by | Oct 29, 2019 7:45 am | Comments (6)
Sam Gurwitt photo
Mayoral Candidates Jay Kaye and Curt Leng.
Hamden Mayor Curt Leng and Republican Challenger Jay Kaye shared two perspectives on policing, debt, an animal shelter, and other facets of Hamden’s present and future on Monday in their first debate of the general election cycle.
by | Oct 25, 2019 8:02 am | Comments (5)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Hamden Assessor John Gelati (second from left), Energy Efficiency Coordinator and District 6 Candidate Kathleen Schomaker, and Mayor Curt Leng.
Hamden Mayor Curt Leng stood in a “T‑5” zone Thursday evening while piping-hot trays of pasta and mussels streamed past him to the buffet table and cars streamed past outside on Dixwell Avenue.
It’s the busy roads like Dixwell, he observed, where zoning regulations need to change.
by | Oct 24, 2019 4:38 pm | Comments (23)
Christopher Peak Photo
Registrar Shannel Evans explains the rules at Advanced Nursing.
Fifteen seniors confined to a nursing home won’t make it to the polls on Nov. 5 — but they got to cast their ballots anyway, thanks to a visit Thursday from the city’s registrar of voters office.
by | Oct 22, 2019 1:37 pm | Comments (45)
Paul Bass photo
Democratic mayoral candidate Justin Elicker (at podium) with Gov. Lamont, Secretary of the State Merrill, and U.S. Sen. Blumenthal at a recent Democratic Party “Unity Rally.”
Democratic mayoral candidate Justin Elicker will be a featured speaker at a $1,000-per-seat fundraiser for the local Democratic Town Committee — a move that Elicker described as an opportunity to raise money for other local Democrats, and which a leading campaigner for Mayor Toni Harp described as a runaround of his self-imposed campaign contribution limits.
by | Oct 20, 2019 5:51 pm | Comments (35)
Paul Bass Photos
The Rev. Scott Marks — who oversaw labor get-out-the-vote efforts for Harp in the primary — backs Elicker at Sunday’s Democratic “unity” rally. From left: Elicker, Gov. Lamont, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, State Treasurer Shawn Wooden, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.
Harp singing the Black National Anthem (“Lift Every Voice and Sing”) with teens at an SRO joint fundraiser with Bridgeport mayoral candidate Marilyn Moore.
Justin Elicker played the role of establishment-backed frontrunner Sunday, as the state’s top elected officials and New Haven’s leading alders and top vote-pullers whipped up a packed “unity” rally.
Toni Harp, meanwhile, offered a passionate defense of her record and discussed the challenge of “going against the party that supported us for many, many years” before a packed gathering in a private home in Woodbrige. She sat alongside a fellow African-American mayoral candidate — from Bridgeport — mounting a longshot challenge after losing a Democratic primary.
The two events reflected how dramatically Elicker’s and Harp’s roles have reversed — and the dynamics have shifted — as New Haven’s mayoral campaign entered its final 16 days.
by | Oct 18, 2019 12:33 pm | Comments (31)
Thomas Breen photo
Mayor Toni Harp: “We’re working on it.”
As she continues running for mayor in 2019, Toni Harp has still not revealed the names of donors who gave over $92,000 to her 2017 quest — raising the question about whether the state can enforce its campaign finance laws.
by | Oct 17, 2019 4:43 pm | Comments (50)
Mayor Harp with Joe Ugly’s morning drive-time radio crew.
“I’m in it to win it,” Mayor Toni Harp declared on radio Thursday.
by | Oct 17, 2019 8:12 am | Comments (5)
Contributed Photo
Blumenthal with Elicker.
Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has endorsed Democrat Justin Elicker for mayor.
by | Oct 16, 2019 3:26 pm | Comments (12)
Thomas Breen photos
Brandon Felder and Tyisha Walker-Myers.
Tyisha Walker-Myers and Brian Wingate are facing a reelection challenge — not for their positions on the Board of Alders, but for their leadership posts in Yale’s blue-collar union.
Continue reading ‘Local 35 Leaders Face Election Challenges’
by | Oct 15, 2019 8:27 am | Comments (24)
Thomas Breen file photo
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
Justin Elicker earned another endorsement from a member of the state’s federal delegation as U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro threw her support behind the Democratic mayoral candidate.
by | Oct 11, 2019 2:47 pm | Comments (14)
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The Rev. Steven Cousin threw his support Friday to Justin Elicker’s mayoral campaign while offering ideas for how New Haven can learn from the current divisive election season.
Continue reading ‘Rev. Cousin Backs Elicker, Calls For Healing’
by | Oct 11, 2019 12:54 pm | Comments (25)
Paul Bass photo
Campaign lawn signs on primary day.
Mayor Toni Harp loaned her reelection campaign $13,500 of her own money as the campaign itself ended September with a negative $4,600-plus balance.
by | Oct 9, 2019 9:19 pm | Comments (78)
Thomas Breen File Photo
Still rolling: Harp in caravan days before the Democratic primary.
Fernandez-Chavero: Democrat Elicker got “a free pass because he’s a tall, red-haired white guy.”
Mayor Toni Harp made clear Wednesday night that, as far as she and her supporters are concerned, this year’s election campaign is not over.
Harp delivered that message at an event held at the Elks Club on Webster Street, where she and supporters blasted Democratic candidate Justin Elicker and urged attendees to vote and volunteer for her third-party candidacy in the Nov. 5 general election.
by | Oct 7, 2019 7:54 am | Comments (18)
The Harp administration has formally asked the Board of Alders to set aside $75,000 to pay for a mayoral transition team this November and December.
Continue reading ‘Harp Seeks Mayoral Transition $$; Harp PAC Files’
by | Oct 3, 2019 3:11 pm | Comments (8)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Leng receives the news of his primary night victory.
Hamden plans to start cracking down on blight.
by | Oct 2, 2019 2:10 pm | Comments (1)
New Haven’s Building and Construction Trades Council has endorsed Democratic candidate Justin Elicker for mayor.
by | Oct 2, 2019 7:38 am | Comments (41)
A hundred-plus Mayor Toni Harp supporters have moved their advocacy for the three-term incumbent to Facebook, a digital realm largely untouched by the candidate over the course of her now-shuttered campaign.
Continue reading ‘“People’s Campaign” For Harp Hits Facebook’
by | Oct 1, 2019 3:24 pm | Comments (7)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
State Senator George Logan and District 7 Candidate Tom Figlar (facing camera) talking to Lynn and Lee Campo.
Hamden’s Republicans vowed to “take back Hamden” — not necessarily to GOP control, but to fiscal stability, as promoted by a full slate of municipal candidates.
Continue reading ‘Republicans Promise To “Take Back Hamden”’
by | Sep 28, 2019 9:27 pm | Comments (7)
Sam Gurwitt photo
Rhonda Caldwell and Laurie Sweet.
With the blessing of the state’s Working Families Party (WFP), a state representative, and local politicians and residents, two candidates officially launched a joint Legislative Council campaign Friday with a three-point platform: get Hamden’s finances under control, ensure greater police accountability, and improve racial equity in the town at large and in its schools.
Continue reading ‘Working Families Candidates Launch Joint Council Campaign’
by | Sep 25, 2019 6:10 pm | Comments (49)
Thomas Breen Photo
Mayor Harp aboard the Amistad schooner.
Mayor Toni Harp has made her long-awaited decision: You can still vote for her in November. But she’s not asking you to.
by | Sep 25, 2019 5:13 pm | Comments (7)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Mayoral Candidate Jay Kaye.
With election season stirring up the mud in Hamden and forcing politicians to present their views of Hamden’s future, a new idea has begun to float into public discourse: a town manager.
Continue reading ‘Shift Proposed To Town Manager Form Of Government’
by | Sep 25, 2019 7:43 am | Comments (19)
Thomas Breen photo
Mayor Toni Harp Tuesday.
Two weeks after she lost the city’s Democratic mayoral primary by 16 points, incumbent Mayor Toni Harp said she still has not decided whether or not she will continue her reelection campaign.
by | Sep 23, 2019 9:40 pm | Comments (38)
Thomas Breen photo
State Rep. Juan Candelaria introduces Justin Elicker.
• Candelaria, Furlow among speakers at BAR campaign kick-off.
• Walker, Winfield send notes of support.
• Urn Pendragon drops out.
• Harp still mum on third-party run.
Continue reading ‘Harp Supporters Hop On The Elicker Express’
by | Sep 23, 2019 12:25 pm | Comments (0)
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans at a pre-election site visit to the polls at Clemente School.
Editor’s note: The Registrar of Voters Office undertook a months-long effort in advance of the Sept. 10 primary to improve its elections operation. Read about that here. On primary day, the office and Head Moderator Kevin Arnold worked closely with the Independent to work out any potential barriers to reporting election results; thanks to that cooperation, we were able to report full results to the public 25 minutes after the polls closed. Below, Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans offers a written update on how it all went.
Continue reading ‘Registrar’s Report: We Made Progress On Election’
by | Sep 19, 2019 1:04 pm | Comments (7)
Allan Appel Photo
Heimer and Rodriguez confer.
The city’s public-financing Democracy Fund has authorized granting mayoral candidate Justin Elicker another $20,000 — but he might end up having to give it back.