Mayor Joe Ganim won a do-over Democratic primary months after a judge overturned the previous one due to absentee ballot stuffing in Connecticut's largest city. Tuesday's vote saw Ganim defeat John Gomes, his former interim top administrative officer who barely lost the now-voided Sept. 12 primary and successfully contested the outcome in court.
It was the third time the two contenders have squared off in five months in this unprecedented and lengthy mayoral contest, and it may not end yet. The two candidates may face off in a Feb. 27 general election. If he stays, Gomes can run as a third-party candidate.
“It is again humbling for me to know that thousands and thousands of voters and people in the city of Bridgeport who we serve trudged through the weather today, overcame voter fatigue and made a strong statement by voting and voting for us to continue the progress in the city of Bridgeport,” he told rallygoers. Later in the evening, Gomes did not surrender the contest but informed supporters his campaign's vote results were disappointing.
But it’s not over because we still have more numbers to come in,” Gomes remarked. We're going to get down, review what happened, and figure out a way to the general election as a team. Gomes' campaign manager stated early Wednesday that Gomes has not decided whether to oppose Ganim again in the general election.
Both Democrats would face Republican David Herz and independent Lamond Daniels in the general election. Skeptics are more wary of elections after the mayor's contest, regardless of the outcome.
After narrowly losing to Ganim in September, Gomes released city-owned security camera footage of a lady stuffing absentee votes into a drop box many times in the morning.
It violated Connecticut law, which requires collection box users to send off completed votes individually or designate a family member, police officer, election official, or caretaker.
After a multi-day court hearing in which at least two Ganim supporters who were throwing documents into the boxes invoked their Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, Superior Court Judge William Clark tossed out the primary result.
STAY TURNED FOR DEVELOPMENT