Mayoral Hopefuls Start Petition Scramble

Jeffrey Kerekes Tuesday found out that he collected more than the 104 certified signatures he needed to land a spot on the ballot for the November general election. That was the easy part. Now comes the tougher test, in which he and fellow mayoral candidates need to collect over 2,000 signatures in just two weeks to make it to the Democratic primary — a threshold 20 times higher.

The Democratic Town Committee voted Tuesday to endorse Mayor John DeStefano in his quest for a record 10th term. So DeStefano’s name will appear in the top line on the Sept. 13 primary ballot. The campaigns of DeStefano’s three would-be challengers plan to hit the streets Wednesday to petitioning in hopes of having their names appear on the primary ballot, too.

It’s a short-term, challenging quest for the campaigns of outsiders with little cash. The rules, which have been that way as long as anyone can remember, are determined by state law. Several candidates called the process unfair, especially given the short window of time to collect the signatures. Some longtime Democrats defended the rules as a good test of a candidate’s viability. However, no one could explain why the threshold is 20 times higher for the primary than the general election.

Kerekes, Clifton Graves, and former Aldermen Tony Dawson and Robert Lee are all entering the game of Mayoral Candidate Survivor: To make it on the primary ballot, they need to get signatures equal to 5 percent of registered Democrats across New Haven. The test may thin out the candidate field, as it did in 2007, when mayoral contender Jim Newton failed to make the primary ballot.

“Our campaign is at a crossroads,” Graves said this week. ​“This is put up or shut up, and get out and get the signatures.”

As of the latest count, candidates need 2,094 signatures to get on the primary ballot. And they need to do it by 4 p.m. Aug. 10.

Campaigns generally assume they need far more than the minimum, since some signatures get rejected in the certification process.

“It’s really kind of crazy,” Kerekes said of the challenge ahead. ​“It’s geared obviously toward the incumbent.”

“I think it’s very unfair, especially when you have to do that many,” said Lee (pictured), ​“and you don’t have time to do it.”

Kerekes said going door-to-door for signatures has proved difficult this summer; his campaign volunteers are finding only 10 percent of people are home when they knock.

Kerekes highlighted the disparity between the two thresholds Tuesday as he showed up to the city clerk’s office. He has been working for months to collect signatures to get on the general election ballot through what’s called a nominating petition. To do so, he needed signatures totaling 1 percent of the number of people who cast votes for the mayor last election.

In 2009, just 10,399 people, or 16.25 percent of registered voters, pulled levers for mayor in the general election. So Kerekes needed 104 signatures from registered voters to land a spot on the Nov. 8 ballot. He submitted 150.

On Tuesday, Deputy City/Town Clerk Sally Brown (at left in photo at the top of the story) handed back his petition with 131 out of 150 submitted signatures approved, which means he’s certified to be on the November ballot.

Kerekes had seven and a half months to collect those signatures, from Jan. 1. to Aug. 10. He questioned why the window of time is so much narrower for the primary ballot, while the number of signatures is greater.

Getting 2,094 signatures really means 20 percent of the number of people who voted last mayoral election, Kerekes said.

Av Harris, spokesman for the Office of the Secretary of The State, which oversees state elections, said he doesn’t know why the thresholds are so far apart: ​“I cannot really tell you why the differing petitioning thresholds were put into law. They’ve been put into law for a long time.”

The ​“Real Campaign” Test

New Haven state Sen. Martin Looney, who’s been involved in New Haven elections for over 35 years, called the system fair. The scramble for signatures is ​“a good organizational test” for a candidate, he said.

“It separates candidates who are just running a press release campaign with no real organization from those who have the capacity to run a legitimate campaign,” Looney said.

Looney should know: He had to pass the same test to get on the primary ballot in 2001, DeStefano’s last competitive primary. The petition gauntlet can be a way a campaign shows strength, Looney said: When former Mayor John Daniels started gathering signatures in 1989, that was an early sign that his campaign had ​“momentum.”

Susie Voigt, chair of the Democratic Town Committee, called the thresholds and timeframes ​“reasonable.”

“If you’re running for a position like mayor,” Voigt reasoned, you should be able to show support citywide. She called the 1 percent threshold for general elections ​“frivolously small.” ​“It does not indicate the broad support and effort that I would expect a candidate to get.”

Voigt called the process of gathering petitions ​“a real opportunity to get out and meet candidates,” she said, ​“a better opportunity than the endorsement,” which earns a candidate merely a spot on the top of the ballot and a couple of news stories.

The 20-plus aldermanic hopefuls who didn’t get endorsed will be going through the process, too. They also need signatures from 5 percent of the registered Democrats in their ward, which equates to 45 to 94 signatures, depending on the ward.

New Haven state Rep. Roland Lemar said he thinks the 5 percent threshold for aldermanic candidates is ​“not that difficult,” but the threshold for mayoral candidates is ​“onerous.”

“It sounds really, really hard,” he said. Especially for candidates who don’t have a lot of resources, ​“spending your whole budget to have people standing on streetcorners” collecting petitions would be a major strain, he said. Lemar said no one has asked him to look at the issue, but ​“if candidates across the state are having trouble” getting on the primary ballot, then extending the time period to get the signatures is ​“worth considering” in the name of ​“open process” and democracy.

“Stretching it out would be a healthier process,” agreed New Haven state Rep. Bob Megna.

Hitting The Streets

Dawson, Lee, Kerekes and Graves all said they plan to hit the streets Wednesday as soon as petitions are available from the Democratic registrar of voters. According to state rules, their lists of signatures can overlap — the same voter can sign all four petitions if he or she desires.

Dawson said he plans to get moving as soon as the petitions are ready. He plans to collect 3,000 signatures to make sure he has enough.

“It is what it is,” Dawson said. ​“I just have to do what I have to do and get the 3,000 signatures.”

At a press event in his headquarters Monday, Graves announced he would boycott Tuesday’s convention and focus on the petition drive.

“It’s not easy if you don’t have a team of soldiers ready to hit the streets,” but ​“our team is up to the task.”

“We’ll getting our soldiers revved up and excited to go out and knock on doors,” Graves said. He said the campaign has been preparing for the petition drive for one month.

Graves comes to the challenge with help from the campaign organization associated with state Sen. Toni Harp — and from workers like Ruby White.

“Messed-Up” Hair

White (pictured), Graves’ office manager, said the campaign has already held several trainings with campaign volunteers on how to collect signatures. In the latest one, she took part in a role play.

“I messed up my hair,” she explained, and pretended she was busy straightening her locks when the campaign worker interrupted her by knocking on her door. She said volunteers need to know what they’ll come across on the doors.

White will join Graves troops at campaign headquarters Wednesday afternoon; they’ll dispatch to neighborhoods to collect the signatures they need.

Graves’ team is shooting for 3,000 signatures, overshooting to make sure they meet the mark.

Ruby White said she’s making sure to bring her sneakers.

“We’ll be out there,” she said.