Dr. Shanté T. Hanks, a Bridgeport resident, civic advocate and former Democratic candidate for the Connecticut House of Representatives, shares this commentary about city’s woeful vote turnout.
Bridgeport is Connecticut’s largest city, one of its most diverse, and a place often credited with helping move elections. Yet our voter turnout tells a very different story. In the 2023 municipal election, among Connecticut’s five largest cities: Stamford, New Haven, Waterbury, Bridgeport and Hartford, Bridgeport had the second-lowest turnout, exceeding only Hartford. The pattern held in the 2024 presidential election, when Bridgeport again ranked fourth out of the five in voter turnout, ahead of only Hartford.
If Bridgeport can help move elections, more of us need to move our feet to the polls. In our most recent mayoral election, only about 15 out of every 100 registered voters cast a ballot, meaning roughly 85 percent did not make it to the polls. In the August 11, 2026, Democratic primary, fewer than 1 in 6 registered Democrats participated.
We may think of Bridgeport as one of the big players in Connecticut politics. Our turnout numbers suggest we should think again. If we want to consider ourselves one of the big dogs on the Democratic Party block, or any political block, we need to do better. Second from last is practically an award for participation.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly 91,500 Bridgeport residents are citizens age 18 or older, while about 70,000 residents are active registered voters. That leaves a gap of roughly 20,000 between the citizen voting-age population and the active voter rolls, even before we consider those who are registered but do not vote.
In the 2023 Board of Education election, fewer than 4,000 votes were enough for a candidate to win one of the citywide seats on the Board. Against a registered electorate of roughly 70,000, that means someone entrusted with helping make decisions affecting more than 20,000 Bridgeport students could secure a seat with the support of roughly 5 or 6 out of every 100 registered voters.
The most recent primary suggests the pattern has not changed. Bridgeport had 34,476 active registered Democrats eligible to participate in the August 11 Democratic primary, yet only 5,556 voted. That is fewer than 1 out of every 6 registered Democrats.
In the citywide probate contest, incumbent Paul Ganim received 2,933 votes to challenger Mark Bradley’s 2,299, a margin of 634 votes. The point is not who won, but how few of us participated in deciding.
Our size gives Bridgeport electoral weight, but participation determines how much of it we use. A city can deliver a lot of votes and still leave much of its voting power on the table. Bridgeport does both.
Why does any of this matter after Election Day? Consider your property tax bill. The mayor proposes a city budget, the City Council adopts a spending plan, and those decisions eventually reach the tax bill sitting on your kitchen table. Those same officials make decisions affecting schools, streets, parks, public safety and city services.
Last week we celebrated Women’s Equality Day, which is observed each year on August 26. This offers important historical context. The 19th Amendment prohibited denying the vote on the basis of sex, although Black women and others continued to face barriers for decades. Today, women vote at higher rates than men nationally: 66.9 percent compared with 63.7 percent in 2024.
As a woman and a Bridgeport voter, I find the contrast difficult to overlook. Bridgeport is not only Connecticut’s largest city. It is also one of its most diverse, home to communities whose access to political participation was fought for over generations.
Possessing a right and exercising it are not the same thing.
There is an old story about Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. An important job needed to be done. Everybody assumed Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it. In the end, Nobody did.
Voting can work much the same way. Everybody assumes Somebody else will show up, pay attention or participate. Then Election Day passes, and a surprisingly small number of people have made decisions that affect Everybody.
That is not criticism of those who consistently vote, nor does low participation necessarily mean people do not care. Work, transportation, child care, access to information, distrust and the belief that one vote will not matter can all affect participation.
Those barriers deserve attention, but the mathematical result does not change. Low turnout does not reduce the authority of a mayor, a school board member, a City Council member or a state legislator. It reduces the number of residents who participate in choosing them.
Bridgeport is a city of more than 150,000 people. Our electoral voice should reflect the city we are.
The challenge is not convincing everyone to vote the same way. That would not be democracy. The challenge is getting more of us to use the power we already possess.
Before we ask who has power in Bridgeport, perhaps we should ask a more fundamental question, “How many of us are choosing to use ours?”
