Dial MM For Machinations: MaryAnn McLaine Newest Write-In Candidate For Mayor

Just before the deadline, Republican MaryAnn McLaine filed the paperwork with the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s Office to run as a write-in candidate for mayor. So what? Her value is all in the initials MM, just like Marilyn Moore, another write-in candidate for mayor who has no November 5 ballot spot.

Moore lost a close September 10 Democratic primary to incumbent Joe Ganim. She has been educating voters in social media about the two-step process of voting for a write-in candidate.

From Moore’s Facebook page:

Writing in MOORE for Mayor is easy!

1. Go to the BOTTOM LINE on your ballot where it says “WRITE-IN VOTES”
2. FILL IN THE FIRST BUBBLE next to 1E
3. WRITE MOORE in the box.

Weeks ago, Ted Bromley, an attorney with the Office of the Connecticut Secretary of the State, explained how the write-in process works during a forum at the Bridgeport Public Library. He told the group that MM would suffice as a vote for Moore because it satisfies the intent of the voter. But what if you have two write-in candidates with the initials MM? The intent would be complicated.

McLaine is the wife of Joe McLaine, a former city sheriff who has occasionally posted in the OIB comments section flogging the leadership of local GOP Chair Mike Garrett.

Garrett says this has the fingerprints of Democratic Town Chair Mario Testa all over it. He calls couple McLaine Republicans in name only.

According to a spokesperson for the Secretary of the State’s Office, at the bottom of the November 5 ballot a row will appear for write-in candidates. Electors must fill in the circle for write-in, then write a name on the ballot. The optical scanner voting machines are coded so that write-in ballots filled out are separated from the rest of the ballots and then hand-counted by elections officials.

“In a write-in candidacy, the tabulator automatically sorts ballots that have the write-in bubble filled in into a special container so that the write-in votes can be hand-counted at the end of Election Day,” says Gabe Rosenberg, Communications Director for the state agency. “All ballots where the voter’s intent to vote for a registered write-in candidate is clear should be counted.”

That’s the rub. MM will now, it appears, be a disqualified vote.

Meanwhile, as Moore prepares for her write-in campaign, her political operatives hope Judge Barry Stevens orders a new Democratic primary. Stevens Wednesday afternoon will hear oral arguments in the lawsuit brought by Moore supporters.

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24 comments

      1. Ron Mackey, in the past, Mayor Ganim robosigned your paychecks and today he safeguards your benefits.
        You notice the wrong things when mentioning the mayor and I’m prepared to use mankind’s most accurate measuring device to prove it.

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        1. LE, first he must honor a signed contract, those who receive those robosigned checks put their life on the line every day they put on their uniforms to serve taxpayers like you 365 days of every year they work, what has Joe Ganim put on the line,oh that’s right Joe stole taxpayers money.

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          1. Putting their lives on the line is what makes them The Bravest.
            Doing it without death benefits is what makes me a rugged individual-your biggest risk today is eating two-alarm chili!
            Contracts need to be enforced and in that regard Ganim is faithful to his oath. Stop griping before I declare you the most ungrateful employee is Bridgeport’s history.

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          2. LE, I know that’s 5 o’clock somewhere because you make this comment, ” Ganim is faithful to his oath,” I didn’t know stealing taxpayers money was apart of Mayor Ganim faithful oath but I guess it is because it’s 5 o’clock.

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  1. Come on,Lennie. Give us a break or at least a little rest. Everyone should go to the Bridgeport Republican Town Committee FB website and Joe McClaine is listed as a Testa RINO. Excuuuuse me. Is not McLaine on City Board’s ad the token Republican. McLaine came here on OIB and said some nasty things about Garrett and Rick Torres. And when I went into Harborview to stand up to the Stefanoski(so,) governor race,I got thrown out of Harborview because Rick Torres thought that I said things that McLaine actually said.

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    1. If people voting have no idea who they are voting for and cannot identify by name that’s an entirely different problem. That is why voters will write in the last name not initials. Who has any problem with that?

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  2. This is another transparent attempt by the democratic machine, much like their fraudulent AB operation, to circumvent voter intent and not allow voters to choose their own candidate. Their trickery is insulting to Bridgeport voters intelligence in thinking that the extra step in writing in MOORE will be too hard to write in for us poor ignorant citizens. Mario, Joe Ganim and the other puppets have changed the game from an election for Mayor to a fight for the very fabric of democracy. The right for your vote to count as intended.

    Let’s put an end to this nonsense
    Writing in MOORE for Mayor is easy!

    1. Go to the BOTTOM LINE on your ballot where it says “WRITE-IN VOTES”
    2. FILL IN THE FIRST BUBBLE next to 1E
    3. WRITE MOORE in the box.

    Click links for more info about Moore Power Weekends: https://mailchi.mp/848d148e3993/write-in-moore

    Click link to get on our mailing list and to stay connected: https://mailchi.mp/331f53f3e767/marilynformayor

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  3. Haha.. Mario needs to control this election just like he has most others. Mess with his AB operation, he will instead make a mockery out of the write in process. Let this be a lesson to future candidates, the election goes through him and only him. Got it??
    Rumor has it,he will instruct his operatives to confiscate ALL pencils, pens, markers at the polls!!.
    Just heard a rumor Harlan Haus is closing down at the end of the month. Bpt, moving forward!

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    1. As long as it’s after Election Day, Joe Ganim and the DTC don’t care. Just don’t go the Michelle Lyons party at Winthrop School and confuse city officials with the fact in public

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  4. One thing is for sure , The Ganim team is nervous…. If Bohannon loses court case , he may get fired… Did Mrs Mclaine get promised a job if she throws her name in the hat? Too bad not enough voters actually read this blog or we would be able to make changes. Hope this post makes it on the blog as everyone of my posts has to be up to Judge Lennie before it gets posted. Maybe I should start my own blog?

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  5. Anything that confuses the voters or leads to miscounted votes is a victory for Joe and Mario. Period.
    As soon as the SOTS Office said that all someone needs to do to express their intent to vote for Marilyn Moore is to note her initials the search was on to find any candidate with the same initials.
    Shame on the Democratic Party in Bridgeport. What a joke.

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  6. And did anyone see in the CT Post that the mayor, the Chief of Police, Fire Department personnel, Planning and Zoning officials, the City Attorney et al will be at a meeting in the North End right before Election Day to praise Lyons and Panicia and to say somebody dropped the ball and they all apologize for not dealing with the problem. They will say they will put together a game plan and announce it sometime after the election.
    Again, another joke. Another sign of disrespect for the rank and file. And another non solution for the very real problem.

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  7. Just vote KOHUT. So much easier to spell than any other write in and this guy has the chops to fight. How great 👍 go Jeff.

    Jeff Kohut, put out a position paper and somewhere for people to go to see it.

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    1. Jeff who???? Who the hell knows this guy Jeff and position paper? How many community meetings has this guy Jeff has held in the city do that the voters can this guy Jeff what their issues and concerns are or is this guy Jeff going to tell them this what you. Another Johnny come lately, a vote for this guy Jeff is a vote for Joe Ganim and Mario Testa.

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      1. There’s no chance of Moore getting the vote of anyone I’ve discussed her with. So either a vote for Kohut or the recent republican candidate. If in the end it’s a vote for Ganim so be it. It’s most certainly not going to go to a fool. Never Will go to Moore. Word on the street, unofficial poll among my political pals and work associates is Moore who once stood behind her, they’re all gone.

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