by | Nov 11, 2024 4:19 pm | Comments (9)
Paul Bass File Photo
Looney: POTSS again.
New Haven’s Marty Looney unanimously won a sixth two-year term presiding over a State Senate with a souped-up supermajority.
Continue reading ‘Looney Wins Another Term As Senate President Pro Tem’
by | Nov 11, 2024 1:21 pm | Comments (40)
Thomas Breen photo
(Opinion) In recent years, Democrats have gained a reputation for being the party that champions social issues, focusing on everything from LGBTQ rights to racial justice. These are essential causes, but after this election cycle, it’s becoming more apparent that this approach alone isn’t resonating with voters as it once did.
The data shows that American voters are overwhelmingly concerned about their economic well-being — not just in terms of their wages but also their ability to afford housing, access healthcare, and support their families.
For Democrats to truly regain power and effectively challenge the conservative narratives that dominate today, they need to prioritize economic inequality as their central platform.
Continue reading ‘Election Reflection: It's The Economy, Dems’
by | Nov 8, 2024 12:32 pm | Comments (16)
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker is running for a fourth two-year term.
by | Nov 8, 2024 10:01 am | Comments (13)
What the heck just happened?
How did Donald Trump manage to convince more Americans from all walks of life, including Black and Latino voters, to cast ballots for his 2024 presidential election than he or other Republicans had for a generation?
Continue reading ‘Whisperers Explain Black/Latino Trump Vote To White Guy’
by | Nov 7, 2024 3:41 pm | Comments (9)
U.S. Sen Richard Blumenthal declined to play “political analyst” when asked why President-elect Donald Trump won, and won big, on Tuesday.
He did commit to working across the aisle with Republican colleagues to pass bills to lower prices and increase kids’ safety online — all while continuing to stand up for women’s reproductive rights and other foundational Democratic Party principles.
Continue reading ‘Blumenthal "Disappointed" By Election Results, Ready To Work "Across The Aisle"’
by | Nov 6, 2024 10:50 am | Comments (31)
Mayor Justin Elicker issued the following statement Wednesday morning in response to Donald Trump being reelected president.
Continue reading ‘Elicker On Election: "A True Setback For Our Country"’
by , and | Nov 6, 2024 8:03 am | Comments (15)
Maya McFadden Photo
10:04 p.m. Not giving up: U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro with supporters after delivering post-election remarks at the Shubert, predicting that Kamala Harris will win the presidency as the NYT needle predicted otherwise.
Incumbent Democratic state representatives crushed three Republican challengers in New Haven Tuesday night, as U.S. Senator Chris Murphy won a third six-year term representing Connecticut. the victors in the statewide Connecticut vote moments after polls closed. As national projections looked dour for Harris’s nationwide prospects, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro still projected confidence for her at a Shubert Theater gathering for her own projected victory.
Jesus of Nazareth, meanwhile, won a write-in vote on the east side of town.
Read on for moment-by-moment election updates from Independent reporters in the field.
by | Nov 6, 2024 8:02 am | Comments (3)
Following are results of votes cast at polling places in New Haven Tuesday as well as the 9,034 early votes. (Thank you, Moderator Kevin Arnold!) They do not include results of 1,758 absentee ballots that were returned as of Sunday night, election-day registration votes, and approximately 300 overseas votes. As of Tuesday New Haven had 58,405 registered voters. Meanwhile, click here for results we’re gathering for New Haven machine votes in the U.S. House and state rep races and the statewide universal absentee-ballot referendum.
by and | Nov 5, 2024 11:02 pm | Comments (7)
ARTHUR DELOT-VILAIN PHOTO
Headed back to Hartford: Reelected State Rep. Al Paolillo Jr. (at right) with Sara Amata at Portofino's after the polls closed.
The biggest not-surprise Tuesday night: Democrats captured all New Haven’s state legislative seats in the election. As they have for decades.
Continue reading ‘Dems Sweep City's State Legislative Races’
by , and | Nov 5, 2024 10:47 pm | Comments (1)
Jabez Choi photo
Debby Sauls and Rae Dehal, with Sauls's dog Jules: Nervous about the election, glad to be in community.
MSNBC election updates blared across TV screens at queer space and pan-Asian restaurant Blue Orchid, while upbeat music played throughout the bar at around 8:50 p.m.
A couple dozen people sat at the counter and around the restaurant eating and drinking, some with a blue shot that they could get for free if they showed an “I VOTED” sticker.
by and | Nov 5, 2024 9:45 pm | Comments (19)
Jabez Choi photo
EDR detritus at City Hall.
Laura Glesby photo
Luisa Miliano: Thrilled to vote, regardless of line.
(Updated) Four hours after arriving at City Hall to cast her first vote as a new U.S. citizen, Luisa Miliano found herself still waiting and waiting — along with 100 others — to make it to the end of Election Day Registration.
Continue reading ‘Would-Be Voters Wait Hours After Polls Close’
by , and | Nov 5, 2024 6:58 pm | Comments (19)
Laura Glesby photo
Memori votes for Kamala Harris.
As dozens of children lined up to drop “ballots” into a “ballot box” in a Newhallville-based kid election, 9‑year-old Memori cast a vote for Kamala Harris, while 11-year-old Syair cast a vote for Donald Trump.
The issue most on their minds? Tax policy.
Continue reading ‘Scenes From The Polls: Kids Cast "Ballots" For ... Tax Relief?’
by | Nov 5, 2024 1:35 pm | Comments (5)
Thomas Breen photos
Makenzie Webber: "No Trump."
Tyrone White: "He's got what it takes to run this country."
The wait is on, for Election Day Registration.
Makenzie Webber waited and waited and waited — for two and a half hours — to same-day register and then vote for Kamala Harris. Tyrone White eyed that same long line at City Hall and decided to leave early before casting his ballot for Donald Trump.
Continue reading ‘Same-Day-Registration Voters Line Up & Wait’
by | Nov 4, 2024 4:32 pm | Comments (0)
The Greater New Haven NAACP will be providing free rides to city residents who need help getting to the polls, in an effort to promote voting in the Elm City.
by | Nov 4, 2024 11:18 am | Comments (3)
Lary Bloom photo
From the summit of East Rock, foreigners from, say, Massachusetts can get a view of much of our new country.
Here at the Independent it is not our policy to publish articles written in the future. This is because, as far as we can tell, the future hasn’t happened yet. But we make an exception here, because we believe readers eventually will want to know how our little city became its own country.
by | Nov 4, 2024 9:44 am | Comments (0)
Allan Appel photo
Miriam Gohara, making calls for Harris-Walz.
“Hello, is Rigoberto available? I’m Miriam, a volunteer with the Harris-Walz campaign working to support Democrats up and down the ticket in Nevada.”
Friday night, with her two rescue dogs Rufus and Daisy occasionally frolicking at her feet, Miriam Gohara repeated that introductory conversational gambit into her computer about 24 more times — as part of a local effort to urge swing-state Latinos to vote blue, just days before the election.
Continue reading ‘Callers Dial For "Latinos Con Harris-Walz"’
by | Nov 1, 2024 1:19 pm | Comments (15)
Paul Bass Photo
Ganong: Vote for what you believe, without wasting your vote.
Sarah Ganong wants voters to pick a Democrat without voting “Democrat” in some races this election.
Continue reading ‘3rd Party Offers Alternative Line For Electing Progressive Dems’
by | Oct 30, 2024 8:35 pm | Comments (14)
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and GOP challenger Matt Corey field reporters' questions after their Wednesday night debate at WTNH.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris did not travel to New Haven for a head-to-head campaign debate.
I think.
But it sounded like it when two other politicians held a campaign debate televised live at WTNH’s Elm Street headquarters: two-term incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and Republican challenger Matt Corey.
by | Oct 30, 2024 3:24 pm | Comments (5)
Nathaniel Rosenberg photos
MakeHaven maker Alexandrescu: “The money leaves our market, it goes back to China and doesn’t get reinvested in the community,”
J David Wright presents Sen. Murphy with his prototype for insulating wood.
Vlad Alexandrescu explained to Connecticut’s junior senator that his water-sport-pump business has a problem.
Namely, that it’s caught in the middle of the U.S.-China trade war.
by | Oct 30, 2024 8:43 am | Comments (19)
The New Haven Democratic Town Committee has drafted a statement in support of Puerto Rico, after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called the island “a floating island of garbage” during his set at Donald Trump’s New York rally on Sunday. Read the statement in full below:
Continue reading ‘Local Dems: "We Stand With Puerto Ricans"’
by | Oct 29, 2024 5:11 pm | Comments (8)
Paul Bass photo
Acri at WNHH FM: Voters deserve "a choice."
Anthony Acri knows what it’s like to rebuild a life after a setback. He wants voters to send him to Hartford to put that experience to work for other people seeking to rebuild theirs.
by | Oct 29, 2024 2:21 pm | Comments (10)
Lisa Reisman photos
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and Honda Smith with firefighters from Engine 15 who work with kids at The Shack ...
... as artist David Coardes stands before mural of Alder Smith painted by Imani Roberts.
In the midst of a spirited game of Bingo among a group of senior citizens at The Shack, there was an interruption. It was U.S. Senator Chris Murphy stopping by — to get an up-close look at what makes the West Hills community center work so well.
Continue reading ‘Shack Teaches Senator Community "Formula"’
by | Oct 28, 2024 3:46 pm | Comments (9)
contributed photo
Shahd Omar: "I have family who's affected, friends who are quite literally watching their lineages wiped away."
A 23-year-old University of New Haven student with Palestinian roots is mounting a last-minute write-in campaign for Congress to protest the Democratic Party’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.
Continue reading ‘Last-Minute DeLauro Challenger Seeks Pro-Palestine Vote’
by | Oct 28, 2024 11:08 am | Comments (26)
Jabez Choi photos
Cherene Cotter: "To have a president come in and deport immigrants… I can’t do that.”
U.S. Sen Blumenthal (right) addresses Saturday's crowd.
With a closing pitch centering abortion access and worker power, local and state elected officials gathered on Dixwell Avenue to rally for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot — especially Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential contest with former President Donald Trump.
by | Oct 25, 2024 9:23 pm | Comments (13)
Nathaniel Rosenberg photo
U.S. Sen. Murphy (right): Harris's campaign represents broad "defense of democracy."
Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney aren’t the most natural of political allies.
But, when faced with the prospect of another Trump presidency, “there’s a lot of unusual partners being joined together today in defense of democracy. That is the actual stakes today.”
Continue reading ‘Murphy: Harris & Cheney, "Unusual Partners," Are Both Defending Democracy’