Thomas MacMillan Photo
(Updated 6:28 p.m.) If Justin Elicker loses the Democratic primary, he plans to keep running for mayor — as an independent.
Elicker (pictured Wednesday evening at a campaign fundraiser at BAR) disclosed that plan to the Independent Thursday in response to a series of campaign “pledges” issued by one of his opponents, Gary Holder-Winfield, who promised to abide by the results of the primary.
Elicker and Holder-Winfield are among four announced candidates and at least one other expected candidate for the Democratic mayoral nomination. They are seeking to replace incumbent Mayor John DeStefano, who plans to retire at the end of the year after two decades in office.
Since 1951, winning the Democratic primary has meant winning the general election for mayor in New Haven. That’s because registered Democrats outnumber Republicans so dramatically: 48,887 to 2,627 as of Wednesday.
But in recent years the number of unaffiliated voters has grown dramatically in New Haven. That number was 18,700 as of Wednesday (with another 494 belonging to minor parties) — a number far higher than the number of votes a winning Democrat usually obtains in a primary.
That math explains Elicker’s decision to keep a general election campaign open, he said.
“I want to be mayor of this city. I think I will be the most effective mayor of this city,” said Elicker, a two-term East Rock alderman. “Therefore, because we have so many people that are potentially running in the primary, we may have a result that doesn’t represent what the majority of New Haveners want. The independent, unaffiliated, and Republican voters never get to decide who the next mayor will be. I plan on running as a Democrat in the primary. I plan on winning.
“On the off chance I don’t, I plan on running in the general as an independent. A third of the voters can’t vote in the primary.”
Independent or Republican general-election candidates must submit petitions to the city clerk’s office by Aug. 7. The Democratic primary takes place Sept. 10. Elicker said he hasn’t submitted those petitions yet but does plan to do so.
The two-shot campaign has recent precedence in New Haven and in Connecticut. In 2006, U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman lost a Democratic primary but won reelection as a third-party candidate in November. Two years ago Jeffrey Kerekes lost in a four-way New Haven Democratic mayoral primary, then ran again as an independent in the November election. (He captured a surprisingly strong 45 percent of the vote.)
Elicker, who will open his campaign headquarters Saturday on Whalley Avenue near Norton, was asked if he’s “pulling a Lieberman.”
“I’m not going to call it a Lieberman,” he responded. “In New Haven, everyone’s always a Democrat that runs, it sets a different tone” from statewide elections that involve truly competitive parties.
I Pledge To …
Paul Bass Photo
Elicker made his remarks in response to three “pledges” Holder-Winfield issued Thursday and challenged his opponents to take, too. Holder-Winfield, a state representative in Newhallville and East Rock, spoke about the pledges at a 5:30 p.m. City Hall press conference. (Click on the play arrow at the top of the story for a sample.)
“I pledge,” Holder-Winfield’s first of three pledges reads, “to compete for the primary and abide by its result, because the voters of this city deserve
an honest race of ideas and a candidate with the integrity to abide by their decision.”
Asked about Elicker’s decision to run twice if need be, Holder-Winfield called that approach a violation of the spirit behind clean-government reforms like public-financing. He called a primary campaign “an unspoken promise to people that the results of the primary matter.”
Holder-Winfield’s second promise Thursday:
“I pledge to participate in the Democracy Fund because fair elections value people’s voices rather than their money and don’t limit our discussion with competitions for dollars rather than votes.”
Click here and here for previous stories about Elicker’s and Holder-Winfield’s participation in the Democracy Fund.
Another announced candidate, Henry Fernandez, has stated that he will not participate in the Democracy Fund, the city’s clean-elections voluntary public-financing system. That means he can collect larger financial donations that his opponents who participate in the Fund, as Holder-Winfield and Elicker have already signed up to do. “I certainly think that we need open, transparent systems to ensure that voters know where candidates are getting their funds from. Fortunately the city of New Haven and the state of Connecticut have exactly that. So voters can make their decisions based on that,” Fernandez said Thursday. “I also think that the issues that our city is facing around crime, education reform, jobs, are serious issues. I plan to focus on those and not on any candidate’s efforts to pull us into a discussion about their own campaign strategy.”
Holder-Winfield’s third pledge involves “outside groups” that can pour money or other help in an election. “I pledge to disavow outside money and third party special interest spending that bends the spirit of clean elections, and instead focus our race here on the people who are affected by the decisions we make — not on third parties pushing their own agenda,” declares Holder-Winfield’s third vow.
At the press conference he was asked how he would react to an outside committee that paid for attack ads on his opponents. “I would denounce that,” he said. “I don’t want anyone attacking my opponents.”
Elicker said Thursday he will take two of the pledges — about participating in the Democracy Fund and disavowing outside financial help.
Henry Fernandez declined to sign on to any of Holder-Winfield’s three pledges.
“I’m not going to take other people’s pledges. I think they’re silly. They’re what you do when you don’t actually have a platform. You run around talking about process,” Fernandez said.
Asked if he has any plans to run in a general election, Fernandez replied that he has “no plans to file as a Republican or an independent. I intend to run as a Democrat. I’m a Democrat. I look forward to being a Democrat after this election is over.”
A fifth expected candidate, Hillhouse High School Principal Kermit Carolina, said Thursday he will “refrain from comments” on campaign matters until he announces a formal decision about running.
Sundiata Keitazulu, a Newhallville plumber, has also filed papers to run for mayor. Probate Judge Jack Keyes has been traveling around town as well, gauging support for a mayoral run.