Jorge A. Martinez, Jr. Photo
Bond at Portofino’s: I’ll continue Denise Merrill’s agenda.
It’s not the resume that counts most. It’s the talent.
That’s the reason supporters gave Thursday evening for showing up to the latest event in New Haven for next year’s secretary of the state campaign on behalf of an underdog candidate.
A couple dozen supporters came to Portofino’s restaurant to attend a fundraiser for the exploratory campaign committee of Maritza Bond, one of three New Haveners preparing runs for the job of guarding democracy in Connecticut.
Bond’s event took place in the final hours before the deadline for quarterly campaign fundraising reporting. Candidates look to demonstrate support through those fundraising reports in order to convince more backers to come on board.
In addition to Bond, the city’s health director, Upper Westville Alder Darryl Brackeen has formed an exploratory committee to lay groundwork for a 2022 run; and former Democratic Town Chair Jacqueline James said she’s about to announce her own run. Statewide, Democratic State Reps. Joshua Elliott of Hamden, Matt Lesser of Middletown, and Hilda Santiago of Meriden are also seeking to break out of the pack of potential candidates.
Paul Bass Photo
Maritza Bond addresses campaign gathering, along with Chatham Square community organizer Lee Cruz, Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee Vice-Chair Anthony Paoletto, former New Haven Mayor Toni Harp.
Why all the interest in what was formally a little-noticed position?
Two reasons:
• It may be the only statewide position (or one of two) without an incumbent running for reelection in2022. Incumbent Secretary of the State Denise Merrill is retiring.
• The profile of the position itself has grown amid nationwide battles over elections and ballot access. The secretary of the state is Connecticut’s top elections official. Besides overseeing elections, the secretary of the state is in charge of business filings and maintaining the commercial registry. The secretary of the state also proposes and lobbies for new election laws.
Interviewed at Thursday night’s fundraiser, Bond’s supporters readily acknowledged that her resume doesn’t include the specific positions that her potential opponents would bring, and the position’s occupants since 1991 have brought to the job: Elected officeholder. Campaign manager. Crafting of voting-related legislation.
The more important qualification for this job, they argued, is the talent Bond would bring: Administrative chops honed in decades of public-health positions throughout the state. Vision. Energy. And follow-through.
Former Bond boss Kimberly Staley signs in to the event with volunteer Jessica Muniz, who served as a “senior buddy” for freshman alongside Bond when they were students back in Wilbur Cross High days.
Kimberly Staley said she saw Bond’s talent when she served as Bond’s supervisor. Staley was the city of Bridgeport’s chief administrative officer when Bond worked as its health director. Staley now works in Hartford; she drove down to Thursday night’s event to show her support.
“Her skill sets are transferrable. When you think about elections, you’re looking for an administrator who can think big” and follow through, Staley said. “I know her work ethic. I know her background. She has a great deal of passion and commitment. I know positive, ethical results.”
Anthony Paoletto, vice-chair of Bridgeport’s Democratic Town Committee, made the same point in recalling serving as a member of Bridgeport’s City Council when it hired Bond: “She came in with a mission and plan to move the department forward. She put that vision into action.” (Watch his remarks and other speakers’ remarks in this video.)
Lee Cruz with city parks outdoor events chief Martin Torresquintero.
In New Haven, Bond has served as the public face of city government’s daily response to the Covid-19 pandemic. She worked with public-health students, hospitals and clinics, ministers, and community organizers to bring testing and masks, and then vaccinations to lower-income communities of color. (Read more about her efforts here.) In remarks to the crowd Thursday night, Bond spoke about that pandemic work — and her work helping businesses stay open, and helping elections officials enable people to vote — as relevant to the work she would do if elected secretary of the state. She also vowed to continue Merrill’s push for a state constitutional amendment to allow no-excuses absentee voting and other efforts to boost voting rights and access.
“I am not a politician. I am definitely an underdog,” Bond told the gathering. “But I have been a public servant for the past 20 years. … My career has been fighting for people of all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.
Bond backers Luvena Jones and John LeBlanc.
John LeBlanc was working as a bartender at one of those businesses, a local restaurant, when Bond started making her rounds as health director to enforce the city code. “I was the only staff member who didn’t get nervous,” he recalled with a chuckle. “I’ve seen how much of a hard worker she is. I know whatever she puts her mind to, she’ll get done.”
LeBlanc was seated at Thursday’s event with hair salon owner Luvena Jones, who grew up with Bond in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood. They’re now neighbors in the Heights. “She works nonstop. She puts her heart into everything does,” Jones said. “She’s not a ‘yes man’ kind of woman. The political world could use someone like that.”
The spread at Portofino’s.