by | Sep 11, 2024 9:10 am | Comments (4)
Markeshia Ricks and Laura Glesby Photo
Miguel Pittman and Angel Hubbard.
Residents of Ward 3 now have a chance to elect a new alder, with early voting kicking off today and election day itself approaching on Sept. 16.
Here’s what you need to know.
by | Sep 6, 2024 9:37 am | Comments (3)
State Rep. Lemar at WNHH FM.
Roland Lemar has advice for Kamala Harris for her big presidential campaign debate next week: Stay the course.
Let the “ho” digs and name-calling and other insults slide by. Keep smiling. Stand above it. Let her opponent, Donald Trump, look small.
by | Sep 5, 2024 3:40 pm | Comments (12)
Jabez Choi Photo
Miguel and Sandra Pittman, on the Hill campaign trail.
Shauna Williams-Smith had never been visited by a local politician before this week. She also didn’t know about the Board of Alders, let alone the special election to replace former Ward 3 Alder Ron Hurt later this month.
But on Wednesday, Miguel Pittman showed up at her Stevens Street door to pitch his run for the neighborhood legislative role — and won a pledge of support from a Hill resident newly engaged with local politics.
Continue reading ‘Candidate Commits To Community, Communication’
by | Sep 5, 2024 1:22 pm | Comments (9)
Zola with her daughter after filing cross-endorsement paperwork at the state Capitol.
Voters will be able to cast ballots for Republican state representative candidate Andrea DiLieto Zola — without voting “Republican.”
by | Sep 3, 2024 10:34 am | Comments (17)
Laura Glesby photos
Ward 3 alder candidate Angel Hubbard kicks off the campaign launch: “I will never judge anyone for having an addiction. We do need programs.”
Rafael Rodriguez and Steven Fontanez (right) are working hard to help themselves and others out of addiction, as they told Hubbard, Valerie Boyd, and Justin Elicker.
Steven Fontanez is running out of time. He has only a few days left to stay at a sober housing program, and he hasn’t had luck finding an apartment.
Giselle Orosco is running out of patience. She’s tired of guessing whether the people who lie down outside her house are overdosing or merely asleep.
Angel Hubbard is running to be an alder for them both.
by | Aug 27, 2024 12:30 pm | Comments (2)
Contributed photo
Bartlett-Josie on the floor of the Chicago United Center at last week's Democratic National Convention.
Christine Bartlett-Josie’s phone is ringing again. Just as in 2008.
Continue reading ‘Bartlett-Josie Sees Kamala-mentum Continuing After Convention’
by | Aug 23, 2024 12:29 pm | Comments (2)
The writer with Gov. Ned Lamont.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is keeping a daily diary for the Independent this week as he attends the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
One word to describe Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech from last night: kaboom! I muttered a number of times during the speech to others nearby that she was crushing it. On the more objective measures, Kamala’s remarks met the moment in several critical respects.
Continue reading ‘Tong's DNC Diary Day 5: No Beyoncé, Kamala Delivers’
by | Aug 22, 2024 7:58 pm | Comments (1)
Paul Bass photo
DNC-invited digital whizzes at work at third-floor arena lounge.
Chicago — Legendary presidential campaign journalists Theodore H. White and Hunter S. Thompson didn’t live to cover the 2024 Democratic National Convention here. If they had, they might have found their bylines buried by a digital whiz called TizzyEnt who started building his seven-plus-million-strong audience with beer jokes and lip-synching videos.
TizzyEnt — aka central Floridian Michael McWhorter — is one of 200 “content creators” with a prime spot covering the convention at Chicago’s United Center.
Continue reading ‘"Content Creators" Crash Convention, Supplant "The Press"’
by | Aug 22, 2024 7:16 pm | Comments (11)
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Harris, and the band, at Thursday night's convention crescendo. Below: the crowd.
New Haven delegate Audrey Tyson invites U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro to join her in dancing to Stevie Wonder performing on night 3.
Chicago — Beyonce never performed as rumored at the United Center Thursday night — but Kamala Harris did.
Harris received a pop star’s reception as she delivered an acceptance speech as the first-ever Asian-American and Black female Democratic Party presidential nominee, at a convention that marked a new era in political conventions as political theater.
by | Aug 22, 2024 12:29 pm | Comments (0)
Contributed photos
Connecticut's AG with Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (center).
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is keeping a daily diary for the Independent this week as he attends the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Continue reading ‘Tong’s DNC Diary Day 4: Tammy Duckworth, Tish James, & Avocado Toast’
by , and | Aug 21, 2024 8:03 pm | Comments (10)
Chicago — Who’ll rock the United Center more tonight: Veep nominee Tim Walz? Or … Stevie Wonder?
You’re invited to weigh that and other weighty questions on the third night of the Democratic National Convention by tuning in to both the action on the floor (above) and the NHI team live-blog (below).
by | Aug 21, 2024 5:56 pm | Comments (2)
Chicago — Bernie Sanders did stand-up Wednesday. To urge labor Democrats to stand up to their own party.
by | Aug 21, 2024 1:12 pm | Comments (3)
William Tong photo
A view from the convention floor as Michelle Obama took the stage.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is keeping a daily diary for the Independent this week as he attends the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Continue reading ‘Tong’s DNC Diary Day 3: How Far We've Come. How Far We've Fallen’
by | Aug 21, 2024 8:36 am | Comments (5)
Nora Grace-Flood photos
Stephanie Thomas' brother — who lives in Chicago — tagged along to her event to assist with set-up...
... as did his daughter.
Chicago — A question arose at a Democratic National Committee Connecticut networking event:
Wallingford woman Rebecca Hyland is running for state representative against a Republican incumbent. Will she win?
by , and | Aug 20, 2024 8:01 pm | Comments (11)
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Chicago — Does Barack Obama still have the gift of giving Democratic crowds goosebumps? And what would that mean for this year’s presidential election?
Those are among the questions we’ll be weighing Tuesday night as the New Haven Independent team live-blogs the second night of the Democratic National Convention. You’re invited to watch along, and read long, with us!
Continue reading ‘DNC Live Blog, Night 2: Obamas Take The Mic’
by | Aug 20, 2024 6:37 pm | Comments (2)
Paul Bass Photos
New Haven convention power couple Rosa DeLauro and Stanley Greenberg at Tuesday's strategy confab.
Chicago — The media’s not fooling voters into worrying about the economy. They’re generally worried. Democratic elites need to recognize that fact to win national elections.
Stanley Greenberg, the New Haven campaign guru who helped Bill Clinton (and then Tony Blair and Nelson Mandela) win national elections, offered that take during a Democratic National Convention week panel focused on strategies for winning not just the 2024 presidential election, but future ones as well.
Continue reading ‘Politics Guru Greenberg Urges Dems To Return To Kitchen Table’
by | Aug 20, 2024 5:56 pm | Comments (15)
Carter Center, Paul Bass Photos
From generation to generation: Oldest delegate Carter; youngest delegate Schonberger Monday evening on the convention floor.
Chicago — The youngest delegate participating in Tuesday’s roll call at the United Center affirming the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz Democratic presidential ticket got his start handing out palm cards in fourth grade for Hillary Clinton outside New Haven’s Mauro-Sheridan School.
by | Aug 20, 2024 5:33 pm | Comments (15)
Contributed Photos
Angel Hubbard and Miguel Pittman are vying for a Hill North Board of Alders seat.
Local restaurateur Miguel Pittman and home healthcare provider Angel Hubbard are officially running to replace former Alder Ron Hurt in a special election to determine who will represent the Hill’s Ward 3 on the Board of Alders.
by | Aug 20, 2024 2:31 pm | Comments (1)
Video by William Tong.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is keeping a daily diary for the Independent this week as he attends the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
I said yesterday that we needed a signature moment, one that shakes the floors and blows the roof off. We just got started, so I don’t want to pronounce the Kaboom too early and detract from a signature moment by saying that everything was a signature moment. But last night at the Democratic National Convention we had a couple of moments that certainly came close.
by | Aug 20, 2024 12:22 am | Comments (14)
Nora Grace-Flood photos
Chicago — These were the signs that told me I was indeed at the Democratic National Convention.
by , and | Aug 19, 2024 7:08 pm | Comments (0)
Chicago — Night 1 of the Democratic National Convention will look like Night 4 was originally intended to look like: President Joe Biden delivering a keynote address, after a line-up including AOC and Hillary Clinton. Now, instead of accepting his party’s nomination to run for reelection with an effort toward a rousing convention-finale speech, he’s scheduled to join the opening night’s speakers to start the week going. Join the Independent team for a live play-by-play and commentary below.
Continue reading ‘DNC Live Blog, Night 1: Biden's Last Hurrah’
by | Aug 19, 2024 6:37 pm | Comments (3)
Arrival: William Tong with U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney and New Haven Democratic Town Committee Vice-Chair Audrey Tyson,
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is keeping a daily diary for the Independent this week as he attends the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
I am writing here on Monday morning from LaGuardia Airport waiting for my flight to Chicago. I hear I missed the big Connecticut delegation party yesterday at Bradley. I’m on the same flight as my good friend Congresswoman Grace Meng of New York, so the Asian American representation is strong on American 0386.
I must admit to feeling a bit anxious. There’s a pit in my stomach that’s not going to go away until I see President Harris take her oath. There’s some real-life reckoning peeking through the confidence, optimism and joy that Democrats are riding right now.
Continue reading ‘Tong's DNC Diary Day 1: "There's A Pit In My Stomach"’
by and | Aug 19, 2024 4:39 pm | Comments (11)
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro with State Comptroller Sean Scanlon, State Treasurer Erick Russell, and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar at DNC politics-and-pizza party.
Chicago — New Haven delegates and Connecticut politicians kicked off their time at the Chicago DNC with loaded deep dish pizza — and delved deeper into how to cook up a winning campaign over slices with a Minnesotan dinner guest, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
by | Aug 19, 2024 9:31 am | Comments (3)
Paul Bass Photo
New Haven DNC delegates Audrey Tyson and Marty Dunleavy await the flight Sunday from Bradley International Airport to the Windy City.
Chicago — New Haven’s Marty Dunleavy can be counted on to cheer when the Democratic Party formally christens the Harris-Walz presidential ticket here this week. He and fellow delegates will have lots of less glamorous work to do before that.
Continue reading ‘Delegate Dunleavy: There's Work To Do In Chicago’
by | Aug 16, 2024 3:24 pm | Comments (16)
Outside the Chicago convention in 1968.
I don’t remember all that happened when I camped with other young antiwar protesters outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
I do remember — as the nation is remembering now on the eve of next week’s Democratic National Convention — that young antiwar protesters assembled there to try to stop an unjust war, and ended up being attacked by rioting police officers on national television, while the Democratic Party tried unsuccessfully to rally around a last-minute change in who ran for president.