Isaac Yu Photo
Pillsbury & Perry at Thursday gathering: “A politically open marriage.”
Another mayoral election has divided an influential married couple in Prospect Hill — and once again has not prevented them from welcoming all points of view into their home.
The couple in question, the Rev. Allie Perry and Charlie Pillsbury, have played active roles in social-justice campaigns and elections in New Haven for more than 40 years. They see eye to eye on issues up and down the peace agenda.
Mayoral elections are another question. This year Perry is backing first-term incumbent Mayor Justin Elicker. Pillsbury backs Karen DuBois-Walton, who is challenging Elicker for the Democratic nomination.
Perry conversing with Shelly Altman (left) and Jeanne Musto (right).
The couple also agrees about supporting democracy and open debate. To that end, the couple invited friends to their house on Saint Ronan Street Thursday night for a meet-and-greet event with DuBois-Walton to help people make up their own minds.
Helping themselves to a Mediterranean spread prepared by Chef Aminah of CitySeed’s Sanctuary Kitchen, attendees mingled with the candidate and participated in a civil question-and-answer session.
This isn’t the first rodeo for the “politically open marriage,” as Pillsbury described it. He and Perry backed different candidates in the 2013 Democratic primary (Pillsbury for Henry Fernandez, Perry for Elicker, who ran that year as well and lost). Perry and Pillsbury held a house party then, too.
Muhummara (roasted red pepper spread), yalanji (stuffed grape leaves), and hummus.
The household split vote went national in 2016, when Pillsbury (a former Green Party candidate for Congress) cast his vote for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary while Perry chose Bernie Sanders.
Pillsbury opened Thursday night’s gathering by explaining his support for DuBois-Walton, whom he first met when she served as the city’s chief administrative officer under former Mayor John DeStefano and Pillsbury served as executive director of the nonprofit Community Mediation, Inc.
Though he credited Elicker with a “decent job,” he said DuBois-Walton’s overall resume and extensive experience made his choice a “no-brainer.”
Not so for peace activist Perry, who got to know Elicker during his tenure running the New Haven Land Trust tenure. Perry said she wants to see the mayor’s vision for the city during a non-Covid term. Still, she called both candidates “clearly very qualified people.”
Site of Thursday night’s gathering.
Their split reflects two streams of support developing in town this campaign season: People like Perry who say a first-term mayor deserves more time to put policies into place after navigating the worst public-health crisis in a century; and people like Pillsbury who have had personal contact with DuBois-Walton over her three decades of New Haven public service and been impressed with her performance and community ties.
“It’s great for New Haven that we have two strong people for mayor,” Perry said. “Not in the sense of polarization, but in the service of a more robust democracy.”
Sale secured: DuBois-Walton with Strebeigh (center) and Anaika and William Ocasio.
Speaking to 10 of the couple’s friends, many of them longstanding members of the Prospect Hill community, DuBois-Walton leaned into her experience under Mayor DeStefano’s mayoralty. She promised to deliver a “New Haven Pre-Promise” that would leverage public dollars for private investment into early childhood care for all children. (Read a previous story about her plan here.) Her strategies come from 14 years of experience helming the Housing Authority of New Haven/Elm City Communities, she said, where she secured 9‑to‑1 in private-public funding for the Quinnipiac Terrace development in Fair Haven.
DuBois-Walton’s answers on Thursday were enough to secure the votes of attendees Anaika and William Ocasio), who for many years lived in Fair Haven (they have since moved away).
“She has the experience — a lot more than what I thought,” Anaika Ocasio said. Referencing the candidate’s residence in Fair Haven, she added that DuBois-Walton “sees and lives what we are concerned about.”
Pillsbury introduces his preferred candidate.
Yale professor of English Fred Strebeigh (pictured) was still weighing his options after hearing from the candidate and having also attended Elicker’s BAR fundraiser on Tuesday.
“She would be a wonderful leader for this city. I’m so glad we have two strong candidates, and I’ll be paying close attention,” he said.
The evening didn’t change the two hosts’ allegiances.
“We’re both pretty clear,” Perry said. “We’re not going to convince each other, but we’re not really trying to.”