Charles Hare has challenged the self-proclaimed Moses of his peeps Ernie Newton for so long the Old Testament wasn’t even written. Hare joins Board of Education member Andre Baker trying to petition his way onto the ballot for an August 12 Democratic primary to fill the State House seat of a retiring Don Clemons. Newton is the party-endorsed candidate.
Hare and Baker must submit to elections officials 370 certified signatures of registered Democrats in Connecticut’s 124th State House District by June 10. The district covers the East End and runs north close to the Beardsley Park area.
Hare has fashioned himself as the anti-Newton candidate for decades with no success defeating Newton in elections be it City Council or state legislative races. But give Hare credit for something, he doesn’t take no for an answer.
Baker is trying to qualify for a grant under the state’s Citizens Election Program of publicly financed races. He must raise $5,000 in donations between $5 and $100 to receive a public grant of roughly $27,000. Newton, who occupied the State House seat prior to Clemons, is raising money outside the program because the state legislature passed a law last year prohibiting his participation following his conviction on federal corruption charges nearly 10 years ago and pending state charges for allegedly violating campaign finance laws in his 2012 candidacy for State Senate. Newton denies the state charges and is awaiting a trial that is not expected to take place until after the November election.
I thought this was going to be a story about the Tortoise and the Hare.
Baker has no Hare, but Moses does.