got to end,” Ganim said.
“The hypocrisy, sir, is that you have failed to take action. You still have people on your payroll who are operatives in your campaign and still carrying on the criminal activities as it is today. Nothing has changed,” Gomes said.
The winner will once again face Republican David Herz and independent candidate Lamond Daniels in a do-over of the general election scheduled for Feb. 27.
“I always say, not voting is also a vote, so 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. please have your voice heard at your regular polling location,” Thomas said.
