Thomas MacMillan Photo
Marty Looney made it official that he’s not running for mayor — and that he’s behind the fellow state senator who is.
Looney (pictured), majority leader of the State Senate, has come under intense pressure from supporters in recent weeks to run for mayor, especially after his law partner, Probate Jack Keyes, decided not to.
Looney told people he’d give a candidacy a “second look.” But instead he and a group of other politicos ended up convincing state Sen. Toni Harp to launch a mayoral campaign of her own.
Harp made public in an Independent interview Monday that she is indeed launching a run for the Democratic nomination for mayor. Candidates seeking to replace retiring incumbent Mayor John DeStefano will vie in a Sept. 10 primary.
While she was busy at the Capitol Monday evening, a group of her supporters, including former Alderwoman Esther Armand and former state Rep. Jason Bartlett, who ran Looney’s own 2001 campaign for mayor, were meeting at Edge of the Woods on Whalley Avenue to begin planning strategy.
“I was part of a group of people strongly encouraging her to do this,” Looney said Monday evening. “I am supporting Toni. I think she is a superb candidate. I will do everything I can to help her to become the next mayor of New Haven. She is a uniquely unifying force in the city. She will quickly become the favorite choice in New Haven; she has the knowledge and the temperament and the connections in the city to do this.”
A group affiliated with Yale’s UNITE HERE unions, who have backed candidates who now form a majority of the Board of Aldermen and control the city Democratic Party, conducted a poll last year to see if people would support a challenger to DeStefano, who at the time said he planned to run again in 2013. (He subsequently changed his mind.) The group brought its findings to Looney and Harp; the polls showed both of them beating DeStefano, with Harp the top vote-getter, Looney said. Since then, the group has been urging one of them to run for mayor.
Another member of the group discussing the campaign with Harp in recent days has been Vincent Mauro Jr., the vice-chairman of the Democratic Town Committee (and a top aide to Sen. Looney). He said he expects Democrats to rally around Harp’s candidacy.
At 5:30 p.m. on Monday, a group of Harp supporters gathered at Edge Of The Woods market to begin outlining the shape of her campaign. Bartlett was among the dozen or so people in the second-floor mezzanine seating area of the Whalley Avenue natural-foods store.
“Toni brings me here,” Bartlett said. “I’m going to probably help her orchestrate the beginnings of her campaign.”
Asked if he would serve as the manager, Bartlett said the campaign hasn’t assigned roles yet. He said Harp’s announcement “caught a lot of people by surprise.”
“When I heard it yesterday, I just went ecstatic,” said Jaqueline Harris (pictured), who was seated at one end of the meeting table. She said she used to work as Harp’s office manager.
Harris said she’s supporting Harp in part because of her work on behalf of grandparents like who are raising grandkids. She said Harp was able to raise Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF) up to $2,000 a month for people like her.
Harris said Harp would be an asset to the city because she’s so tapped into state government and knows what’s going on. “Most mayors don’t know Hartford.”
“I have supported Sen. Harp from the very beginning,” said former downtown Alderwoman Armand, seated at the other end of the table. She and Harp served together on the Board of Aldermen. “She was helpful and instrumental to me being an effective legislator.”
Armand (at left in photo) noted that Harp would be New Haven’s first female mayor. Harp will bring a lot of new voters out, especially women, Armand predicted. “She will do a lot to bring the city together.”
In addition to understanding finance and business development, Harp has “a passion for people,” Armand said.
Former Dixwell aldermanic candidate and Democratic Town Committee member Cordelia Thorpe said she remembers Harp from when she worked in the old City Hall and Thorpe ran the elevator.
“She is known as the conscience of the state of Connecticut,” Thorpe said.
More Merry
Sundiata Keitazulu (pictured at a Hill community meeting Tuesday night), the Newhallville plumber who’s running for mayor, shrugged off the news of Harp’s entry into the race.
“The more the merrier,” he said. “It’s a wide open race.”
Asked if Harp’s entry would change his campaign strategy, Keitazulu said no. “My strategy is getting people jobs. I’m not going to be affected. I’m here to win this race.”
Keitazulu said he visited Harp’s office on Whalley Avenue on Friday, looking for her support for her candidacy, but wasn’t able to see her. He said he was surprised to see her enter the race herself, just a couple days later. “This was a shocker.”