The State Elections Enforcement Commission on Wednesday approved publicly funded campaign dough for State Senate candidate Dennis Bradley and State House candidate Maria Pereira, both of whom are elected members of the Board of Education.
Bradley has been approved for a general election grant of $95,710. He’ll receive a similar amount if he faces a Democratic primary from incumbent Ed Gomes who has petitioned the Superior Court to place his name on the August 9 primary ballot after his candidacy was rejected by the Office of the Connecticut Secretary of the State. Bradley was required to raise $15,000 in donations of $100 and less from 300 donors in Connecticut’s 23rd District covering two-thirds of Bridgeport and a piece of western Stratford.
Pereira will have more than $30k to spend combined with the money she raised to qualify in her August 9 primary challenge of incumbent Charlie Stallworth who also has been approved for public dough under the state’s Citizens Election Program. Connecticut’s 126th State House District covers portions of the North End and the Upper East Side. This race is shaping up as a war between the political establishment backing Stallworth and insurgents supporting party maverick Pereira.
Stallworth, a city minister, is also a staffer for Mayor Joe Ganim. Stallworth has never faced a scrappy campaigner like Pereira who is devoting full time to the task outside of her volunteer school board work.
State Senator Marilyn Moore and party endorsed Tom McCarthy are also trying to qualify for public funds in Connecticut’s 22nd District covering all of Trumbull and portions of Bridgeport and Monroe. The SEEC could act on their requests next Wednesday. They will face off in an August Democratic primary.
