A sense of humor is a must in politics, putting your bruised ego aside, especially after an ass-kicking … like “I thought Halloween was the scariest night of the year.” Mayor Joe Ganim got his butt kicked statewide on Tuesday with just 19 percent of the Democratic vote, winning only his home city that also exposed some storm warnings of voter unrest with his mayoral reelection on the horizon next year. Time to stop counting bathrooms, the price of milk and political goblins.
Some pols will pull apart the Bridgeport election results be it former Mayor Bill Finch who wants his old job back or State Senator Marilyn Moore who has been encouraged to challenge Ganim next year. None of that really matters as long as Ganim pays attention to business at home. A post mortem on Ganim is way too premature. If he pays attention to business at home the rest will take care of itself. Will he?
The good news for Ganim last night, against an opponent who’s no slouch in Ned Lamont he retains a solid base of support in African American and Latino precincts. The bad news is Lamont cracked 40 percent of the vote based largely on an anti-Ganim vote in high home-ownership neighborhoods such as Black Rock, West Side, North End and Upper East Side. Democrats, particularly in Black Rock, bit harder than a hyena. In 2016, implementation of revaluation jacked tax bills beyond their breaking point.
Joe Ganim did not make his comeback because of Black Rock; he did not win that precinct in the primary or general election in 2015 but he can ameliorate some of the damage by focusing on the nuts and bolts of being mayor. Even in purely selfish political terms, if Ganim wants a statewide future he must do that.
Tuesday morning Lamont visited his Bridgeport headquarters contemplating a big win while keeping an eye on the general election understanding a November turnout in the state’s largest city is key to becoming governor. He chatted about being deferential to Ganim’s past knowing there was no value to excoriating him in the cause of attracting second-chance voters for November.
Lamont also enunciated all the right things about Bridgeport that Ganim wants as a mayor, full funding of education and payments in lieu of taxes for tax-exempt properties that would drive tens of millions more to the city, support of an open, competitive process for a gaming “destination” as he call it along the city’s waterfront.
Lamont also wondered about a representative showing in Bridgeport in Ganim’s back yard. Winning is relative in politics. You can win by losing and lose by winning.
“How do you think I’ll do in Bridgeport?” he asked.
“Forty percent is a decent number.”
Lamont got that.
He also wondered if Ganim would call him on primary night. Ganim did.
Ganim posted this on his campaign Facebook page:
Friends, we fought hard for what we believe is right for the future of our state. As Democrats, we must stick together as a party in support of the ideals of building one Connecticut that works for everyone.
Tonight, we celebrate the victories and achievements we pursued in this primary campaign.
Tomorrow, we join in the fight with our fellow Democrats to achieve together what we set out to accomplish: a unified Connecticut fighting for democratic values.
Ganim, generally a pragmatist, must now put words into action … for his mayoral future and political fortunes beyond.
I’am excited about the Billion Dollar projects Joe has coming down the road for Bridgeport, like Main st. North. Get out those gold shovels Mayor!
I think it is clear that Joe Ganim is in trouble for his re-election.
I think he can be defeated.
I know that I will do everything in my power to defeat him.
I made money on the primary based on Stevie Auerbach’s prediction of a Ganim victory. Always bet against Stevie, you’ll win every time.
Kid did you make enough to get off public assistance??
I’m not on public assistance, Stevie.
Can Finch win his old job back? If not , who can seriously beat this bum
Marilyn Moore!!!
She represents around half of Bridgeport already.
She has as much popularity or More with the African American community.
She does not have the baggage that other candidates do.
But first she needs to get re-elected to the senate again before she makes up her mind.
What planet are you on???
Bob Keeley supporter. Maybe you can be in charge of Marilyn Moore’s fundraising!!
Where is Senator Musto and who kicked his ass out of office? Oh, that’s right he lost to Senator Marliyn Moore.
Mackey are you senile? Why have you been asking me about Musto for 3 years.. ?? I do not know him… I voted for him . respect that you loser! I supported Moore after she won the primary. On this blog I have mentioned that way too much to satisfy your ignorant ass… you are the reason I wouldn’t give Moore the time of day. I am so sorry I went to Trumbull to vote for her as a delegate. Either you are mentally challenged or just plain stupid. Please do not address me Musto or Moore. You have done a fine job for Moore . Now move on to somebody like JML that wants to meet you for coffee.
This lost was so bad that Joe Ganim and Mario Testa have nothing to negotiate with Ned Lamont because Ganim only got 58% of the Bridgeport vote total where Lamont got 42%. Ganim only got 58% of the vote in Bridgeport and he lost every other town and city in the State. So what does Joe and Mario bring to the table for Bridgeport, maybe a few positions in Hartford but they can’t deliver Bridgeport with big numbers because they couldn’t get big numbers for the vote yesterday.
I would hope Joe&Mario see the writing on the wall. The people were fooled once,we gave him a 2nd chance like he begged us, and what did he do with it??.. He took it, went through the motions for a year, then said the hell with this, I want bigger things for MYSELF,screw Bpt.This was his plan from the very first time he “asked for forgiveness” on Rev Stallworth’s altar. He simply wanted to use Bpt as a stepping stone, and being as arrogant as Joe is, actually thought he could do it.Fast forward a year, and all the support he thought he would get from the inner city’s never materialized, and he not only lost the election, he got trounced!.. If somehow Ned wins and offers Joe a job, Joe would run out of Bpt to take it.
Maybe Joe can get his law license back so that he would be able to work after he’s out of office.
Forget about giving his license back. He can perform title searches or other tasks that don’t require a law license for his family’s law firm.
Surprised at how well lamont did in bridgeport did not think he was going to get more than 35 percent of the vote. He got over 40 percent of the vote in bpt
Ganim is finish. He put the governorship ahead of the people of Bridgeport.Will never get enough love to be able to get another term…
*** The best thing for Joe is to work on getting his law licence back & move on with his life.***
It’s time to clean house, get rid of Ganim, Roach, Mario, Flatto , 1/2 a Cop, and Hamilton Burger.
Mario has to be feeling wounded today,he totally misread this election.Even his backup plan,Tim Herbst got beat.Time for Mario to go away.
This election expose Mario Testa big time, he couldn’t deliver Bridgeport with a landslide for Joe. Ganim couldn’t even get 60% of the vote in Bridgeport plus he got wipeout he Black Rock.
I’m far from a mathematician but may grammar is impeccable 🙂 In my humble opinion Gamin increased his vote in the city. Those who are saying Ganim’s ambition to run for governor is just using it as a means of attack. Those people, for the most part, were never a Ganim supporter. Joe beat Bill 400 votes and Joe beat Ned by 1300. That’s almost 1000 vote gain. If Joe lost to Ned I would agree, but that didn’t happen and you know most of those people who voted for Ned voted for Bill. But I will say this Joe’s going to the war chess and whoever plans on run against him will have to find deep pockets in fundraising. Joe, I’m going to hook you up. I dump a couch on the street and cut a hole in Sikorski’s parking lot fence for the Barnum parade. Get back to the basic, go get them tiger 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7CaiWxKYBo
Robert Texeira, That was by far your best post yet. Ganim did in fact gain votes but did lose state wide. It was only an election and he will live to fight another day. At Winthrop school there were many people that didn’t vote for Joe simply because they didn’t want him to leave the city. Maybe things will be different in 4 yers after a Republican Governor. It seems like that is the way we are going. Trump will most likely be re- elected unless of course they throw him in jail.He just may pardon himself ! Congratulations to Ned Lamont and Susan Bysewitz as well as Bob Stefanowski. It should be very interesting.
Joe Ganim was the big loser Tuesday, more than any other candidate running, the voters rejected Joe Ganim statewide and even in Bridgeport but now the backup or cover-up line for Bridgeport voters is they wanted Ganim to remain mayor, please. What a bunch of bullshit, Bridgeport voters voted for Ned Lamont in order to keep Joe Ganim the mayor of Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford and the entire state or Connecticut said Bridgeport you’re right and we’ll help you by voting for Ned Lamont.
Hebrew, tell those votes who wanted Joe to remain as Bridgeport’s Mayor they didn’t have to vote for Ned, if they did, They could have just did what the roughly 40,000 other Bridgeport voters who wanted Joe to remain our mayor by staying home. With 45,000 voters wanting Joe to continue at mayor, his reelection should be set in stone then. Good Job Winthrop. 🙂 Eye of the tiger. 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24pv4eB5Ubg
Let’s not compare apples to oranges.
First, in 2015, the mayoral primary included Foster, Finch and Ganim which splintered the vote.
Second, the primary on Tuesday only included Ganim and Lamont.
Third, all three candidates in 2015 were obviously Bridgeport residents that had a base of supporters in Bridgeport.
Fourth, Ganim had the home team advantage in Bridgeport as a former resident, current mayor, and the ENTIRE DTC behind him.
Fifth, Ned Lamont is not a Bridgeport resident, nor has he ever been.
Sixth, Ganim’s largest ground operation was in Bridgeport which included a massive AB operation.
Seventh, Ned Lamont only opened a headquarters in Bridgeport a few weeks ago. He didn’t have any drivers, poll standers, phonebankers, etc. getting out the vote on Tuesday. As fas as I know, the only individual that worked on ABs for Lamont was a few of us in the Thomas Hooker Precinct. In fact, in JFK we told all our ABs to just vote ROW B straight across which helped Ganim.
With all the advantages Ganim had in Bridgeport, he should have experienced a landslide in Bridgeport. That did not happen.
Any way you look at it, this was an absolute embarassment for Ganim, Testa and the corruot DTC machine.
I usually stay home the day after an election because I am si exhausted. However, on Wednesday I called some supporters/friends, we met for lunch, and toasted to the humiliating defeat of Ganim. He was utterly humiliated and quite honestly he got exactly what he deserved.
Eight, He didn’t have you, Maria supporting him in 2015 either, Good Job. BAM. 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVzgXYGjJYs
like in 2015, Grammarish 🙂
Joe Ganim lost by more than 130,000 votes statewide and he lost every city and town in Connecticut except Bridgeport. Mario Testa machine should have beaten Ned Lamont by more than 80% to 20% right here in Bridgeport.
Mario’a “machine” only beat Bill by 400 vote, right? You are right Joe should have beaten Ned 80% to 20%. That’s why, like body and dash cams, this city goes nowhere or takes forever for meaningful advances. Those who where not in Ned’s Camp on the campaign trail for him and voted against Joe also voted against the City. Joe was never going to win the primary. There vote was meaningless, based on the out come of Ned winning the primary. It was not a city race where the BPT residents have steak in it. Steven was right about one thing, having someone from your city as governor is beneficial to that city. Joe was/is still going to be mayor of the city. They did it to thump their nose at Joe and by doing so they thumb at the city as well. There was no gain to show the city’s and its mayor up. That’s Bridgeport, and a problem, A City election, that different. Everybody who voted against Joe out side Ned camp was wrong. It was more of a vote against the city then a vote for Ned to win the primary and Joe in my opinion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_az3eNb0fI
Connecticut Primary Election Results
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/14/us/elections/results-connecticut-primary-elections.html
I’ll tell you where the humor is. Mario Testa said that Ganim did not win Bridgeport overwhelmingly because people wanted Ganim to stay as mayor of Bridgeport. Well,tonight,everyone is laughing at Mario Testa.
Remember Ed Koch the former New York City Mayor made that statement when he decided to run for governor and lost, “how I’m doing.”
Frank, Seriously there isn’t anyone laughing at Mario other than the few people on this blog. Mario is a very respected person. Ask Lisa Parziale she used to LLLLOOOVVVEEE him almost as much as she loves Bridgeport kid. Lisa loves everyone until she hates them . It is part of her mental illness and I forgive her for that.
Mario Testa showed the entire state how weak he is in getting votes for Joe Ganim and even more how bad he was in getting Bridgeport voters out to vote for Ganim but we all know now that the voters in Bridgeport wanted Joe Ganim to remain as their mayor, LOL.
The great news is Bradley, Stallworth, Tong and Woodin won!! Very sad people on this blog lack common decency to congratulate the winners! It really has become a bore to read the same dull negative comments from everyone whose candidates lost. Joe Ganim won Bridgeport but lost the race. WHAT a surprise. When you don’t have the funds!!rule nber one.. if you can’t raise money…. Maria P and Ed Gomes must take full responsibility for Aaron’s loss. You turned a good candidate into a loser with your constant negative attacks on Bradley! Well Dennis won! The surveillance cameras in Nob Hill had signs being removed at 1:30 am. Sad. The good news is that Dennis Bradley had an amazing team. We will have a smart articulate attorney in Hartford fighting for Bridgeport. The haters just have to get over it.
Joe Ganim lost “every” city and town in the he State of Connecticut except one, Bridgeport, every city and town in the entire State, they are the ones who said that they didn’t want anything to do with Joe Ganim money or no money. His message of how he was going to lead Connecticut didn’t take.
Steve, I think you know your remarks have no credibility.
Dennis was trounced at Thomas Hooker School. Dennis lost the 138th District.
Clearly, what I did benefited Aaron.
Actually, he most likely lost because of you. Just saying.
This city employee and absolute coward must be related to Steve.
The best school for Aaron Turner in the 23rd District was Thomas Hooker, but I hurt Aaron Turner.
Statistical facts don’t lie, only cowards do.
Big deal he won the 138th, he lost!!!!
Another coward. Aaron lost, that’s true. My point is that I was an asset not a liability. The numbers speak for themselves.
Steve, The sun is out today so there will be no rain on your parade from me. But I do watch Dennis Bradley closely since he came on the scene. And I have been disappointed to see a professional secure positions of responsibility and then fail to show or do the work often. Good looking with a social presence, YES. But showing up, timely, prepared for the work at hand that is likely to bring success? Too often, absent?
What is this in your recent posts about him being a loud fighter in the State Senate? Who is his enemy at this time? And what is he fighting for? Perhaps it is time to pick his strongest suit, (perhaps you can share with us) see what’s cooking at the Capitol and work it to success? Just maybe, the lonely man in the ring, slugging it out with one opponent, does not fit the story you are attempting to fashion?
And speaking of “haters”, aren’t you one to talk? Time will tell.
JML, good assessment but the senate on the state level as well as national level is not where you have loud fighter, it’s a body of only 36 and the senate works in more business like where they have to be able to talk and work out issue something that Dennis Bradley the so call smart articulate attorney didn’t do during his time on the Bridgeport Board Of Education.
Actually JML, I do not think you can point to any hate speechh from me in this cycle- I am talking and I really wish you would stop trying to engage me in conversation. I accept we are not seeing life through the same eyes and all of my candidates won- Yes Ganim winning Bridgeport was my expectation and I know he will have more successes.
It really is a shame that very few people can give accolades as well as non-constructive comments. The blog has become so redundant and negative. It has become so painful to read. ,
Bradley and Ganim had signs all over the Thomas Hooker School precinct. They had them in front of gated lots, corners, homes that don’t vote, etc. I didn’t put up a single Aaron Turner sign, not even on my own lawn.
I had someone tell me they were worried that there were so many signs in the neighborhood. I told them not to worry.
Studies have repeatedly shown that less than 3% of voters are impacted by lawn signs. They are costly and don’t necessarily make a difference.
I did not have any lawn signs when I ran against Stallworth.
I did not have the power of the pulpit.
I was not the endorsed candidate.
I only spent my state grant/contributions which totaled $32,000.
Stallworth spent his $32,000, the charter $chool industry spent another $32,000, and the East End PAC spent money on a really poorly created hit-piece on me. Stallworth outspent me more than two-to-one in a predominantly black district.
Shante Hanks had lawn signs, was the endorsed democrat, had no PAC money spent against her or in support of Stallworth, is Black, and had a much bigger operation than I did.
I lost to Stallworth by 84 votes and last I looked she lost to Stallworth by over 100 votes.
The money invested into Lawn signs can be better invested into voter outreach.
Congratulations to Charlie Stallworth and his impressive win. Congratulations also to Shante Hanks. Clearly, this young woman is a “Srong Black Woman” not tht her skin tone means anything to me. She is very smart, very engaging and she is determined. I do not hear her bad mothing Charlie Stallworth and never heard an unkind word out of her mouth. She is a class act and I understand why she was endorsed by Steven Nelson and his district. Charlie proved that you don’t need the imaginary machine to win and he had a great team working for him. I liked all of them. Shante also had a great team and I am friends with some of them. I did however, support Charlie so do please put that as a win for me– I wish all candidates great success and I know that Shante Hanks will be a force in the future. That should keep Charlie on his toes and that is a good thing. Stallworth was presented with a great opportunity. I am certain he will work it. 2 years go by in a blink.
mothing mouthing
Hey White Hebrew,Steven, Did you use chap stick when you wrote this congratulatory. I have to say this was your best “congratulatory post yet. 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg0aJ-Vjy2c
When did you Steve make this video? This explains why you two sound like fakes.
Hebrew, can you smell what the rock is cooking? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPO76Jlnz6c
Excellent choice of music- I used to promote this stuff!!!
Joe does haves good taste in music. You seem to be a Bee Gees kind a guy. Shalom 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy0rYUvn7To
Naw, Stevie prefers tall men in drag singing show tunes.
Shante Hanks is a very positive and forward looking person who is intelligent, gifted who has a bright future to serve the voters of Bridgeport. I’m in agreement that the money invested into Lawn signs can be better invested into voter outreach. This was Shante first time running for public office and I’m sure that she’s reassessing this campaign and looking to see where she can make improvements. I know that this is just the start for Ms Hanks.
Ron Mackey , I knew there was something in this world we had to agree on. Shante Hanks.
Ok perhaps the losers should go around and clean up all the signs,Chopsey Hill Road is a mess.
String Fellow I agree. I know I have been picking up signs as they are unsightly. There are still a few BOB KEELey signs on Park Avenue. How pathetic is that Bob Walsh and Jim Fox. Talk about supporting a loser..Perhaps you can pay his delinquent parking tickets?? The City of Bridgeport and the taxpayers would certainly appreciate it..
Why don’t you act like a proud resident of Bridgeport and remove ALL the “unsightly” campaign signs instead of bitching about it?
Please, he can’t do that because Joe and Mario got their ass kicked by Ned Lamont who earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1976 and a Master of Business Administration from the Yale School of Management in 1980. Steve is now wishing that a Republican becomes the next governor of Connecticut because his guy lost, hopefully Joe Ganim is not as pissed as Steve.