Uma Ramiah Photo
Brian K. Hill & Clifton Graves.
Christmas arrived late for New Haven’s Democrats — and the 2012 U.S. Senate campaign arrived early.
“The first time we tried to have our Christmas party, it turned out to be the same night as Dan Malloy’s “thank you” party,” said Susan Voigt, chairwoman of the New Haven Democratic Town Committee. So committee organizers postponed the party. Then a busy holiday season and January weather got in the way.
So they turned up Thursday evening at Abate Apizza & Seafood Restaurant in Wooster Square for a little belated celebration.
Clifton Graves and Susan Bysiewicz
And, of course, a little politics. Guess who Santa brought to dinner?
Susan Bysiewicz dropped by for a little one-on-one time with committee members in advance of her run — which has already begun — for the 2012 Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Joe Lieberman.
A second potential candidate was in the room, too: Brian K. Hill, an attorney from Hartford, who ran an independent campaign for the Senate seat Dick Blumenthal captured last fall. Hill said he is considering taking another shot.
Brian K. Hill with Norma Rodriguez-Reyes.
“I’m not affiliated with any party,” he said, “And I’m not sure that I will be.”
“Part of the reason I’m here is to acquaint myself with members of the party,” said Clifton Graves, who’s mulling a Democratic primary run for DeStefano’s mayoral seat this year. Graves worked the room, too.
“There’s some dissatisfaction in some circles with the current administration,” he said. “We all acknowledge that the mayor’s done a decent job, but it’s time for a change of attitude, voice and vision. It’s about New Haven’s issues.”