Board of Education Chair Dennis Bradley Monday night won a close Democratic endorsement over incumbent Ed Gomes in Connecticut’s 23rd State Senate District. The delegate vote was 30 to 24 at Testo’s Restaurant. Get set for an August primary.
“I make one promise,” Bradley announced from the podium after the vote, “you will not see another politician work as hard before this vote and after the vote to represent you. We will make this place better with all our sweat equity.”
Gomes, the 80-year-old political warrior, grabbed the microphone after Bradley, bellowing to the crowd “Let’s get out to the streets and bring it on!”
Connecticut’s 23rd Senate District includes two-thirds of Bridgeport and a portion of western Stratford.
Gomes has represented the district for the better part of the past decade except for the two years Andres Ayala occupied the seat following his defeat of Gomes in a 2012 Democratic primary. Gomes regained the seat in February 2015 in a special election after Ayala was appointed state Department of Motor Vehicle chief by Governor Dan Malloy. Ayala did not last long in the slot resigning following vociferous complaints from citizens over a series of DMV gaffes.
Dennis Bradley. Bought and paid for. Courtesy of our generous Town Committee Chair; Mario Testa.
Again DB, please tell us what you have accomplished as Chair of the BOE that will shed some light on what we might expect up in Hartford.
Bubba, when I look at his picture I see a classic example of naivete. Mario as you know is like a shark who smells blood, he pulls them in with promises of support, then leaves them to twist in the wind. This is a replay of Pivorotto’s run for State Rep. with Hennessy as her competition. That time it was Stafstrom who did the grooming then left her a loser. I worked very hard with Jack Hennessy and it paid off for him, John was left with egg on his face, and Pivorotto carried the reality of being used as a sacrificial lamp for a long time.
*** The 30 to 24 vote tally tells me Testa is not in the same political wagon as Gomes, no? Nor does it surprise me either since Gomes has had his personal “tit for tat” with Testa over the years about one thing or another! Gomes will have the Unions and many pro-education voters as well, from his past years of support while on the Bpt City Council. Gomes is not an eloquent speaker or fast with his political thoughts, however he is passionate about doing whatever it is he’s promised to the voters, which should turn into an interesting Senate race! But mark my words or blog, should Bradley win it will be more of the same old song&dance from the capitol, no? ***
Lennie, why the low total counts for both races if there were 100 delegates eligible to vote?
DD, more than 100 delegates combined for the two State Senate districts. There were a few no-shows. And several proxies issued.
“Thank you Senator Gomes for the critical support you delivered to save the city’s budget and to guarantee tax savings to the hard-working taxpayers of BRIDGEPORT. Without you help it would not have been possible,” Mayor Joe Ganim on Senator Gomes’ assistance on restructuring pension payments.
“So please excuse me while I go and do what Mario wants.”
Not direct quotes but close enough.
My guess is Senator Gomes’ ‘assistance on restructuring pension payments’ is going to cost him some union support.
park city fan,
Please explain your reasoning on “union support.” SB42 had to do with postponement of annual full funding of our Police MERS slice I believe. Instead of following the payment schedule in force, SB42 tips current payments lower and later payments higher so it will cost the public $257 Million instead of $200 Million. Do unions make the tax payments that will fund these schedules? Do unions represent retirees who will get these pension payments? Are union members (police) a major voting bloc in Gomes’ Senatorial district? Time will tell.
Will someone please tell us what Dennis Bradley has done for voters to vote for him, anything, something, he must have done something besides being a kiss-ass to Mario.
Ron, maybe that’s Mario’s way of playing the race card?
Mr. Bradley made a speech at Testo’s, but when he returned to the BOE meeting he said he was allowing Joe Larcheveque to chair the meeting because his throat was bothering him. That was of course until BPS parents were chastising him and Fran Rabinowitz. Suddenly, he had a miraculous recovery and began chairing the meeting.
An absolute and complete fraud.
Hey Dennis Bradley, here is a little something you need:
Roberts Rules of Order for Dummies
m.dummies.com/how-to/content/roberts-rules-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html
SMH.
Dennis Bradley’s campaign song is:
I’m so pretty
I’m so pretty
I’m so pretty and witty and wise
Now that was funny!
*** This is typical of Bpt politics at its best. Always picking the wrong person to endorse and run for political office. Then when they fail and do a lousy job while in office, it’s time to badmouth them and pick another suck-ass in their place, no? *** WHOOP ***
Mojo,
Well put.
As for the iconography/image of Bradley: Hardly can be matched for staging and air-brushing, outside the hagiographic images of “Dear Leader” in North Korea.
Thanks Mario Testa et al. for putting this jackal in charge of the BOE. The 22,000-plus disadvantaged, underfunded school children of Bridgeport thank you.
*** POLITICAL CHANGE HAS TO START WITH THE BOARDS/COMMITTEES THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PICKING THESE LOSERS FOR POLITICAL OFFICE, NO? *** WHOOP ***