The 2012 statewide election campaigns are in full swing, but New Haven has one more day of business to focus on in order to close out 2011: Tuesday’s mayoral and aldermanic contests.
Polls open in the city’s 30 wards at 6 a.m. Tuesday. They close at 8 p.m.
Voters will choose between Democrat John DeStefano and independent Jeffrey Kerekes for mayor. The election is seen largely as a referendum on DeStefano’s record on crime, schools, and the city budget. He’s running for a 10th two-year term. He’s already the longest-serving popularly elected mayor in city history; if he wins another terms, he’ll become the longest-serving mayor, period. (Elizur Goodrich, whom the state legislature appointed, currently holds the latter record.)
Check the chart at the bottom of the story to find your ward’s voting place. To find out what ward you live in, click here.
Five wards are holding contests for aldermanic seats. (Hyperlinks bring you to stories about the races.)
• Ward 1 (Yale): Vinay Nayak vs. Sarah Eidelson. (Both are running as petition rather than party-endorsed candidates.)
• Ward 11 (Bella Vista/ Fair Haven Heights): Incumbent Independent Maureen O’Sullivan-Best versus labor-backed Democrat Barbara Constantinople.
• Ward 22 (Dixwell): Democrat Jeanette Morrison vs. independent Cordelia Thorpe.
• Ward 26 (Upper Westville): Incumbent Democrat Sergio Rodriguez vs. independent Darryl Brackeen.
• Ward 30 (West Rock/West Hills): Incumbent independent Darnell Goldson vs. Democrat Carlton Staggers. Goldson won his current term as a Democrat; he lost a September primary to Staggers, and is now running as a petitioning candidate.
You can find all our Campaign 2011 coverage archived here.
And please join the Independent at 8 p.m. Tuesday for minute-by-minute coverage of the election results. Then we’ll get started on the 2012 U.S. Senate race …
