Is Keeley The Comeback Kid?

Former State Rep. Bob Keeley, the longest serving legislator in city history, is on the comeback trail to regain a state legislative seat he first won in 1982.

He received the paperwork Tuesday to secure signatures to place his name on the ballot for the special election to fill the seat vacated by Chris Caruso who received a state appointment from Governor Malloy.

“I’m in this race,” Keeley says. “I know this district. I’ll be at everyone’s front door. I like the challenge. We’ll let the people decide what it’s all about.”

The special election is set for Feb. 22, a time of year alien to voters. Could the turnout even hit 15 percent? The 126th State Assembly Distract has more than 11,000 registered voters, according to the city’s Registrar of Voters Office. Perhaps a few hundred votes could win that race in a large field. Only a few dozen certified signatures from registered voters in the district will qualify a candidate for the ballot. The deadline to submit signatures is Jan. 18, also the deadline for major parties to endorse candidates. But in a race like this a party endorsement may be meaningless beyond automatic ballot qualification. This is a targeted race. Find a few hundred friends and drag them to the polls in parts of the North End and Upper East Side.

Keeley would love to win back a legislative seat and stick it to Mayor Bill Finch with whom he’s had a falling out after decades of political friendship. Keeley supported Caruso in the 2007 Democratic mayoral primary won by Finch. One year later, with help from mayoral operatives, Auden Grogins defeated Keeley when he represented the 129th State Assembly District. Grogins, the blonde banshee from Black Rock, outworked Keeley. Did the banshee cause Keeley permanent political demise? Keeley’s political friends wonder if he has the fire to put in the heavy retail campaigning required in this kind of primary.

Keeley claims Finch used his influence to deny Keeley a city teaching position. Keeley was a teacher at Longfellow School for the 2009 school year and then was not renewed. These days Keeley has been serving as a freelance grants writer for a few municipalities in eastern Connecticut.

Caruso defeated incumbent Keeley in a 1990 primary, but Keeley returned two years later to win an adjoining state legislative seat in the city and became the longest serving legislator in city history. Keeley also ran three times for mayor unsuccessfully. Now he’s hoping to be the comeback kid following his legislative defeat in 2008.

Others positioning for the race include Shante Hanks, an aide to Congressman Jim Himes, Rev. Charlie Stallworth of East End Baptist Church, City Councilman Carlos Silva, Joe Giaquinto, a retired Bridgeport educator and Mark Trojanowski, a Democratic town committee member from the East Side. Caruso may weigh in with a candidate of his own to replace him in the legislature.