Former Mayor Joe Ganim says his campaign has submitted more than 2,000 petition signatures to election officials in his effort to qualify for the September 16 Democratic mayoral primary against party-endorsed incumbent Bill Finch. Ganim needs approximately 1,900 certified signatures from Democratic electors in the city with more than two weeks left to qualify. The Registrar’s Office will now review the signatures to determine if they are registered voters.
“I’m extremely proud of how my team pounded the pavement and collected more than the necessary signatures in record time,” said Ganim in a statement. “It’s inspiring to see so many volunteers motivated to get things moving again for Bridgeport. We aren’t finished though. We will continue to meet with voters to collect more signatures.”
Last Tuesday Finch received the party endorsement, and automatic ballot spot, over Ganim in a hotly contested vote in a packed Testo’s Restaurant ballroom. The next day Ganim campaign operatives began the signature process in neighborhoods across the city.
The deadline to submit signatures is 4 p.m. August 12.
Mary-Jane Foster, Howard Gardner and Charlie Coviello are also trying to make the ballot via signatures.
Statement from Finch Campaign Manager Maryli Secrest:
“Joe Ganim lied under oath for 16 years. We’re confident that voters will come to the same conclusion jurors did: Joe Ganim cannot be trusted and he doesn’t belong in the mayor’s office.”
Maybe the reason he “dropped” the signatures is he knows his supporters will pick them up.
Local Eyes? I’m sorry, your wit is over my head. And The Bridgeport Kid, so is yours. I’m not getting it.
Lisa, I’m referring to the two turncoats at City Hall.
Oh, got it.
You need to expand your horizons, dear. Go read “Chess for Dummies.”
That’s not nice!
Check and …
This blog needs a productivity index! TBK can’t even form a complete sentence.
And your mother didn’t say “no” when she should have, Local Eyes.
Finch could never get signatures this quick. Everything Finch does Ganim does better.
Congrats to the Ganim team. Tenacity and perseverance is a commendable attribute. We share that in common!
There were 2,000 signatures turned in today, however hundreds were turned in last Friday also.
I don’t recall a single citywide candidate ever gathering over 2,000 signatures in five days.
Didn’t Barabbas do well in less? Maria, don’t get too excited. How many of those signatures are Foster and Finch supporters? At least one or two, no? Then of course there are the undocumented dreamers who cannot vote.
Ah, Steven Time to take your head out of the sand, or your ass. Wherever you have been keeping it. Ganim well organized operation. The DTC endorsement was not a guaranteed event. He planned on petitioning to get on the primary ballot. His campaign has access to the same lists of registered Democrats that Finch, Coviello, Gardner and Foster have.
Bridgeport Kid, make no mistake about it, Mario Testa was expecting a tie. He wanted to break it and make front-page news. Instead, he alienated the Mayor and stabbed him in the back. I know these are qualities you respect. I will not insult you, as you do me. I will only say Ganim’s narrative will speak for itself. Finch’s respect in Hartford and Washington transcends his local reputation. This city needs a partner in Hartford and Washington and we have that. I do not care about your operations. If you are part of it then I know you. No doubt Ganim has talent working for him. Unfortunately, an educated voter will support a Mayor who has respect beyond our city.
Back to Mario, he abused his power. I am sure Finch has a well-organized team to complement all the endorsements coming down the pike. He has Steelpointe and Downtown and Btw, getting on the highway this evening, the new Roosevelt School and field looks amazing. These are the things the voters will see. They see a Mayor who has set the city on the right course.
Now, The Bridgeport Kid, I do not have to demean your existence to make my point. I do not criticize Ganim when talking to voters. It is not necessary. I focus on the positive. I would suggest you do the same. There is no passion for your candidate. Only animosity toward Bill Finch. Let’s agree to disagree and show respect. I understand you are protected under a cloak of secrecy and I am exposed. What you need to know is outside this blog I am passionately a one-man army. When I turn off the politics, I am into so much more. So Bridgeport Kid, wherever you imagine my head to be, please know my feet are firmly planted on the ground and I march forward. I expect a landslide victory! A clear mandate. I will accept nothing less.
You mistake my antipathy toward Bill Finch for support for another candidate. The primary dust hasn’t settled yet. So far there are only two serious challengers to the incumbent. From what I’ve read, you endorse Finch for the shallowest reasons. The athletic field at Roosevelt School looks great? Big deal, man. That’s not enough to earn Hizzoner four more years. Nor will the beautification of city parks, the paving of streets that ought to have been repaved 10 or 15 years ago.
People see the beautification. They also live with the violence, larceny, drug dealing and other criminal activities. Minorities in Bridgeport aren’t Minorities in the primary definition. The city is roughly one-third African American, one third Latino. Everyone has an equal share of the city of Bridgeport. The mayor has done virtually nothing to alleviate the poverty running through Bridgeport’s social fabric. Some of the poverty is grinding. There is a permanent criminal underclass rooted in the housing projects in Bridgeport, street gangs of young men who have banded together to sell drugs, firearms, engage in larceny and armed robbery. Can’t really blame them, they are only trying to empower themselves. If the city of Bridgeport had a better public education system those young men might be able to see a future longer and brighter than crime and doing life in prison on the installment plan.
• If the current mayor has really created “thousands of jobs,” why is unemployment in Bridgeport up by 41% during his time in office?
• If Bridgeport is safer than it has been for more than 40 years, why is violent crime up by more than 152%?
• Why have there been four murders in the past two weeks?
No one really cares about the athletic field at Roosevelt School; no one gives a rat’s ass about all the construction work downtown. (The mayor’s office neglected to set aside a large number of construction jobs for Bridgeport residents, he cares so very much.)
BFD.
BFD=Bridgeport Fire Department.
Joe wants to be the once and future mayor of Bridgeport. Hence 2000 signatures.
Andy, I had that for breakfast, a Blueberry Frosted donut!
It is quite clear Maryli Secrest is adept at utilizing copy and paste. Can we get a response other than Joe Ganim is a convicted felon?
Rote repetition is a core success trait–ask any politician.
Anybody check to verify the residences and forged signatures?
Ms. Secrest, Mayor Finch “lied” about giving homeowners a $600 rebate. Eight years later not $1 dollar has been issued to homeowners.
Maria, that is eight years old.
Oh please, Maria. Lying in a campaign promise is the same as stealing $1,000,000 from the taxpayers of the city of Bridgeport.
Please, grow up.
Your candidate is a convicted felon found guilty by a jury of his peers in Federal Court in New Haven.
You and Joe may not like being reminded of the fact but that is a fact. I may agree with you, for Finch to use this as a singular response to anything Ganim says is boring and tiring BUT it is what it is, deal with it!
Give Mary-Jane credit for not addressing this at all. Brilliant strategy. Not!
Bill Finch’s campaign slogan is “JOE GANIM IS A CONVICTED FELON!” He also claims to have created “thousands of jobs” (that went to construction tradesmen from out of town) and to having beautified the city’s parks (the day after the election the Bridgeport DPW will go back to dicking off).
A day in the life of Mayor Finch
Mrs. Finch: Honey, did Joe Ganim really get over 20000 signatures in one week?
MF: No! Those signatures came from Jimmy Fox.
Mrs. F.: How did Fox get so many signatures?
MF: Honey, they all came from Stop & Shop in Black Rock.
Mrs. F: Black Rock must love Joe Ganim.
MF: No listen, when I heard Fox was getting signatures from S&S, we started sending staffers over to sign Ganim petitions.
Mrs. F: Did Fox catch on to what you were doing?
MF: No! We kept changing Baseball caps, and signing different names all day, like, Bill Cosby, Donald Trump, George Bush Sr., Caitlyn Jenner, then one of our guys signed it Hillary Clinton and the dumb fluck still didn’t catch on!
Mrs. F: Oh honey, that’s so funny! And you’re so smart! Now where do all those signatures go next?
MF: To Santa Ayala, the registrar of voters.
Text from Woody: Boss standing here @ registrar’s office, so far no rejects! Old whore, BLIND AS BAT!! Now what??
Text from MF: To Woody & Secrest ABORT!! ABORT!! OPERATION SIGNATURE ASAP!!!
MF: Now I’m really FLUCKED!!!
How do you come up with these?!
Jim Fox, you are soooooo funny!