Mark Bradley Qualifies For Ballot, Setting Up August Primary For Judge Of Probate Against Paul Ganim

Backed by political operatives including city councilors Alfredo Castillo and Maria Pereira – both defending state charges of election fraud – and a crew of young people circulating petitions, attorney Mark Bradley has received sufficient signature support to wage an August 11 Democratic primary against long-time incumbent Paul Ganim.

Bradley required roughly 1,700 verified signatures of Democratic electors to qualify.

It was a painstaking process for local election officials to compare the petition sheets against the current voter rolls because many of the thousands of signatures submitted by the Bradley campaign were either not voters or currently enrolled as unaffiliated and not eligible to vote in Connecticut’s closed primary system.

Still, the Bradley camp had enough coverage around the city, be it direct door knocking or fronting grocery stores (not the most accurate place for signature collection) to get over the top.

This will engage an intriguing matchup between the veteran Judge Paul Ganim, brother of Mayor Joe Ganim and Mark Bradley, brother of ex State Senator Dennis Bradley, convicted in March by a federal jury on six counts of election fraud stemming from his 2018 run for state office. He awaits sentencing.

Part of this contrast centers on Mark Bradley, a registered Republican in Massachusetts for 20 years, according to election officials there, while also signed up as a Democrat in Bridgeport throwing clear legal implication into dual registration and bona fide residency. In at least one election several years ago Bradley voted as a Republican in Massachusetts and as a Democrat in Bridgeport on the same day.

Connecticut’s State Elections Enforcement Commission has launched an investigation of this peculiar duality.

The Bradley camp so far is campaigning largely on race to make history as the first Black-Latino to hold the position, as noted in the video above by supporter Tony Barr. It’s also trying to draw a generational contrast with an incumbent first elected in 1998. Paul Ganim has not faced a primary since 2006.

While suburban district offices focus largely on executing wills and estates, the judge of probate position in Bridgeport, by sheer demand, places a heavy emphasis on helping the city’s most vulnerable such as children and seniors addressing guardianship, conservatorship and adoptions.

Absentee ballots, as has been in past primaries, could loom large. The Bradley camp, fronted by Castillo, Pereira and Barr, has already signed out for hundreds of absentee ballot applications.

Paul Ganim, endorsed by acclamation last month by the 90-member Democratic Town Committee, will appear right next to Governor Ned Lamont on the ballot who is being primaried by Hamden State Rep. Josh Elliott. Mark Bradley will appear next to Elliott on Line B.