(Updated: 10:42 p.m.) Activist Gary Holder-Winfield (pictured) scored an upset victory Tuesday against a Democratic machine candidate in a party primary for a state legislative seat.
The victory was attributable in part to a large margin in the East Rock neighborhood (territory of Alderwoman Alfreda Edwards, pictured); and energetic vote-pulling by a coalition of gay rights, peace, and criminal-justice reform advocates. The result will deliver a solid vote in Hartford for gay marriage.
Challenger Holder-Winfield beat party-endorsed Charles Blango 687 – 586 for the Democratic nomination for the 94th General Assembly District seat, according to a tally announced by Registrar of Voters Rae Tramontano Tuesday night. Holder-Winfield won by 600 to 514 votes on the machines, and 87 to 72 on absentee ballots. (Pictured: Kathy Delvecchio and Helen C. Powell-King of the Registrar of Voters office waiting for the machine print-out of absentee ballot tallies.)
Holder-Winfield now faces independent Willie Greene in the November general election.
Holder-Winfield declared victory shortly around 9 p.m. and thanked supporters at a celebration on Orchard Street. Tears ran down his face.
“I wish I could stop crying, but I can’t,” he said afterwards. (He had in fact stopped.)
Holder-Winfield’s most prominent supporter — his mentor and the man he seeks to replace in Hartford, independent-minded outgoing State Rep. Bill Dyson — called the upset victory a “message” to the city’s Democratic Party machine.
Blango (pictured) spent the day greeting voters at polling stations. Blango, who’s a Newhallville alderman, was aided by fellow aldermen such as Carl Goldfield, Erin Sturgis-Pascale, and Sergio Rodriguez, as well as mayoral staffer Paul Nu√±ez (pictured over Blango’s shoulder at the Celentano School). The Rev. Boise Kimber, a close associate of Mayor John DeStefano, woke up at 5 a.m. to stand at the polls and greet voters on behalf of Blango, according to a friend. Also working for Blango was Clarence Willoughby, who resigned from the police force after being charged with stealing confidential informant funds; Blango had stood by Willoughby during that ordeal.
Blango faced a spirited challenge by activist Holder-Winfield, who had some three dozen people bringing people to the polls Tuesday afternoon. It was a race pitting party insiders supporting a reliable vote; against peace, gay rights, and criminal-justice reform activists seeking an independent, progressive voice in Hartford.
The 94th District includes six wards, in Newhallville, Dixwell, East Rock, and downtown.
Premature Jubilation
As the polls closed at 8 p.m., results on Blango’s home turf, Ward 20, left his supporters jubilant. He won the ward 206 – 155 (machine votes, not counting absentee ballots).
“They’re celebrating too soon,” Holder-Winfield remarked. He was at the same polling place, the Lincoln/Bassett School. It was flooded with hooting and hollering and high-fiving Blango backers. (Click on the play arrow to watch).
“They need to calm down,” Holder-Winfield said.
He had a point: Returns in next-door Ward 19, showed him cleaning up, 224 – 63. The ward is split between Newhallville and a wealthy section of East Rock. Edwards, the Ward 19 Alderwoman, backed Holder-Winfield and worked hard for him all day.
Prospect Street is the dividing line between the two neighborhoods in the ward. As he crossed Prospect toward East Rock, Holder-Winfield said, people “were a lot more receptive” to his message. They were especially interested in his experience at the state Capitol, where he represents the state university professors’ union, he said.
The East Rock side of the Ward 19 is traditionally a high-turnout and liberal Democratic constituency. The ward committee held a forum that turned out to be the only face-to-face discussion between the two candidates.
“You push where you are strongest, and that’s what I did,” Holder-Winfield said.
He was asked what message the apparent results send to City Hall. The candidate said his only message to City Hall was, “Let’s work together. Let’s get this done.”
Here are the official returns from machines:
Ward 1: Blango 1, Winfield 9
Ward 7 Blango 42, Winfield 30
Ward 19: Winfield 224, Blango 63
Ward 20: Blango 206, Winfield 155
Ward 21: Blango 99, Winfield 96
Ward 22: Blango 95, Winfield 94
(Ward 1 consists of Yale students, most of whom are away for the summer.)
Dyson’s Parting Victory?
The 94th District seat became vacant when State Rep. Dyson retired after 32 years in office.
Dyson (pictured), who has been at odds with the DeStefano administration and the party machine, backed Holder-Winfield in the race. Dyson spent almost the entire day at the polls, trying to use his relationships, which he’s built over three decades, to sway voters to his young mentee.
“The machine had a lot of interest in the outcome of this election,” Dyson said Tuesday night. “I think it’s been demonstrated that their concern is well-founded, that there’s a lot of discontent out there.”
“He demonstrated to people that he really cared. I think that was the thing that carried it, really” Dyson said of Holder-Winfield, who once worked as his legislative intern at the state Capitol.
During the campaign Dyson made fundraising calls for Holder-Winfield, and made a public endorsement on campaign literature and in a TV spot. The two share a history of, among other activism, participating in antiwar rallies and crusades for prison reform and programs for ex-cons.
“You see this picture?” Dyson asked outside the polls Tuesday afternoon, handing out cards showing his endorsement.
“I’ll take your word for it,” said one voter, before heading in.
Out on the streets, Holder-Winfield relied on the support of 35 vote-pullers, according to his campaign manager, Lisa Hopkins.
Hopkins wouldn’t say how many people the campaign had identified as supporters of their man.
Their ranks of vote-pullers included local high school students Larry Stovall and Paul Hudson (pictured from left to right). Both are 17-year-old rising seniors making their debut in the world of campaigning.
They were driven to a door-knocking route by a college-aged woman from Love Makes A Family, a gay rights advocacy group that endorsed Holder-Winfield in the primary. Alison Berk, a student at UConn, drove all the way from Newtown to navigate New Haven streets and take voters to the polls.
Gay rights was one of the race’s defining issues. Holder-Winfield supports gay marriage; Blango opposes it. In an ironic twist, the DeStefano administration and its backers — who have presented themselves as pro-gay rights on the local scene — ended up working hard for a gay-rights opponent in a race for the statehouse, where gay-rights issues are ultimately decided in Connecticut.
The candidates also differed on the schools, with Blango more of a defender of the record of his employer, the Board of Ed. Holder-Winfield advocated having the public schools look more closely at the successes of charter schools.
Polling stations were full of Blango lawn signs. A pickup truck bearing his name drove through the streets all day, playing a funky tune designed to lure voters to the polls.
At a polling station, Blango declined to comment to the Independent on the race. He put his coat jacket over his face in attempt not to be photographed. Blango was criticized during the campaign for ducking a debate sponsored by the NAACP.
Sarah Vanderbilt helped report this story.