Gomes Files Legal Complaint With Potential Public Relations Blowback

Democratic mayoral candidate John Gomes on Tuesday filed a court challenge to Mayor Joe Ganim’s primary win by 251 votes, seeking…

..1. An order declaring that Gomes prevailed in the primary of September 12, 2023, and an order placing him on the ballot for the November general election; or 2. An order scheduling a new primary; and 3. Such other relief to which the plaintiff is entitled at law or in equity..

Forget the request Gomes “prevailed.” That’s perfunctory legal language in pursuit of a Hail Mary. Seeking a new primary a different query.

Gomes is represented by veteran election attorney Bill Bloss who filed a thin court complaint with the expectation of more meat on the bones.

So, the first line of business sets up both legal and public relations repercussions. Plaintiff wants:

1. Video records of all activities at absentee ballot drop boxes from the date that absentee ballots were first available, August 22, 2023, through the date of the primary, September 12, 2023.

Bloss, a mighty fine lawyer, cares nothing about public relations in the larger picture. He wants all video footage providing ammunition to persuade a judge someone stuffed the ballot box illegally against his client’s interests.

Okay, the video footage disclosed may also produce examples of Gomes’s political operatives doing the very same things alleged against his opponent in this court challenge. That enters the public relations side.

So, what we have, a mixed flow of legal and public relation wars that both matter to decide an outcome.

The relative court complaint:

On September 12, 2022, a Democratic primary was held to select the nominee of the Democratic Party for the office of mayor for the City of Bridgeport.

Defendant Joseph Ganim and Gomes were the candidates in that primary.

Election officials on September 14, 2023, reported that Ganim received 4212 votes and Gomes 3961, a margin of 251. That report was a ruling of an election official in connection with a primary for purposes of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9-329a.

Ganim received 1545 votes by absentee ballots and Gomes received 851 votes by absentee ballots.

On September 15, 2023, Gomes was made aware of a video recording maintained by the City of Bridgeport that appears to show a person who is not an election official and who should not possess absentee ballots except her own depositing what appears to be multiple 2 absentee ballots in the drop box at 999 Broad Street on September 5, 2023, at about 6:30 a.m. after exiting the building.

Another video shows another person exiting from the same building and also depositing what appears to be absentee ballots into that drop box.

Gomes is aggrieved of rulings of election officials, there has been a mistake in the count of the votes, and he is aggrieved by violations of the provisions of the Connecticut General Statutes governing the casting of absentee ballots, in one or more of the following respects: a. Absentee ballots were counted in violation of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9-l 40b( a) in that they were deposited in ballot drop boxes by someone other than the ballot applicant or the designee of a ballot applicant allowed by statute. b. On information and belief voters were provided with and cast absentee ballots who did not personally sign the application for an absentee ballot, in violation of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9-140(a). c. On information and belief voters who were provided with and cast absentee ballots were assisted by representatives of a campaign who failed to record on the absentee ballot application the fact of his or her assistance, in violation of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9140(a). 3 d. Absentee ballots were counted in violation of Conn. Gen. Stat. § 9-140b( a)( 4) in that they were returned by a member of the immediate family of an applicant without delivering them in person to the clerk. 14. As a result of the foregoing, alone or in combination, the reliability of the result of the election is seriously in doubt.