Moore: Game On–Poised For September Primary Fireworks Against Ganim

Moore gears up for primary.

State Senator Marilyn Moore, citing the Declaration of Independence on July 4th before supporters outside her Downtown campaign headquarters, announced publicly for the first time she will challenge Democratic incumbent Joe Ganim in a September 10 primary urging “We are going to the September primary fighting for our independence. And we will win!

Mysteriously, even some of Moore’s biggest supporters leading up to her announcement weren’t sure about her game plan: primary, straight to general election, or both?

Why? Some Moore insiders wanted her to do this, some wanted her to do that.

Now, we know.

Democratic Town Chair Mario Testa with Ganim.

Moore, it appears, is embracing a two-pronged approach: challenge Ganim in a primary with a general election backup plan likely on the Connecticut Working Families Party line.

Process: on July 23rd the Democratic Town Committee will endorse Ganim for another four-year term. The next day launches a two-week window for Moore’s campaign operation to secure approximately 2,300 validated signatures of registered Democrats in Bridgeport. If successful, she’ll appear on the primary ballot against a well-financed incumbent.

State Rep. Charlie Stallworth, also a mayoral contender, must do the same to qualify for a primary.

Four years ago Ganim made history against Bill Finch who became the first incumbent mayor to lose a primary. Could it happen in back-to-back cycles?

Depends on a number of factors. Money for one, Organization for another, and Message to complete the trifecta of MOM.

The money piece we will learn by July 10, the deadline for Moore to file her campaign finance report with the Town Clerk’s Office. Why is that critical? Money drives the other two pieces in a citywide race for mayor. Moore’s first quarter finance report shows she raised $68,000. The early money is always the easiest money to raise from friends, contacts, family and core supporters. If her upcoming report reflects the first she’d be in play to raise and spend about $200,000 for the primary.

In 2015, Finch spent about $600,000 in the primary to Ganim’s $300,000.

In Bridgeport’s mayoral history, about 50 individuals have occupied the office, all white males except for Mary Moran, a white woman who won the mayoralty in 1989 and lasted one two-year term defeated by a young Joe Ganim. If successful, the 70-year-old Moore would become the first African American.

Meanwhile, Moore’s holiday declaration:

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

The 4th of July is celebrated as Independence Day. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject to the monarch of Britain and were now united, free, and independent states. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence as a document that would explain its decision.

As you may recall I announced my candidacy on Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday. I thought that date appropriate as I liken my candidacy as a fight for equality and our civil rights. Today, on Independence Day I turn my attention to my beloved community and ask that you declare independence from a system that has been a yoke on our city.

Numerous residents have voiced their concerns about the lack of transparency and honesty in our local government, the lack of response or action by our police chief regarding the reckless actions of some police officers and recently the approval of an interim superintendent who does not have the proper credentials overseeing our children’s education and the number of assaults against our city is endless. This is not just poor management; it is designed to alienate and disenfranchise the residents of Bridgeport. It is intentional and it is controlled by a few people who have wielded perceived power to a few.

The Declaration was used to inspire troops to keep fighting. It’s now time to follow the lead of the Continental Congress and declare that we will no longer be the subject of an administration or Democratic town committee that holds a yoke on the city. We will commit to joining the fight to bring back a Democratic Party that is about the people and not about self.

I never entered into any of my campaigns for office for me; it’s always been about how do I use my knowledge of Bridgeport as a life-long resident, as an advocate for women diagnosed with breast cancer, and corporate experience to make a better place and life for everyone and, after five years in the Senate, I bring that government experience.

So today, it’s not about a primary or the general election. It is about our independence from a system that is not democratic and not equal. I believe if you join me we can win! We can win in September and we can win in November!

Make today the day we declare our independence from this Democratic Party and create a Democratic party with me as your CEO of the city. A city and party that is for all of the people all of the time.

Join me in signing onto the Declaration of Independence for a Better Bridgeport, a better way of government and let’s begin by each one of us committing to doing the work to make it happen.

“It was appropriate then, and it is appropriate now. We must have new Guards for Bridgeport’s security of the future … Marilyn Moore, Candidate for Mayor of Bridgeport.”

There are sign on sheets, volunteer sheets, and there is our own Declaration that we commit and sign today. Are you willing and ready to do the work? Because I am ready to take them on in September.

Finally, let me share with you the words of John Adams after the signing who said “I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and Defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Mean.”

I See that the end is more than worth it for Bridgeport, I see that for us! … Stand and fight with me! We are going to the September primary fighting for our independence. And we will win!

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12 comments

  1. This speech/ press release is impressive.

    Of course my favorite part is as follows”

    “…concerns about the lack of transparency and honesty in our local government, the lack of response or action by our police chief regarding the reckless actions of some police officers and recently the approval of an interim superintendent who does not have the proper credentials overseeing our children’s education and the number of assaults against our city is endless.”

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  2. I’m so excited for the first time we can make history and elect an African American mayor of this city. She also has the right experience. Last time around I wasted my vote on a third party candidate in foster when ganim and finch race was close.

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  3. Running a two pronged approach would be wise. Winning the primary might be a long shot but Ganim will spend more than she on that episode. Losing the primary and running on the other slate would work if she waged a very strong and informative campaign. I’m sure that the wheels are turning at the pizza place. If she can get the community to come out she may have a chance. It’s all about the numbers and always will be. That’s why the present DTC relies heavily on the AB vote, and EVERYBODY knows how crooked that is.

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    1. I don’t think that is total accurate. She has to run in a primary with Joe. The primary always been the game in the Port. If she can’t we the primary she most likely can’t we the general on a third party ticket. She needs the Democratic name to win. It’s hers to win and Joe’s to lost be it primary of general. There’s no strategy just bad choices and options. If she by-passed the primary and abandoned the D She would even have a hard time winning the general on a third party. You can say it is wise to have two bites at the apple but the third party option has always and always be a back up option. JS

      PS. Happy High Treason Day. Just one more thing before BAM! 🙂

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF3BXL1cQYY

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  4. ‘What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?’: Why Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech still resonates .

    On July 5, 1852, Douglass delivered his unprecedentedly powerful speech to the women of the Rochester Anti-Slavery Sewing Society in Rochester, New York, concluding, “I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.

    “Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the old world, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.”

    “The Declaration of Independence,” Handwritten by Thomas Jefferson

    The New York Public Library holds in its vast collections one of the rarest and most important documents in American history: an original manuscript of the Declaration of Independence handwritten by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. In addition to being a cornerstone of our country, the Declaration of Independence is one of the great documents of the human intellect and has formed the foundation of democratic movements for more than two centuries.

    The Declaration of Independence was completed on July 1, but before it was ratified on July 4, several changes were made to the text. A lengthy condemnation of the slave trade was removed, for example—an excision intended to appease delegates from Georgia and South Carolina. In the days after July 4, a distressed Jefferson wrote out several fair copies of his original text and sent them to five or six friends. The Library’s copy is one of four copies that have survived.

    The Library acquired its copy in 1896, when John S. Kennedy—a trustee of The New York Public Library—donated it along with other items he purchased from Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet, a noted surgeon and collector of Americana. The document is now held in the Library’s renowned Manuscripts and Archives Division.

    In celebration of the birth of the United States and the democratic values upon which it was founded, the Library is honored to share this renowned historical treasure with Library visitors for a limited time. All are welcome.

    The Declaration of Independence manuscript will be on display in Gottesman Hall. Please note that the display closes one hour before the building closes.
    Monday, July 1, 2019 | 10 AM–5 PM
    Tuesday, July 2, 2019 | 10 AM–7 PM

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