Allan Appel Photo
Ward 22 aldermanic hopeful Cordelia Thorpe pitches Geneva Elm.
Ninety-year-old Geneva Elm didn’t want the absentee ballot application Cordelia Thorpe offered. “I’ll come to the poll. I’ve got osteoporosis. I need the exercise,” she said.
The exchange took place at Monterey Place Thursday as Thorpe campaigned against union-backed Jeanette Morrison in Tuesday’s general election for alderman in Dixwell’s Ward 22.
Thorpe ran against Morrison In September’s four-way Democratic primary, too. Thorpe garnered just four votes on the machines. Morrison won with 355.
Thorpe had petitioned her way onto next Tuesday’s general election ballot, too, on an independent line.
“People laugh that I got only four votes,” Thorpe said as she visited with her campaign chairperson Valerie McKinnie.
Her explanation: As a co-chair of the Democratic ward committee she said she didn’t want to be against any Democrat. “I told my supporters to wait for the general election.”
This will be the fourth time Thorpe has run since 2001, when she retired from a career in corrections. What makes her persevere, she said, is love for her community. Click here for a story of Thorpe’s activism in helping Dixwell seniors cope with bed bug infestations.
Melissa Bailey File Photo
Morrison and her daughter Jaydah.
Morrison did not return repeated phone calls for comment.
Click here for a profile of Morrison and here for a story of how she joined a slate of union-backed candidates for a wide-sweeping primary victory.
Of her previous campaigns, Thorpe said this is the most serious. McKinnie is running a crew of six people who are doing shoe leather work, like bringing Geneva Elm to the polls. Another team has been phone-banking.
Before she went on her way home to retrieve her hearing aid, Geneva Elm said, “Cordelia is a good candidate.” She said she remains undecided.