The State Elections Enforcement Commission meets on Wednesday, with a looming deadline approaching, to decide the fate of four Democratic candidates for State Senate each seeking about $110,000 in public money for the August 13 primary to replace a retiring Marilyn Moore in the Bridgeport, Trumbull and Monroe 22nd District.
Early voting for this open seat for district residents in Bridgeport begins August 5, at the Margaret Morton Government Center Downtown.
All four campaigns – law school professor Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox, former Mayor Bill Finch, City Councilman Scott Burns and ex councilman Tyler Mack – rely on the anticipated loot to rally the infrastructure to churn out a vote in a sleepy primary, the winner a huge favorite to win the general election.
Securing the dollars, an arduous task, requires raising more than $17,000 in small donations, 300 of them from the respective residents in the district communities, for the commission to sign off.
Candidates in this district have been hard pressed to get there because of Moore’s surprise late exit from the race on the last day of the state legislative session in May, leaving less than three months to qualify.
Friday is the deadline for the stretched staff and commission to approve primary dollars.