Campaigners Knocking On Your Door?

Any pols approach you begging for your signature to help qualify them for the Aug. 12 primary ballot? Candidates have another eight days to submit enough signatures to elections officials for ballot approval. The petitioning process requires a reserve of signatures to cover the bad ones.

Incumbent Christina Ayala, denied endorsement in favor of anti-blight chief Chris Rosario for her 128th State House seat, has submitted her petitions to the registrar’s office. Democratic Registrar Sandi Ayala, Christina’s mother, reports she does not review her daughter’s petitions. She lets others in the office handle that chore.

City fire commissioner Dennis Bradley and Theresa Davidson are also hustling signatures in the district to make the ballot. The East Side and Hollow neighborhoods cover most of the district.

Board of Education member Andre Baker and Charles Hare are scouring signatures to primary party-endorsed Ernie Newton for the open 124th State House seat of a retiring Don Clemons.

In State Senate contests, political activist and healthcare professional Marilyn Moore received enough delegate support to qualify for a Democratic primary against incumbent Anthony Musto and City Librarian Scott Hughes did the same to challenge incumbent Andres Ayala.

Simultaneously, most candidates are trying to qualify for public funds under the state’s Citizens Election Program of publicly financed races.

Statewide the political operation of Mark and Mark, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, is working furiously to collect 8,190 certified signatures to qualify Lauretti as Boughton’s gubernatorial running mate for the August 12 Republican primary for governor against party-endorsed Tom Foley and State Senator John McKinney. Bridgeport resident David Walker is running on McKinney’s line for lieutenant governor.

Mark and Mark will need closer to 10,000 signatures as slush to cover the bad ones. If Lauretti fails to make the ballot, Boughton’s guber aspirations are pretty much toast. Boughton needs Lauretti to qualify so they can pool money raised to trigger a $1.4 million grant for Boughton’s campaign. Boughton’s coming up short raising $250,000 in small donations to receive the public jackpot for governor. He had counted on lieutenant governor candidate Heather Bond Somers to combine her money with his, but she pulled her Ben Franklins.

The Boughton and Lauretti operation has hired petition circulators to collect signatures from Republican electors at $2 per valid signature.

It’s a grinding process.