Paul Bass Photos
Board of Ed candidates James O’Connell and Edward Joyner appear in the same spot in the above photo — but only because of computerized cropping. This election season, Joyner refuses to engage with his opponent in person.
Same holds for Ward 26 alder candidates Darryl Brackeen and Joshua Van Hoesen, above. For the second straight campaign, Brackeen refuses to show up along with his opponent to debate the issues.
Why?
Because, Joyner and Brackeen, both Democrats, said on Sunday, they have better ways to spend their time.
Plus, they said, their opponents are Republicans.
“If he had run as an independent,” Joyner said, “I may have reconsidered.”
Elicker Campaign Manager Kim Agyekum, ward Co-Chair Amy Marx, City Clerk Michael Smart Campaign Manager Michelle Rodriguez, and Ed Joyner at Sunday’s gathering.
Brackeen and Joyner offered those explanations when they were actually in the same spot as each other: They attended a get-out-of-the-vote gathering Sunday afternoon organized by the Democratic committee Co-Chairs Amy Marx and Sharon Jones of Upper Westville/Beverly Hills’ high-voting Ward 26. The gathering took place on the back porch of Joyner’s Judwin Avenue home.
Volunteers received assignments to knock on doors of voters on the ward’s 50 streets. And they heard pep talks from Brackeen, who’s running for a fifth two-year term representing the ward, and from Joyner, who’s running for a second full four-year term on the school board. (He also served a two-year term when the elected positions were first created.)
Both races are rematches. Joyner faces Republican James O’Connell, who ran against him in 2015, for the District 1 seat, which covers roughly the southern half of the city (including Westville, West River, the Hill, Wooster Square, Fair Haven, the Annex, Fair Haven Heights, and Morris Cove.) Brackeen faces Republican Joshua Van Hoesen, who ran against him in 2019.
Republicans are mounting their most spirited election campaign in 14 years. But they are outnumbered by registered Democrats in New Haven by almost 14 – 1 (36,515 – 2,649, with 16,497 registered unaffiliated and 615 with other parties); in Ward 26 Democrats outnumber Republicans 1,797 – 115. Democrats hold all of the contested elected New Haven offices at the municipal, state, and federal levels. The Republicans last elected a mayor in 1951. The Democrats have experienced teams of vote-identifiers and pullers in wards like 26, part of a powerhouse that produces the state’s largest vote margins for their party. Republicans do not.
In addition to running to win, the Republicans are running this year to give voters a choice, a chance to have public issues aired as part of the democratic process of elections.
That last part is proving difficult, because Democrats like Joyner and Brackeen, with their commanding advantages, are refusing to appear alongside their opponents at forums or debates. (One exception: Democratic Mayor Justin Elicker debated last week with Republican mayoral candidate John Carlson, a requirement of participating in the Democracy Fund public-financing system.)
A member of Joyner’s campaign team did reach out to the Independent last month to ask for a chance for the candidate to appear with O’Connell on a radio program “to inform the community about both campaigns.” O’Connell quickly agreed. But then the Joyner campaign changed its mind and said no.
Ed Joyner at Sunday’s gathering, with ward Co-Chair Sharon Jones.
Joyner was asked Sunday why he decided not to engage with his opponent.
“Why would I do that?” he responded. “This guy pops up out of nowhere. He has no track record of working with children in this community. I have been doing this for 50 years. …
“I’m not going to waste my time with that. People can vote for me based” on his record.
Click here for a detailed bio on Joyner’s decades-long career in education.
Joyner added that he might have agreed to a joint appearance if he were facing an unaffiliated candidate rather than a Republican, whose national party supported a president who “made fun of handicapped people” and bragged about “grabbing women by” their private parts; and whose party supported Trump’s education secretary, Betsy DeVos.
Reached later Sunday O’Connell expressed disappointment at Joyner’s decision.
“I’m running against Dr. Joyner. I’m not running against Betsy DeVos or Donald Trump,” O’Connell said. “I’m very happy to run as a Republican. I’m somewhat flabbergasted that Dr. Joyner, who was so willing to participate in forums a few years ago, is just not willing to this year.”
He said he wrote Joyner a note asking him to reconsider his decision.
O’Connell noted that he has been active in New Haven for decades, and that he has taught in the classroom since well into the past century: 42 years at Sacred Heart High School in Waterbury, which closed this past June, and now at Kaynor Technical Vocational High School. He argued that he’s not running on the national Republican Party platform; rather he’s calling for a more civil and productive version of the now-“chaotic” Board of Education, which now divides bitterly 4 – 3 votes on major decisions; a commitment to in-person rather than remote learning; and a rethinking of the school system to improve outcomes. (Joyner argues that the board majority and Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey have brought dramatic positive change in the past two years along with Mayor Justin Elicker; he too envisions a rethinking of the schools’ approach, to challenges facing students of diverse backgrounds who wrestle with poverty and social-emotional barriers.)
Brackeen at Sunday’s gathering: Don’t let Republicans “fool you.”
Brackeen failed to respond to email and text messages seeking his participation in a joint radio appearance with Van Hoesen, who had agreed to take part. Brackeen also stayed clear of Van Hoesen in the 2019 campaign.
At Sunday’s event, he was asked why.
He responded that he is too busy.
“I have a family. I work a day job,” Brackeen said. “I’d rather focus my time on” meetings with neighbors, like this one in which more than 100 Upper Westvilleans pressed for renewed public access to Yale’s golf course.
Brackeen is actually involved in two campaigns at once at the moment: For the Ward 26 seat, to be decided in the Nov. 2 election; and for secretary of the state in the 2022 election. He has formed an exploratory committee for the latter race, saying he wants to promote more democracy in Connecticut.
Like Joyner, Brackeen also criticized Van Hoesen for allying himself with the Republican Party.
Van Hoesen, who has spoken out against Donald Trump and national Republican positions on vaccines and the Jan. 6 riot, said he agrees Brackeen should spend time with constituents — and criticized him for not, say, attending community management team meetings. Van Hoesen chairs the CMT. Brackeen said the meeting conflicts with meetings of the Board of Alders Black and Hispanic Caucus; he said he dispatches Ward Co-Chair Amy Marx as “my representative” to the CMT meetings. He also said the CMT does not truly represent the neighborhood. He added that he can be easily reached by phone, and publicly gives out his 203 – 606-0846 number.
During Sunday’s event, Brackeen warned ward workers about the Republican slate.
“The Republican Party is trying to get a foothold in cities like ours. This is all coordinated. Don’t let them fool you,” he said.