OIB guest scribe Jim Callahan continues his commentary on Tuesday’s Democratic primary:
The revolution starts west of Park Avenue.
If Mary-Jane Foster has a shot in Tuesday’s Democratic primary against Mayor Bill Finch it begins in two districts: the 130th in Black Rock and the 132nd on the West Side. You can boil it down further: the Black Rock School precinct in the 130th and the Central precinct in the 132nd.
A candidate has to start someplace and it might as well be their neighborhood. Foster is from Black Rock.
You also look for areas where dissent from an administration might grow. Black Rock is fairly independent. That could be a help for a challenger. A leading administration critic has been long-time City Councilman Bob Walsh from the West Side. The West Side is independent.
They both share another thing as well: both areas were homes of large numbers of Republican votes.
Before the collapse of the Bridgeport Republican Party in the 1990s, Black Rock precinct had the largest Republican registration in the city and it was larger than the Democratic registration. It is still the largest Republican precinct in the city but Democratic registration is now overwhelming.
The West Side is a little trickier. It’s been dependably Democratic for decades but it had a strong Republican presence. A lot of good Republican candidates came from the West Side. They barely had a chance in neighborhood politics because of the Democratic strength. It forced the Dems to bring their A game throughout. A slip and a Republican might win or at least makes things uncomfortable.
Why does this mean anything? When the Republican vote disappeared, it had to go somewhere. The population of the town, and in these areas of interest, did not go down. Those Republican voters, or probably their children, are Democrats today. They are probably fairly independent Democrats, not so much committed to the status quo. Some no doubt felt forced to join the Democrats since it was the only game in town. They probably really liked Democratic Mayor Joe Ganim, who, by the way, was something of a Republican wolf in Democratic fleece.
If Mary-Jane Foster does well against Mayor Finch she will do well in those two precincts. The mayor ran dead even with State Rep. Chris Caruso here in 2007 when the mayor was running as State Sen. Bill Finch. And Finch was the state senator from the area.
Finch really should have done better if he was better known for his work in the senate. Give Caruso his due for his many years as an elected official, but he was from the North End, on the other side of Main Street, a long way away from a core Finch to win the senatorial district.
Black Rock is really a village of its own inside the city of Bridgeport. Hey, it even has its own harbor. The politics has not been Bridgeport-brawl, but it has been competitive.
The West Side largely has been identified with the Democratic organization. There’s been a split in recent years between former allies Lisa Parziale, former City Council president, and John Stafstrom, former Democratic Town Committee chair. They were once City Council partners. A split among Democrats in Bridgeport politics is not news. Fighting among themselves is the natural order of things. Parziale is supporting Foster. Stafstrom is supporting Finch
Parziale is not warm to Finch. She and Walsh get along fine these days. Walsh has spent the Finch term as mayor as the City Council’s foremost critic on administrative budget and redevelopment issues.
Two precincts do not make a 23 precinct campaign, but they vote above the city’s average. They are in play. The Foster challenge must do well in both precincts, and probably carry both districts to be in the game against the mayor.
The 132nd is on the prowl for change. The phones were good to me tonight.
Black Rock is solid blue: Obama 1,567 McCain 702 … Malloy 1,002 Foley 545
The AB DTC operation is in full force in those high-rise apartment buildings and in the senior housing complexes in the 132nd. At Sycamore Place that nice Mayor Finch took them all on a free Port Jefferson Ferry ride, even shuttled them to and from the ferry. Solicitors and politicians are not supposed to go into these high-rises but the DTC folks have different rules that apply to them. We have to work harder!
Most, if not all of those high-rises on the right side of the street as you head up Park Ave toward Sacred Heart are in the 133rd. The 132nd ends on the other side of Park over there …
I’m talking all those on North near Brooklawn Av and Sycamore Place.
Ah, The GOLDEN zone … Gotcha!
And to think I thought Foster’s 134th was the ticket to victory. She is looking stronger everywhere. I spoke to a few policemen yesterday and they hope FOSTER WINS. Dunbar school area have a lot of Foster supporters. I am feeling good. They are all saying take the cash from Finch and vote Foster. The 132nd and 134th and middle Madison Ave. area are still talking about the attempted zone changes to Testo’s restaurant that would make it a potential future site for another Sacred Heart University apartment complex/dormitory.
Funny story: I’m putting up a Foster sign on Park Avenue yesterday when a BPT Police cruiser pulls up and the officer shouts: “Hey keep up the good work! This guy Finch is a loser!”
Got a postcard from the edge of the abyss today, piece of campaign propaganda imploring me to “VOTE ROW A–ENDORSED DEMOCRATS.”
Two-word response: FUCK THAT!