Tito Ayala Tries To Salvage East Side Support For Daughter Christina

Tito and Andres
Tito Ayala with nephew Andres Ayala, primary day August 2012. Photo by Jim Callahan.

Two years ago political operative Tito Ayala hooked up with 137th District Leader Gil Hernandez to seize control of politics in the East Side district from City Councilwoman Lydia Martinez, a prelude to Tito’s daughter Christina’s election to the State House. What a difference two years make. Tito and Hernandez are now on opposite slates for the March 4 Democratic Town Committee primary.

Tito had resigned from the town committee once mission was accomplished: Christina won the endorsement and was subsequently elected to the State House seat her cousin Andres Ayala vacated for a successful run for State Senate. In that time a series of legal entanglements for Christina that now includes a state investigation into possible election violations has cast doubt on her reelection chances. Mayoral aide Chris Rosario is also eying a challenge of Christina.

Gil Hernandez, Christina Ayala
Gil Hernandez and Christina Ayala campaign on primary day 2012. Photo by Jim Callahan.

As Hernandez weighed the political landscape he determined it was best to keep the district committee makeup intact. He cut a deal with Lydia to avoid a primary split and keep the peace. The Hernandez faction still holds district control with five votes. Tito, however, saw this as too risky for his daughter’s reelection chances. The 136th and 137th Districts control the endorsement for the 128th State House seat Christina occupies. So Tito is running a slate of five against the Hernandez/Martinez slate of nine in the hope he can deliver his five candidates to further the endorsement for Christina.

The top nine vote producers among the 14 candidates will be elected to the town committee. Candidates below:

137th District: Gilberto Hernandez, Lydia Martinez, Banjed Labrador, Joe Rosario, Maria Rivera, Guillermo Marin, Aidee Nieves, Juan Hernandez, Maria Ines Valle.

Challenge slate: Clinton Iannotti, Anderson Ayala, Alberto (Tito) Ayala, Jacqueline Richardson, Rueben LeBron Jr.

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17 comments

  1. It’s amazing this small group can screw up a good portion of the city. We have musical town committees in play here and they keep nominating losers to run for office in Hartford and Bridgeport. Someone please tell me what any elected official from this district has done to make Bridgeport a better place to live. Losers.

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    1. Andrew, the late Daniel Martinez and Maria I. Valle were the two best Councilpersons to serve in the 137th. Danny had and Maria has a genuine passion to serve their constituents.

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      1. Lennie, she admitted to hit and run. That is a felony. Please do not tell me there is not an honest person in the city who could not replace her. This situation is one of the reasons why businesses will not come to the city. The people had better start thinking about the city’s future rather than if a person is a relative or not.

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          1. Anybody who does not drag the city down and its prospects, because in the months coming ahead they will be huge. If you don’t believe me ask your friend Charlie B.

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  2. Just one month after the Democratic legislator got back her license after pleading no contest to a hit-and-run crash, this was on your web site Lennie, I rest my case.

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  3. *** Being accused and pleading to lesser misdemeanor charges is not being a convicted felon in the State of CT. And the only ones who are to blame for any politicos who can’t cut the mustard or are an embarrassment to their district and themselves are the voters who either voted them in or did not vote at all! *** You get what you vote for, one way or another, no? ***

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      1. Methinks there may be a change of heart in the DTC districts Christina represents. Hence, the attempt at a primary challenge by Tito. With Rosario running, I think this is a case of “all Tito’s horses and all Tito’s men.”

        Note to Tito and Sandi, if you want your offspring to continue on in her political career, teach her how to act. Right now she is an embarrassment to the City, her districts and The State. We are sick of being the butt of County, State and National jokes, and it’s representation such as this that provides the material.

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  4. Christina Ayala is not a convicted felon. However, she is a repeat offender and isn’t exactly the type of person who should be a legislator. She should do the right thing for Bridgeport and resign; although it’s obvious that isn’t going to happen. What happened with the charges, if any, her mother is facing as Bridgeport’s registrar of voters? She did allow her daughter to lie about where she lives when she ran for office. I’m not convinced, if in fact this is her defense, she didn’t know where her daughter lived for the past couple of years.

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  5. There are more people who do qualify. But when you have Andres pushing some buttons, and a few others who do not want to lose their so-called juice, this is what happens. They select someone they can control or who will go along with their agenda.

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  6. Chris R. is actually an astute political operative who does his job quite well. He may be an acolyte of Andres Ayala but he isn’t lazy, he will be a better rep than Christina, and he won’t embarrass his constituents like she did.

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