This is an English translation of an article that appeared in La Voz Hispana.
When the Executive Committee of the Connecticut Democratic Hispanic Caucus (CDHC) called on Mayor DeStefano to consider supporting Jorge Pérez for the presidency of the Board of Aldermen, the mayor of New Haven refused to listen to the requests of the directors of this hispanic political organization. When Hispanic elected officials contacted the mayor asking him to reconsider his position and support the Hispanic alderman for board presidency, DeStefano turned a deaf ear and even went so far as to say publicly that the CDHC was irrelevant. He nevertheless attended a session of the same group to explain his political platform and later seek endorsement for it.
The CDHC is made up of elected officials, Town Committee members from various cities, and local leaders of the Democratic Party, all of whom have influence in their respective political communities and play an important role in political decisions bearing on the endorsement of candidates at the state and local level. They can make the difference in terms of votes, in close-race situations such as at this most recent convention —” besides their capacity to influence [opinion] at all levels of the party.
“Mr. Mayor, resolve the situation in New Haven and we will be disposed to support you.” This was the common phrase among all those CDHC members who called DeStefano [this past winter]. And certainly, there did exist a certain leaning among the majority of elected officials in favor of Mayor DeStefano at the State Democratic Party convention, since they saw in him a candidate with a record of work and interaction with minorities, compared to Dan Malloy in whose political past minorities figure less predominantly.
But DeStefano felt the pressure in New Haven: The president of the Democratic Party of New Haven, Susie Voigt, and members of the mayor’s closest circle stood vehemently opposed to his supporting Jorge Perez. This group was thinking more of personal political projects than of DeStefano and his aspirations for the position of governor. They underestimated and ignored the effect this decision would have at the convention. DeStefano’s refusal to support Jorge P√©rez transcended the bounds of local New Haven politics, to influence Hispanic delegates statewide participating in the recent celebrated convention. Today in many cities, Hispanics in general view the mayor of New Haven as anti-Hispanic, despite the efforts of some of his Hispanic friends to reverse this negative reputation in the eyes of a community that gains political might in Connecticut every day.
“The blame for DeStefano’s loss at the convention falls on the [local] party president,” said one pro-DeStefano Hispanic delegate at the convention who refused to give his name. Many in the New Haven political community will say that the mayor is the real head of the party and that he could have made the decision to support Jorge P√©rez, despite Susie Voigt’s opinion. Others suggest otherwise.
Other members of the circle surrounding the mayor opposed Jorge Pérez because they saw him as a rival to DeStefano and his future political aspirations.
In mid-campaign, DeStefano lost time and distracted himself with considerable maneuvering to assure that P√©rez did not end up president of the Board. Many were the hours spent by the mayor himself to impede the push for Jorge P√©rez’s candidacy. At moments, DeStefano seemed more interested in the position of Board presidency than in his own candidacy —” although all the while his true advisors, those of the old guard, those truly doing the work, told him that this decision was going to have a negative impact for his gubernatorial aspirations. They —” above all the brilliant Nick Carbone —” were right along: understanding the importance of resolving the conflict, while at the same time recognizing, as others in DeStefano’s New Haven circle did not, that there would be consequences… And there were.
Nevertheless, sources close to the Mayor’s Office said that there were moments back then when he wanted to change his position, but that the president of the Party told him that the support of Hispanics didn’t much matter.
“That day when we Hispanics attended that session of the Board of Aldermen to see if they would elect Jorge P√©rez as president, we had to leave sad, even crying. Today, look what happened to DeStefano. He should heed this lesson, he didn’t have to do what he did…” So finished a dialogue with a convention delegate who took me by the arms to lead me under cover, almost whispering his expression of a certain satisfaction at what had happened, although his own vote went to the mayor.
It isn’t possible to make a comparison between what happened to Jorge P√©rez in that winter meeting and what just happened to DeStefano at the convention, considering the different political circumstances and different arenas in which the events took place. One must think, however —” at least when one considers the votes by which each man lost, Jorge by 2 and DeStefano by 4 —” that if the mayor had listened to the CDHC when he first sought their support, the results of the convention would have been different. Did the CDHC influence the defeat of DeStefano? The answer should be sought in the number of Hispanic delegates who voted for Malloy who would have voted otherwise, and the work done that day on the floor by some of the members of the CDHC against the New Haven mayor. With political actions come political responsees.