Afternoon update: The primary vote hit the halfway point at 1 p.m. and the turnout is death valley in the city and around the state. Some absentee ballot shenanigans today in the Longfellow precinct, where portions of Black Rock and West End vote, but what would a Bridgeport election be without a few operatives knocking on doors and grabbing an AB. “Lady,we need your vote.”
“Oh, that nice boy over there came by and took my absentee ballot.” Eeeeeeeee!
Woe is me. I received very few robo calls from Democratic primary candidates or surrogates the past few days. I was looking forward to listening to the agonizing scripts. How about you? Was there a fever in your phone line?
Lots and lots of mail from Dems all of whom were dwarfed in my mailbox by Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon. When you have the dough why not work all voters in anticipation of the general election matchup between Linda and Dick Blumenthal?
Ned Lamont has outspent Dan Malloy by more than three to one in his effort to win the Democratic nomination for governor. Will it be enough? Lamont has emphasized his business experience, vote for me I’ll create jobs while Malloy has highlighted his experience as mayor of Stamford, vote for me I’ll stop the middle class screwing. Low turnout should benefit Malloy, higher turnout Lamont. Most polls both public and private show this as a dead heat. If the turnout is low 30s percent and less advantage Malloy. If it creeps into the mid 30s advantage Lamont. And as for the state’s largest city where Lamont et al. will receive returns tonight at Testo’s Restaurant, the party apparatus is split between the two Dems.
Meanwhile, the GOP primary for governor that once appeared a lock for Tom Foley now appears competitive with Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele on his tail. Governor Jodi Rell threw Fedele under the bus refusing an endorsement. If Fedele comes up a smidge short guess who his peeps will blame?
I’ll be at my desk for most of the day banging phones for info. As soon as we get some numbers when the polls close at 8 we’ll let you know. Meanwhile, if you hear of anything kooky give me a jingle at 203-938-2229 or email me at lenniegrimaldi@onlyinbridgeport.com.
From SuBy:
Bysiewicz: More than 1,000,000 Connecticut Voters Eligible to Participate in 2010 Statewide Primaries
Secretary of the State Reports that Nearly 10,000 Unaffiliated Connecticut Voters Have Enrolled in a Party to Cast a Ballot on Primary Day
Hartford: Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz today announced that the latest voter registration figures show that more than 1.1 million registered Connecticut voters are eligible to cast ballots in tomorrow’s statewide primary elections. This includes nearly 10,000 unaffiliated voters who have enrolled with either the Democratic or Republican parties so far this year, enabling them to cast ballots in the August 10, 2010 primaries.
As of the afternoon of August 9, 2010 there are 1,999,641 active registered voters in Connecticut, of which some 1,155,135 are registered as Democrats or Republicans and are able to cast ballots in tomorrow’s primaries. Some 832,725 voters are registered as unaffiliated and as such unable to vote in the primaries. Since January 1st, 2010 more than 42,351 new voters have registered in Connecticut. Of those, 14,565 voters registered as Democrats, while 8,331 registered as Republicans, and 18,734 registered as unaffiliated. In advance of the statewide primaries, some 9,892 unaffiliated voters in Connecticut have enrolled with the Democratic or Republican parties to make themselves eligible to cast ballots on August 10th. Some 4,479 unaffiliated voters registered as Democrats while another 5,413 unaffiliated voters registered as Republicans. The deadline to register to vote for the August 10th statewide primaries was Monday August 9th at 12:00 p.m. Any Connecticut residents who registered past this deadline will not be able to vote in the primaries but will be able to vote in the General Election Tuesday November 2, 2010.
If voters have any questions or problems at the polls, Secretary Bysiewicz encourages them to contact their local Registrar of Voters office, the State Elections Enforcement Commission at (860)256-2940, or The Legislation and Elections Administration Division at the Secretary of the State’s Office at (860)509-6100.
Vote today!!! I will be voting later in the afternoon today. My vote will go to Lamont, Glassman, Garcia, Lembo. Bridgeport let’s make sure we Elect Ned Lamont and Gerry Garcia. Will be going by some precincts today. And oh yeah Lennie you forgot to ask how many times will you vote today!!!!!!!!! 😉
What effect will heat or weather play today?
Voting is very slow in Monroe. We usually have decent turnouts for primaries; I hope it picks up.
I don’t vote in Connecticut. If I were able, it certainly would not be for Malloy. You already have Malloy in office. He is the epitome of back-room politics. He is Finch, Joe Ganim, Testa, Timpanelli, Keeley, Mandanici, Fabrizi, et al.; the absolute worse sycophant possible. You elect Malloy and it will be business as usual. The people of Stamford had enough of him. He would not survive a reelection bid. The real municipal power in that town rests in the hands of the corporate leaders who are careful to ensure the Stamford community remains an attractive environment to keep and maintain a professional workforce capable of staffing the HQs that are so abundant.
Stamford, despite Malloy, continues to meet those objectives. He is capable of doing nothing else but to hold public office. He has no personal record of accomplishment. Sure Stamford thrives. Not because of him, but as I stated earlier, in spite of him. Sadly, Lamont would be my choice by default. I would, if able, vote for Lamont not because he is great, but because I shudder to think what an incompetent fool like Malloy would do to a state already teetering on fiscal disaster.
Finch, Testa, Keeley, Fabrizi are all supporting 3-card Lamonte. Biz as usual? Blech. Vote Malloy, Malloy, Malloy!!!
How ironic a big Lamont ad right on top of Matty’s corner I was like wowwwwww. Passed by Black Rock and voting looks steady. Will be voting this afternoon 3-ish.
“Bridgeport Now” Tue 8pm on Ch 88 Election Night.
We are following some stories reported by ‘The Independent’ newspaper, which came out last Friday. And on their front page … we filmed the curious piles of, is it dirt or toxic waste, underneath 95 at Park Avenue?
Tune in to see pictures of this stuff on TV tonight. There is no sign there that indicates what the material is and there are a lot of piles there, which locals apparently say get moved around.
I don’t see the same piles in Westport or Darien. Are they toxic material from the highway, is Bridgeport a dumping ground?
Note to Black Rock precinct moderator: challenge donj.
LET’S MAKE THIS A BRIDGEPORT PRIMARY!!!
Got up early today and went to the polls … cast my ballot … only one campaigner there as I went in … he never approached … as I came out he tried to solicit my vote for a non-primary November candidate … no workers for any of the guber candidates or the House of Lords (Senate) candidates … I guess too many people were asking “what’s in it for me?”
Worked the polls today and found one disturbing factor. There were Himes people and signs at the polls.
He is not being primaried and had no business campaigning during this primary vote it just confused some voters.
It shows he is worried about what is going to happen in November. Too Bad.
November is going to be an issue for Himes. I would expect he would not mind people being confused now if it led to votes later. There’s no Obama in this year’s general election. If anyone is going to be beatable by the Republicans (other than Governor) it will be Himes.
Just voted at Black Rock as of 6:15 542 people have voted at Black Rock school.