Miguel Pittman sat in one of two electric golf carts on an Orange Street sidewalk Wednesday afternoon — after casting an early ballot for his own bid to become Ward 3’s next alder, and as he prepared to drive back to the Hill in his campaign “eye catcher” of a vehicle.
Pittman, who co-runs Sandra’s Next Generation restaurant on Congress Avenue and is a long-time civically engaged member of the Hill community, is one of two Democrats running in a special election for the open Ward 3 alder seat.
He’s running against Angel Hubbard, the ward’s Democratic Ward Committee co-chair and a home healthcare provider.
Both are vying to fill a local legislative spot left empty when former Alder Ron Hurt resigned earlier this summer.
Election day itself for the Ward 3 special election is Monday, Sept. 16, when the ward’s polling place will be Career High School on Legion Avenue.
But, thanks to Connecticut’s enactment of early voting for the first time this year, Ward 3 voters can cast their ballots ahead of time — starting today, and running through Saturday, in the basement conference room at 200 Orange St. (Click here for more details on when and where to vote.)
Only two of the ward’s 1,581 registered voters had cast their ballots early by the time this reporter swung by 200 Orange at around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Pittman said he was the first of those two.
He got to the early voting polling place at 9:37 a.m. “I just sat on my golf cart, waiting for 10” when the polling place opened.
Why’d he decide to vote early?
“As a leader, you have to lead by example,” he said. The state now allows for early voting, and “that gives more people an opportunity to come out.” These four extra days of early voting are “important” and a “good thing,” he said.
Pittman said he’s heard at the doors in the Hill that things, politically speaking, are a little “stale” in Ward 3 right now. He said he’s been greeted by excitement by prospective voters. He and his wife Sandra, who also co-runs Sandra’s Next Generation on Congress, have been in the neighborhood for more than three decades. They’re well known in the Hill.
And what’s with the two golf carts, which are decked out with “Vote for Miguel Pittman” signs.
Pittman said he owns these two vehicles. “These are not rentals.”
They give him an “opportunity to really work the third ward,” he said. He’s able to traverse the ward relatively quickly.
Plus, the golf carts are electric-powered. “I’m not polluting the air.”
The vehicles are “also very open. It’s an eye catcher.” That’s a good thing for sparking conversations about his campaign, and about life in the Hill right now. It gives him a chance to meet new residents and get them involved in Ward 3 public life.
Candidate Angel Hubbard wants to “vote with the residents” of the ward.
Update: On Wednesday afternoon, Hubbard told the Independent during a phone interview that she plans on waiting until election day itself on Monday to vote, and that she won’t be voting early. “It’s more of an official day of voting,” she said about Monday.
She said she supports anyone who wants to head to 200 Orange to cast their ballot early, but she personally is going to vote at Career on Monday so she can “vote with the residents” of the ward, and “bring more awareness and presence to the community.”
Asked what she’s been hearing at the doors during her campaign, she replied, “Life in the Hill is really troublesome” right now. There aren’t enough police officers, she said, and there’s too much loitering, especially outside the APT Foundation methadone clinic and corner stores.
“I’m fighting. I want to be the voice for the Hill,” she said. She said her campaign priorities are putting the needs of the youth and elderly first.
Outside 200 Orange...
