(Analysis) Jorge Perez saw a vote for “change” in this week’s spirited elections. John DeStefano didn’t.
Politicians are looking at who won and why in Tuesday’s Democratic aldermanic primaries, and whether it matters beyond the confines of the neighborhoods where people voted.
Seven primaries took place in all. Most were close — one so close that absentee ballots reversed the outcome on voting machines. Another was decided by just eight votes. (A recount Friday confirmed the victors’ wins.)
Four new candidates appear ready to claim aldermanic seats: Stephanie Bauer in Fair Haven’s 14th Ward, Marcus Paca in Edgewood’s 24, Claudette Robinson-Thorpe in Beaver Hills’ Ward 28, and Darnell Goldson in West Rock/ West Hill’s Ward 30.
Another aldermen, Dixwell’s Greg Morehead, barely held onto his seat in that election decided by eight votes, in Ward 22.
Meanwhile, the balance of power on the city’s legislative branch does not appear to be significantly altered.
For extensive coverage of the elections and the issues at play, click here and here.
Taken together, Hill Alderman Jorge Perez (pictured) saw a consistent theme.
“What [the results] said was there is a desire out there for change. With the exception of [Westville’s] Sergio Rodriguez, incumbents didn’t do too well,” said Perez, who heads the board’s Black and Hispanic Caucus. “Even incumbents who won, won barely.”
What is the change people want?
It doesn’t have to do with political factions, who gets to be in power and who doesn’t, said Perez, who is allied with a bloc on the board that at times disagrees with the city administration.
The results don’t appear to have dramatically altered the balance of power on the board, between City Hall loyalists and critics.
“I believe that people do want independence, but not at the expense of trying to get things done,” Perez said. “People are looking for progress, but with a check and balance.”
In other words, Perez argued, voters are looking for neither yes-men politicians who approve City Hall policies without sufficient questioning; nor a knee-jerk opposition that automatically stands against City Hall regardless of what’s in New Haven’s best interest.
Mayor John DeStefano (pictured) saw no such nuanced message in the results.
He hit all the polling places on primary day; his staff was heavily involved in some of the candidates’ campaigns. He said he heard little if any disagreement voiced on the ground citywide about two of the biggest issues in town — school reform and policing. (He also heard not a single voter on primary day mention a certain news story that’s been getting a lot of attention in town.)
Aldermanic races are determined by how hard individual candidates work and how well they connect with voters on a message, DeStefano said. He noted that two of the new faces elected Tuesday (general election is usually a foregone conclusion in one-party New Haven) are filling open seats. One of the newcomers was supported by City Hall; another beat a City Hall-backed candidate.
“What animated the races were personal relationships in the ward,” DeStefano said.
And 23 wards didn’t even have primaries.
“This was a message for change and independence — and three incumbents returned and two didn’t?” DeStefano asked. “It stretches the facts to reach [such] a conclusion.”
A look at two wards where voters went for both new voices and change, Wards 24 and 30, offers support for both DeStefano’s and Perez’s arguments.
Voters did say they want change, and candidates ran on that.
The candidates who tailored a hyperlocal message, or knocked on the most doors, came out on top, and that seemed to make the difference.
Darnell Goldson managed to connect with voters on issues specific to West Rock, in a way that overcome a dramatic influx of City Hall employees trying to prevent his election. Goldson also is an outspoken city administration critics, and he replaces a pro-City Hall alderwoman.
In Edgewood, victor Marcus Paca was the pro-City Hall candidate, replacing someone City Hall opposed. Paca won by working the pavement relentlessly. He managed to overcome a personal handicap that could have sunk more experienced campaigns.
Did Mailings Backfire?
The firehouse burst into cheers as Marcus Paca was announced the winner. Campaign volunteers in homemade T shirts erupted in noisy recognition of a hard-fought victory that marked the end of an era: First-time candidate Paca had succeeded in unseating Ward 24’s 22-year incumbent alderwoman, Liz McCormack.
The celebration took place at the Ellsworth Street fire station in the Edgewood neighborhood as polling there closed on Tuesday night. Paca, McCormack, and their supporters had stood outside since dawn as voters stepped inside to cast their ballots.
Moments after the celebration, Paca walked through the darkened streets towards his Maple Street home and explained what he felt had made the difference in the race.
“It was a long fought battle,” he said. “My perseverance and dedication paid off … I didn’t take any constituents for granted. I knocked on everybody’s door.”
Paca also had a strong group of workers and volunteers pulling votes and handing out flyers on election day. Working the sunny sidewalk in front of the firehouse on Tuesday afternoon, Paca rattled of a list of numbers of volunteers and staff. He said he had seven pairs of vote-pullers getting people to the polls for him.
Wearing red, white, and blue Paca T shirts, his supporters surrounded the polling place. There was a grill set up on Edgewood Avenue as Biggie Smalls boomed from a black hatchback and Paca’s people held signs and waved to passing cars.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the firehouse, McCormack stood in the shade, with a smaller and less boisterous group of supporters.
While he had the support of the mayor, a large network of workers, and months of effort, Paca faced a big hurdle: details of his past that threatened to derail his campaign. In May, it was revealed that the candidate owed over $20,000 in child support to the mothers of his two children in New Jersey and Virginia. In August, news came that there was an active warrant for his arrest in New Jersey for some of that back debt.
Days before the election, last-minute mailings arrived in the mailboxes of Edgewood residents detailing Paca’s criminal record and questioning his candidacy. The flyers, postmarked from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, had no return address. McCormack and her supporters have said that they are not responsible for the mailings.
In the end, these mailings may have helped Paca’s candidacy more than they hurt it, he speculated. He said he heard that message when he went door to door: the flyers were likely interpreted by voters as a sign of desperation.
McCormack acknowledged later that the mystery mailings hurt her campaign “a little.”
The mailings certainly didn’t impress Louise Credle (at left in photo), who showed up to vote on Tuesday evening with her granddaughter Taniesha Watts (right) and her great grand-daughter Lauryn Wilson (center).
“I thought it was tacky,” she said. “It had nothing to do with voting.”
Credle said that she is a Paca supporter. After 22 years of McCormack as an alderwoman, Credle said, she is ready for a fresh face.
Other voters sounded similar themes. William Shanley (at left in photo at the top of this story), who moved to the neighborhood just a few months ago, said he supported Paca because of his youth and energy. “I want someone with chutzpah,” he said. Shanley was adamant that he didn’t want to vote for “the status quo” or for someone that might be afraid to shake things up. “He’s not afraid,” he said of Paca.
McCormack volunteer Sandra McKinnie (at right in photo) stressed the flip side of the argument: the need for experience.
She disagreed that a newcomer’s enthusiasm would be best for the ward. “We want truth to power coming from someone who has power,” she told Shanley. McCormack has the “relationships and experience and knowledge” to lead the ward effectively, McKinney argued. As an example of these relationships, McKinney pointed out State Senator Toni Harp, who came out in support of McCormack as the polls neared closing time.
“I’m supporting Liz,” said Harp (at left in photo). She and McCormack were both elected to the Board of Aldermen the same year, Harp explained. “Liz is someone I can count on year in and year out.”
In addition to Harp, State Rep. Pat Dillon was also on hand as the votes were counted, as were several aldermen, showing their support for McCormack.
But when the numbers came up, it was Paca’s supporters who were cheering.
Contacted at home after the vote count, McCormack offered a few words about her loss. “I’m OK. I’m disappointed of course,” she said.
Asked what made the difference in the campaign, McCormack said, “The dynamics of the ward have changed.” She declined to elaborate further. “That’s all I want to say.”
City Hall Invasion Loses In West Rock
West Rock was awash in mayoral appointees on Tuesday as veteran vote-pullers turned out in force to bring in ballots for aldermanic candidate Carlton Staggers.
But it wasn’t enough to stop Darnell Goldson, who surged to victory with a decisive win in the aldermanic race in Ward 30, which covers the West Rock and West Hills neighborhoods.
Goldson, an outspoken critic of the mayor, ran with a promise to bring voice to an often overlooked ward. He sounded this theme when he entered the race by presenting a study showing that the mayor has never once made a board appointment from Ward 30. He built on this campaign message by drawing attention to the plight of tenants in overgrown and neglected West Rock housing projects.
Meanwhile, opponent Carlton Staggers had to deal with the details of his own criminal record surfacing, including his involvement in a recent hit-and-run accident.
While Goldson enjoyed the official endorsement of the Ward 30 Democratic Committee, Staggers had the support of the mayor. This was evident on Election Day, as DeStefano’s Chief of Staff, Sean Matteson worked to bring voters to the polls for Staggers.
Wearing a blue “Team Carlton” T shirt, Matteson waited for a voter in his car outside the former West Hills School on Valley Street, one of the ward’s two polling places. He estimated that he’d brought “two to three dozen” voters to the polls that day. “It’s been a busy day, top to bottom,” he said.
Matteson said that his personal interest in the Staggers campaign had brought him out to volunteer. “It’s about the issues,” he said. “It’s exciting to be part of something.”
Veteran vote- puller Brian McGrath was also spotted in West Rock on election day, bringing voters to the polls. Munching on chicken parmesan in a cup, he said that he was tired. “It’s depressing,” he said. “No one’s interested in politics anymore.”
The chicken parm was supplied by Democratic Town Committee Chair Susie Voigt, who said that she was delivering non-partisan food to workers at all the polling places. She said that she had been campaigning earlier that morning for Alderman Moti Sandman in Ward 28 and Marcus Paca in Ward 24.
At the West Hills School, parks Commissioner Kevin Walton was wearing a blue Staggers t‑shirt and handing out flyers. City Hall youth services chief Che Dawson pulled up wearing a Staggers T shirt and unloaded boxes of Popeye’s chicken for the Staggers team.
Goldson, campaigning near the entrance to the school’s driveway, noted that City Hall employees campaigned for Staggers all day. The mayor had shown up earlier that morning, along with Board of Aldermen President Carl Goldfield and LCI director Frank D’Amore.
“None of them live in the ward,” Goldson said. “None of them can vote.”
Goldson gestured to several of his campaign volunteers, “See all these guys? They vote in the ward. That’s the difference between these campaigns,” he said.