DeJesus, Gomes And Moales Receive Public Money For State Senate Battle

Game on! Nearly $200,000 in public funds will help finance the campaigns of candidates running in the February 24 special elections for State Senate and State House, per approval Wednesday afternoon by the State Elections Enforcement Commission that oversees the state’s Citizens Elections Program.

The State Elections Enforcement Commission parceled out grants to the following State Senate candidates: $71,000 for Democratic endorsed Ricky DeJesus, $47,345 for Working Families Party candidate Ed Gomes and $23,672 for petitioning candidate Ken Moales. The money will be wired into the respective campaign accounts within the next few days which means fast-blast spending in the final 10 days.

Officials in the Town Clerk’s Office this morning completed a review of petition signatures submitted by Moales to verify the more than 1,000 district electors needed to qualify for a public grant, according to guidelines here.

Candidates for the State House special election Democrat Steve Stafstrom and Republican Enrique Torres had their $21,000 grants approved last week.

On the financial side, candidates for State Senate must raise $11,250 in donations from $5 to $100 from 225 residents of municipalities included in whole or part of the district to qualify for a public grant.

In addition to meeting that threshold, minor party and petitioning challengers such as Moales and Ed Gomes had the added burden of submitting more than 1000 certified signatures from within the district to receive public funds. The  program offers a three-tiered signature process from one-third of the grant to the entire grant. A one third grant provides $23,672, based on just over 1,000 verified signatures, two thirds $47,345 for more than 1,500 signatures. A full grant, based on more than 2,000 signatures, flushes a campaign about $71,000.

The signatures come from electors within Connecticut’s 23rd Senate District that covers two-thirds of Bridgeport and a portion of western Stratford. It’s a labor-intensive process often riddled with flawed information. Elections officials match the information from the petition sheets against the voter files. The most accurate way of achieving a valid signature is knocking on doors with a voter file in hand. Sometimes campaigns will camp out in front of grocery stores to reach larger numbers of people in hopes they reside in the district as registered voters. If you’re not on the list as a registered voter, the petition signature is invalid.

As the endorsed candidate, DeJesus was not required to secure signatures for public money,

Moales’ Campaign Manager Kirk Wesley issued this statement to OIB today:

I’m not sure what our final total will be but we know that we have done the work and due diligence necessary for this campaign to qualify for at least a portion of the grant that is available and anything outside of that will be perceived as erroneous, not by myself or Pastor Moales, but by the over 100 volunteers and workers who beared the snow and treacherous conditions to engage and get signatures from over 3,000 registered voters in the past 2 weeks.

Being a petitioning candidate, it was understood that qualifying for public financing would be a daunting task that would require hard work and sacrifice, and I can wholeheartedly say that everyone involved in this campaign has dedicated themselves to that effort. We hope that our efforts are recognized in a just and fair manner. We hope that there is an understanding that those petitions were generated by people who believe in something, not just someone; and truly sacrificed their time and efforts for that belief.

This campaign is not just about Kenneth Moales Jr., this is about a segment of this community who have felt politically marginalized for years, and see an opportunity to get involved in a more relevant way. A segment that might not have as much time to post on your blog, as others obviously do, because they have to catch the bus to their job in Westport, and then bus it back to Bridgeport and still can’t afford their rent. People who are generally ignored day in and day out. Our message is focused on building people and community, but there is obviously an anti-Moales sentiment that does nothing but tear down–and it’s sad. However, this campaign is all about the people, so whatever amount of money we have and get over the next 2 weeks, that’s exactly what we will make it about … The people of the 23rd District.

DeJesus report here.

Gomes report here.

Moales report here.