Paul Bass Photo
Keyes, left, at a campaign-related event last month.
Now there are four.
Four leading candidates for mayor, that is.
That’s because Probate Judge Jack Keyes —who had told people he would enter the race for mayor, and would have been the fifth candidate with a potential citywide constituency, fund-raising prowess and vote-pulling team — has changed his mind.
He made that decision officially and finally late Friday morning, the day he was originally set to retire as probate judge in order to begin his campaign.
He decided his heart was with the probate judge’s job after all.
Paul Bass Photo
“I’m so vested in this job, I realized it had become a part of my fabric,” Keyes said Friday, after weeks of racing around town and wrestling with his soul. “You’ve sometimes got to realize when you’re in the right place.”
Keyes, who is 63, has been active in New Haven political and civic life since the 1970s. He has also served as city clerk. In addition to his many civic volunteer roles in town, he has helped $450,000 a year to pay for indigent relatives to afford to take custody of children who have been orphaned, abandoned or abused.
Keyes’ decision leaves three major announced candidates — state Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, East Rock Alderman Justin Elicker, and former city economic development chief Henry Fernandez — in the race for the Democratic nomination for mayor. They are seeking to succeed Mayor John DeStefano, who is retiring at the end of 2013 after two decades in office.
It also leaves the city’s most organized vote-pulling organization, a group affiliated with Yale’s UNITE HERE union locals and the Democratic Town Committee, without an obvious likely favorite in the race. The remaining candidates will now rev up efforts to lure that organization’s support.
A fourth major candidate, Hillhouse Principal Kermit Carolina, is officially in an “exploratory” campaign phase — with a campaign manager and running mate and other top figures in place. Carolina is expected to make his candidacy official in coming weeks; click here for a story about a campaign event that drew hundreds of people to the Elks Club earlier this week. Carolina had the support among some of the union-backed members of the Board of Aldermen in recent discussions.
A Newhallville plumber named Sundiata Keitazulu has also filed papers to run in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary.
Gwen Mills, a UNITE/HERE organizer and treasurer of the Democratic Town Committee, Friday said the labor-backed coalition is focused more on issues than on specific personalities.
“They key issues for our organization are good jobs for New Haven residents, equitable and healthy neighborhood development, stronger community policing based on respectful relationships, and a network of spaces and programs for young people,” she said. “We will approach 2013 with these goals in mind.”
Keyes issued a statement Friday afternoon about his decision.
“After long consideration, I am not going to run mayor. I love my current job and want to stay,” the statement read. “I thank, greatly, the people who were kind to me, and will honor them always. This city is my home; I love it, and will hope to be part of its fabric.”