It’s official. New Haven will have only one contested primary this September: a three-way race for the Democratic nomination for Newhallville alder.
Wednesday at 4 p.m. was the local deadline for candidates who did not win their respective parties’ nominations to petition their ways onto a Sept. 14 primary ballot.
Representatives from the registrar of voters and the city/town clerk’s office both confirmed for the Independent that only two candidates for local office submitted valid petitions by that deadline.
Those were Ward 20 Democratic alder candidates Devin Avshalom-Smith and Addie Kimbrough.
As the Independent reported earlier this week, both candidates collected at least 72 valid signatures from Newhallville Democrats—thereby securing their spots on a Sept. 14 primary ballot alongside endorsed Democratic candidate Shirley Lawrence.
Although nearly a half-dozen candidates filed to run for the Democratic nomination for Fair Haven Heights’ Ward 11 alder seat, none wound up submitting petitions — meaning that incumbent and endorsed Democrat Renee Haywood will not face a primary challenge.
No Republican challengers filed petitions to trigger any primaries, either.
That means that, of the 33 local offices up for grabs this municipal election cycle, there will be only one contested primary.