It’s now mayor-elect Ganim. Former Mayor Joe Ganim has cemented his quest for voter redemption, handily winning back his old job, according to unofficial results. Mary-Jane Foster placed second with Republican Rick Torres a distant third. Ganim will receive the oath of office for mayor December 1 replacing incumbent Bill Finch whom he defeated in the Democratic primary.
Returning from prison in 2010 following his 2003 conviction on federal corruption charges, Ganim began the process to assimilate old relationships with new. His relentless retail campaigning with the support of passionate campaign workers paid off. He ran up large pluralities in most of the city including heavy African American precincts that carried him to an upset primary win over incumbent Bill Finch. Ganim won Wilbur Cross 678 to Foster’s 239 with Torres trailing with just 64. In the heavily Latino Marin precinct Ganim piled up 603 votes to Foster’s 248 with Torres at 79.
Ganim secured more than 50 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns, a mighty total in a seven-candidate field.
The cheering inside the ballroom of Testo’s Restaurant was ear-splitting as news of the returns were posted on a screen.
Ganim emerged to a massive ovation led by long time friend Democratic Town Chair Mario Testa who whipped up the crowd just before 9 p.m. To chants of “We want Joe,” Ganim’s Campaign Manager Danny Roach shouted “The people have spoken … and it’s all because of you.”
Ganim’s 14-year-old son Rob introduced his father to roaring applause.
“We doing alright tonight!” Ganim urged the crowd from the podium. “After months and months of hard work … tonight we not only made history but we have defined a new course for this great city … I cannot begin in this sea of faces to thank the people.”
He thanked his family.
“For me this is a city I never left. I never stopped caring … I never stopped thinking that maybe we could move this city forward again.”
Included in the crowd were many city police officers who backed his candidacy as well as retired FBI agent Ed Adams who had investigated Ganim but embraced him in his comeback effort in what took on so many surreal twists and turns that had many outsiders befuddled that a politician could reinvent himself after his heavy fall.
Ganim connected with thousands of voters who embraced his second-chance message. He also has an extraordinary skill set in connecting with voters on bread and butter issues such as taxes and public safety.
Ganim ran extraordinarily strong across the city.
Some random precinct results (unofficial):
Winthrop: Ganim 738, Torres 280, Foster 659.
Central District 132: Ganim 403, Torres 230, Foster 414
Central District 133: Ganim 402, Torres 87, Foster 226.
Dunbar: Ganim 726, Foster 150
Hooker School: Ganim 651, Foster 360, Torres 116.
Governor Dan Malloy, who opposed Ganim’s return, issued this statement Tuesday night.
“The voters have spoken, and I want to congratulate Joe Ganim on his victory. I am committed to moving Bridgeport forward and, as I have said, I will continue to put the best interests of the community first. I am hopeful that Mayor-elect Ganim will live up to the huge responsibility that comes with leading our state’s biggest city by building trust not just with those within the city he will soon lead, but with leaders statewide. We must continue to make progress in Bridgeport.”
Coverage from around the state: Hartford Courant here.
CT Post coverage here.
CT Mirror story here.
Where’s Steve? Take that, loser!
The Phantom, I don’t feel like a loser. Thank you for acknowledging me in the very first post. You may read my post by scrolling down.
Huge Congrats to Mayor Joe Ganim!
Beat the losers’ combined numbers. Sweet!
Gloating is the ugliest form of ugly. Mr. Ganim has a lot to be grateful for. He will not gloat. You should follow his lead.
Congratulations Mayor Ganim on your landslide victory. The residents of Bridgeport have spoken and they chose you. Make us proud again.
Thanks to all who ran. No Finger-pointing! No Sour Grapes!! Well said, Donald!
Now that it is over, I hope everyone will come together, put aside all negative feelings, and let’s make a better Bridgeport for everyone.
And while I’m on my soapbox, now that the election is over, I’d like to see a kinder, friendlier OIB also, we are all in this together and life’s too short for the hatred spewed here.
Well said, Frank.
Agreed!
I’m just getting home, so who won? I’m heading over to Harborview Market now to help them celebrate their victory.
Congratulation to Joe Ganim and his campaign. I just saw the Mayor-elect ask his supporters to reach out to those who chose to support other candidates and I appreciate that. For the good of our city we all need to find a way to work together. I hope we can all put this often divisive campaign behind us. The voters have spoken, end of story. Now is the time to look forward and make Bridgeport a city we can all be proud to live in.
John, I know he means that, and you are one person he will need as time goes on. You’re respected by all, and your advice and opinions would have been an asset to whomever prevailed yesterday.
Thank you for the kind words, Lisa. The election is over and it’s time for all of us to work together to move our city forward.
Oh wait a minute, ch. 12 is showing some election numbers and they’re saying Joe 7400 votes and MJF got 4,000 and Rick Torres got 2,100, but I know that number must be wrong, but Rick will still be the mayor of Black Rock.
Congratulations Joe, you got out there and you worked hard and the voters came out and said Joe, you’re our guy. All eyes will be on you Joe, but you know now is the time to show us and to make Bridgeport proud of you.
There will be a lot of attention on Bridgeport watching to see if Ganim screws up again. All the news channels are already wearing out the convicted felon wins back his office line.
I hope Joe is as relentless at clearing his name and making Bridgeport great again as he was at campaigning, it is not often in this life you get a second chance like this, and I hope Joe takes the ball and pushes Bridgeport over the goal line.
Frank Venna // Nov 3, 2015 at 9:54 pm
To your post
Frank,
Hope … along with trust are the operative words here.
To all–a clear majority of Bpt voters have spoken. We all wish Ganim well in his return to the scene of his many (16!) felonious “mistakes.” It would be nice to better understand just why Bpters, and Ed Adams, became convinced the leopard has changed his spots.
CBB, get beyond that, read Frank’s post!
Check out my above posts Come Back Bridgeport, stop the hatred and the 16 felonies crap and roll up your sleeves and help Joe make Bridgeport great again.
Like all our moms always said, if you have nothing good to say then shut up.
Frank, I understand where you’re coming from. But this is onlyinbridgeport. Here, I will not hesitate to OIBitch slap anyone into reality. Believe me, we can do this while helping to make Bridgeport what it can be. Talking about OIBitch slapping, I find it very impressive Joe Ganim managed to OIBitch slap quite a few people here on the blog without making a single OIB post.
The best part of this is Bridgeport doesn’t just only have a “Bridgeport Kid.” We now have ‘The Comeback Kid.’
Time for Torres to get back to those donuts. You lost not one election but two. No one wanted the guy. Not even in his own district. Tomorrow in the store placing bets all voters were absentee ballot corruption. From the anti-corruption Jesus himself.
MJane came in tepidly too little too late. If Torres had dropped out like he should have (look at his numbers, is there a doubt in anyone’s mind who split this election?), she should have lost with closer to 45%.
Welcome back, Mayor Ganim.
Where’s Park City and Bridgeport Kid and flicka? Is there another loser they can attach to since they were so effective? Awfully quiet out there.
A new age dawned in Bridgeport last night. Reform candidates for mayor and City Council were rejected by the corrupt political machine. Mario Testa’s bitch was re-elected by a landslide of votes secured by hook, crook, fraudulent absentee ballots and cold hard cash.
Mary-Jane Foster told the media she “fully expected to be elected” mayor of Bridgeport. At least part of the blame for her electoral repudiation can be laid at Steven Auerbach’s feet. He began Tuesday working a polling place by harassing the daughter of an opposing candidate. Good show, Auerbach. I’m sure Tom Swan and Mary-Jane will have some dog biscuits for you.
Lisa Parziale is shamelessly pleased. Her poor moral judgement was confirmed by a rigged election.
The Bridgeport Kid, I’m fortunate to work at Winthrop school with friends from all camps. I had Michael Torres, Rick’s son and a couple of cousins, all very super to work with for 14 hours. I did have a confrontation with Katy Torres. I explained on the day of the election, we all get along, the campaigning is over and we all get along. For every person she spoke to she told lies about Mary-Jane Foster making absurd observations and she was ruthless when talking about Ganim. I even had the conversation with Paul Ganim. I did not know she was his daughter which made the confrontation even stranger for me that Torres would accept that. Her brother John drove by and said I heard you had a confrontation with my sister and I was walking to his car to explain her ruthless comments about Joe Ganim and Mary-Jane Foster were unacceptable at a polling place. He responded the people need to know the truth and just drove away. That being said I thought Michael Torres and his cousins were great at the polls and respectable. In the words of Rick Torres himself, I found her behavior reprehensible and unacceptable. Bridgeport Kid, I am sorry my candidate lost. Your insults and confrontations did not help Rick. Joe had a landslide victory and we all move forward in a positive fashion. Rick lost both the council and the Mayor, as I said he would be a distant third. He was not a spoiler.
On a positive note, I would love to acknowledge Lydia Martinez for her outstanding win as the absolute top vote-getter in the city surpassing our Mayor Elect Joe Ganim. Great job Lydia, it was a pleasure working and supporting you. I wish you the best of luck!!!
Don’t blame me for anyone’s loss or victory. I am one man expressing his opinions.
When I learned of the confrontation I demanded to be driven to Winthrop to confront you. John Torres wisely refused. It definitely would have been very ugly. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Ms. Torres was exercising her right to free speech. You have a right to disagree, not bully and harass those holding a different point of view.
Bridgeport Kid, would you go fuck yourself? I would have wiped the floor with you. I have never ever in 20-plus years heard or witnessed any hawker at the polls doing character assassinations of other candidates. It was as painful listening to her comments about Mary-Jane Foster as it was about Joe Ganim. She was creeping people out as you would have. The mix of Torres, Ganim and Foster people, myself for the first 3 hours was excellent and I enjoyed myself. Most of us did!
BK, I don’t know what it is you have against me. I picked a horse the same as everyone else. I kept my commitment to the campaign, and after I voted at about 5:00 I went home and watched the results on Channel 12. I’m not gloating, I didn’t celebrate, and I’m happy Joe won. So knock it off. Hector Diaz, time to step in. LOL.
Honey, you watched the results on Channel 12? Argh. OIB had the results before News 12.
I know, Lennie. I read OIB first then watched Channel 12 later.
I’m here. Just arrived. Great victory for Ganim. He was very cordial yesterday. We got our asses kicked real good. Will be back to talk later.
Steven, we won on OIB. Twice. In the realm of ideas we won. The city spoke, Ganim is the choice. It was a good turnout and his win is legit.
Park City too, the Lennie poll is just a cute diversion. If this were the internal poll you were using then I can understand the Rick Torres results which of course being in the general election were much worse than Foster’s primary results. Ganim had an impressive win. Danny Roach had a brilliant campaign. Black Rock had picked two fine candidates. Just watched the debate from League of Women voters for the 130th. Katie Bukovsky and Burns were extremely impressive.
I think it’s time to forget about the numbers of votes in this election. Bill Finch is still trying to bullshit the people of Bridgeport. Click here:
www .ctpost.com/news/article/Finch-concerned-for-city-s-future-6609056.php
The real reason he is concerned has nothing to do with Joe Ganim’s past. It is what Bill Finch has been doing the last eight years that concerns him. In less than two months from now you will be getting some really ugly numbers that will be pissing quite a few people off. What’s the real financial condition of the city? I hear it’s in the range of $50 million. Not a surplus, a deficit. Remember what happened a few months after Bill Finch was elected eight years ago? News of a huge deficit surfaced.
Congratulations to Joe Ganim. Brilliant campaign. I did stop down to Testo’s to congratulate Ganim supporterswho are also friends. Sorry I missed Joe and the Ganim family. I was very proud of my candidate, Mary-Jane Foster. I was very proud of my other candidate, Mayor Bill Finch.
I appreciate the efforts of everyone I had worked with on both the Finch and Foster campaigns.
We are all in this together. We need to support Joe. It may take some longer than others. It behooves us as a city to respectfully allow Joe Ganim to enjoy his moment and support his efforts to continue Mayor Finch’s success on Steelpointe and Downtown.
Thank you to all of those who ran and lost for wanting to serve. Congratulations to those who won, especially our historically young new councilman, Anthony Paoletto.
Steve, you have taken butt-kissing to a level unheard of before. It’s like a reinvention of the wheel for butt-kissing. Nice job! You finally got something right.
The Phantom, I had to reread my response before I acknowledged with sadness your inability to accept a gracious comment in support of your candidate. You are a social retard. I am certain it resonates with most OIB posters. Maybe not. I will say as always, when I walked into Testo’s I was greeted very warmly and I’m grateful you remain anonymous. I spoke to everyone I needed to and you would not have been one of them. You are just about as pathetic as it gets. That will be the last response I ever make to you.
“Forgiveness is a way of opening up the doors again and moving forward, whether it’s a personal life or a national life.”–Hillary Clinton
Great Job, Joe!
Now that Joe and Mario are back in charge, I totally want to invest in the Bridgeport of the future. Can someone message me about who I need to contact/pay off?
More seriously, as an outsider I have to congratulate you on your choice of leadership. That convicted felon thing as Mayor once more sends a great message to everyone, particularly the children. Who said corruption is something to be ashamed of?
I think we all will be interested in seeing who keeps their high-profile jobs and who is let go, and how Joe fills those positions.
There will be a lot of goings and comings and people who earned six figures yet were unqualified to be in City Hall annex.
Joe has a ton of brainpower and qualified people in his inner circle.
Congratulations to Mayor Ganim on a convincing victory. No one was a spoiler in this race given the margin of victory. It’s time to come together and move forward. Mayor Ganim needs to deliver on his promise to “hold the line” on taxes. He also needs to keep his other campaign promises and show he can attract major developers.
Amen, Dave Walker.
Let me associate myself with the comments made by David Walker, I totally agree with him. Joe Ganim won and there are no excuses, Joe got out there with the label of being a felon and he worked and worked his ass off to the voters, he met them and he talked to them. The word felon did not work against Joe, because it opened up a dialog with Joe and the voters and many of the voters have family members, friends, coworkers, loved ones who have also have gotten in trouble. They hope and wish the best for that person and they want the same thing for that person, a second chance. Joe Ganim has earn that second chance and the voters agreed. I’m glad Joe put God first in his speech last night.
If we put any energy into sour grapes, that weakens the collective brain trust. The same can be said for gloating. There should be none of either. People need to come to the table together right NOW. If we as residents, taxpayers, voters and lovers of Bridgeport make this new Mayor’s job any more of an uphill battle than it’s already set up to be, we should all hang our heads in shame.
It’s done. Joe Ganim is our Mayor-elect. There are many folks up north who think this is may be Armageddon for Bridgeport. Let us not act like idiots and remove all doubt. If we back him, the chances he has of succeeding for us are increased exponentially.
We need to get our olive branches and our Ganim on. Now.
Exactly!!!
Spoken like a true DTC operative.
Time will tell if The Crook will make good on his campaign promises. He may have paid for the landslide but he still is responsible to ALL of the people of the city of Bridgeport, not just Mario Testa.
The message to children should NOT be there will and can be a second chance. The message MUST be, Do the Right Thing the First Time Around. Congratulations, Joe.
After standing outside Central High all day yesterday with Joe’s brother George and walking out of the school after the results were known, from that one polling place it was apparent Joe was the winner. I told George to let his brother know I said congratulations. Sometimes a win is a win is a win.
On another note, congrats to John Lee and Tyisha Toms for running a good race as petitioning candidates. My advice to them is if they are serious then their next election needs to start today. Stay in the neighborhoods, stay on the streets, continue the dialogue they have started with the voters.
Two years will fly by if they let it.
You’re right, Bubba.
Any numbers from Black Rock?
Also congrats to Ganim even though he received less then 60 percent of the vote. I thought would be a plurality honestly and did not expectMJF to get so many votes even winning a few precincts.
Good thoughts, Bob Walsh. Thank you.
The Ganim win is stunning. He ran a textbook campaign, both in his personal campaigning and in the use of what grew to be an overwhelming corps of loyalist troops whose boots were on the ground all over Bridgeport. He took on established interests and won. He took on notions of his personal disgrace and overcame them.
Textbook campaign? Yes, absolutely. The meaning and significance of this, to me? As a Finch and then Foster supporter, I hope you’ll forgive me for still reeling on the day after. (I’m forming some thoughts and will write them later, probably within 48 hours.)
The people of many neighborhoods empowered themselves at Ganim’s invitation to overtake what might be called “downtown” or Establishment interests. That’s impressive. I also think the property tax issue is a big driver of votes, and there will be huge pressure to address property taxes meaningfully. I think stonewalling on taxes is now a policy position that can only mean defeat. The issue must be engaged.
I am impressed, hopeful and fearful at the same time. It was one helluva win for any candidate and extraordinary affirmation for this candidate, whether or not I like that idea. Congratulations!
Congrats to Joe, great to have you back.
I agree!
Mario, give me a call. Let’s get a beer.
Magoo.