Claiming State Rep. Charlie Stallworth is an absentee legislator, Board of Education member Maria Pereira has filed state paperwork to challenge the veteran State House member, also a staffer of Mayor Joe Ganim, in an August Democratic primary. Stallworth, a city minister, won a special election in 2011 for Connecticut’s 126th State House District replacing long-time legislator Chris Caruso who was appointed by Governor Dan Malloy to a state job. See map of district here.
Ganim’s road to voter redemption began in Stallworth’s East End church on New Year’s Day in 2015 when he issued his first public apology following his 2003 conviction on federal corruption charges. Stallworth was one of Ganim’s first comeback hires, appointing him to head the Small & Minority Business Resource Office working out of the mayor’s office.
Pereira, the self-described piranha of city politics, has successfully warred against the Democratic political establishment. She made clear she will challenge Stallworth’s enthusiasm for the task as a major campaign issue as well as emphasizing her knowledge of public education.
“I am running because we have a state representative who has long been absent from representing his district,” says Pereira. “In his first five years in office he has only proposed two bills, neither of which has received a public hearing. He has not proposed a bill that has become law in this state. He’s tardy up there quite often. He has missed so many critical bills he has not cast a vote on. Although we have a variety of delegation members who are knowledgeable, we have no one with in-depth knowledge of public education and our delegation needs a voice around issues that are impacting almost 22,000 Bridgeport public school students and by extension their families. I want to be the voice of our delegation critical to public education.”
If elected to the State House Pereira says she will continue to maintain her school board seat.
Eric Stewart-Alicea who recently won a seat with Pereira on the Democratic Town Committee is serving as treasurer of “Pereira for Progress.” Pereira will raise money under Connecticut’s Citizens Election Program of publicly funded races.
The State House seat Pereira is seeking covers her home base Upper East Side, as well as a portion of the North End including Whiskey Hill and Lake Forest. The area is split between two State Senate districts represented by Marilyn Moore and Ed Gomes. The party endorsement will take place in May. Pereira says she will have enough support to qualify for an August primary. Pereira is a relentless campaigner who will devote full time to retail politicking.
Pereira was first elected to the Board of Education in 2009 running on the Working Families Party line serving one four-year term that was interrupted by the state takeover of city schools that was ruled illegal by the Connecticut Supreme Court. Pereira has been a ferocious voice against charter schools that she asserts suck resources from traditional school districts. In 2015, supporting Joe Ganim’s comeback, Pereira won a school board seat running on the Democratic line. Shortly after Ganim’s election she parted ways with the mayor over education issues including Ganim’s support of Dennis Bradley for the school board chairmanship.
Bradley is eyeing a challenge State Senator Ed Gomes.
WOW!!!
I know this will shock a lot of people but I will be voting for Maria P. I still don’t like her but she does work hard. Stallworth is an empty suit and has done nothing for the 138th.
Wow, wow, wow! Smiley face for you, Andy.
You made me drop my phone. I’m glad the screen didn’t crack.
Eric Alicea, an OIB reader and friend asked me if Angel Figueroa (your TC colleague) is the same Angel Figueroa who filed a lawsuit against his former employer.
www .ctpost.com/local/article/Ex-worker-files-15M-lawsuit-against-Whole-Foods-7234413.php
The details add up, however I have not talked to Angel since the news broke.
If Whole Foods is being sued, it’s not the first time. In 2013 they were fined $800K for overcharging customers in California, another suit was filed in NYC for the same thing last year. They were sued for tainted milk, false advertising, overcharging and have been investigated by Health Departments many times.I will never shop there again and haven’t for over a year. Now for clarification’s sake, is the person in this article the same Angel Figueroa who is no longer allowed to post on OIB due to his commentaries a few days ago?
If it is him, good for him. I did not care much for his commentaries and bull in a china shop approach, but if he did blow the whistle and they canned him for it, then good for him for standing up to them and calling them out. Whole Foods has a bad record with these types of issues, over charging, etc. yet they keep doing this stuff.
It’s him.
Well after reading all the baloney posted by Maria supporters, I can’t bring myself to support her. I tried but I can’t. When someone associates themselves with a racist and says nothing about it, it is time to go. I am referring to the person working on the dropout problem with high school students who told me his efforts are centered on black and Hispanic dropouts, I asked what about the white kids and the answer I received was there are not enough to worry about. WELL IF THERE IS ONE THEN YOU HAVE YOUR NUMBER. Does Maria feel this way also?
Andy, BPS are 96.6% non-white. It is would be very easy to go knock on the doors of the one or two white males who drop out of high school in Bridgeport. The white male dropout rate in Bridgeport is not at pandemic proportions. The non-white dropout rate is about 65%. This is a crisis!
Stallworth has nothing to worry about. Ganim will create another job title. Just like Ed Adams and Wilbur Chapman. I want to talk to Maria Pereira.
Stallworth is already on the city payroll at 95K/year. As pastor he probably pulls in another $90K/year (housing stipend), about $40K/year as state rep, and he’s the president of the IMA.
Jesus! “The self-described piranha of city politics.” How about a self-described passionate advocate for the City of Bridgeport?
www .youtube.com/watch?v=bE8amlC2rR4
*** Change is merited to say the least! Bpt’s 126th District has a good talking empty-suit pastor who works for the city (Mayor Ganim) and sits up in Hartford for the Mayor and himself followed by the district he represents at times! Would Ms. Pereira be any better? Sounds like a crap shoot to me where the house always comes out on top, no? ***
Look, let’s be honest. Stallworth is an astronaut and all he does is take up SPACE.
We’ll see, Ralph!
Home run!
C’mon now, this was the end game all along. Everyone is dedicated until a better offer comes along or my plan worked, whichever!
Donald, I sincerely miss your point. I have an opinion on this scenario, but I want to hear how you feel.
Lisa, my reading of Maria running is Bradley will challenge Ed Gomes for the Senate because Maria and Bradley ran as a team before and it could be a Mario move to have more control.
Ron, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Dennis Bradley and Mario Testa got together to prevent Howard Gardner from being Chair of the BOA. Maria P. met with Mario with Dotti Guman and I present when she confided to Mario Bradley was using the BOA as a springboard to run against Gomes. Mario pretended to take the information she was giving to him then used it against her and Gardner to manipulate the votes for Bradley. I was there, I heard every word. Mario has been in the desert for eight years, and now that Joe is back he’s trying to flex muscles he no longer has. In four months he has caused more dissension in the Party than Finch did in four years. If Joe doesn’t keep him on a short leash, the option of Joe running for another term will be taken away from him because of the havoc Mario is causing. Maria Pereira’s intentions are genuine, she made a decision based on what she feels is best for her State representative district. She’s been given a bad rap because she’s honest, tenacious, hardworking, and never intimidated by less than honorable people. She extremely intelligent, does her due diligence and refuses to go away. I can relate to the last one. (Ask Ron about my Aunt Mary, inside joke.)
Lisa, I hear you and believe you and Dottie and I wish her the best, she was another one who gave me advice during my time on the DTC. Lisa, we’re on the same page about Mario. I’m confused about Howard Gardner because I don’t know him and I don’t understand some of his recent actions like the DTC election.
She’s been given a bad rap because she’s honest, tenacious, hardworking, and never intimidated by less than honorable people. Lisa, what you wrote above is pure and utter bullshit. Maria is a vindictive person with loyalty only to those who kiss her ass. Let’s talk about honest, when my wife and Ann Barney ran on her ticket she scratched off their pictures and told people at the polls not to vote for either one, all because she was mad at me. Lisa, slow down on kissing her ring, you will get bit.
I was almost positive I heard about Maria’s announcement on Channel 3 NO WITNESS NEWS today!
www .youtube.com/watch?v=AG7wrIC4Aj0
Sonny, you’re pazzo!
Andy, you know me better than that. The only ring I would kiss is the Pope’s. I didn’t even know Maria when that race took place, but even if I did I wouldn’t expect her to change her mind about what happened just because I respect and admire Pat. I don’t know Ann. We all have different opinions of people usually based on our experiences with them. I’m only giving my opinion.
Lisa,
You are only giving your opinion, but what are you basing it on? One side of a story?
Facts be told. Andy called Maria a name on the blog. Maria blamed Pat and me for his name calling and tried to hold us accountable.
How am I responsible for what anyone writes on this blog?
Maria then defaced our literature and slandered me at the polls.
Why? Over a post on a blog, written by someone else.
barney, I think you misunderstood what I meant to say. You have every right to be unhappy about that incident. I said I didn’t know Maria then and I’m sure how you feel is justified. I was referring to my relationship with her; it’s mutually respectful and I hope it stays that way because I see potential in her.
That wasn’t Maria’s slate, it was Scott Hughes’ slate. Maria just GOTV. Well in the case of Mrs. Fardy and Mrs. Barney the GOTNoV.
Eric–either way, it was a slate she supported. Was not legally wrong I guess, but ethically? Dirty politics is just that, dirty politics and rationalizing it because it was not “her” slate does not make it acceptable.
Maria didn’t slander or besmirch the other candidates on that slate. She simply asked her supporters to vote for the first six since the people she decided not to support any more happened to all be at the end of the ticket. It’s not being dirty to tell one of your voters you have cultivated your position has changed on such and such, please don’t vote for them.
Eric, just so you know and get your facts straight. Maria took a piece of campaign literature, crossed out Pat Fardy and Ann Barney’s photos and told voters Not to vote for these two women. The case is still under review by the State’s Attorney’s office. Payback is a bitch and the more BS written here about Maria, the more I start thinking of the empty suit.
Crossing out someone’s face is negative, how? That makes it easier for your voters to know whom you want then to vote for.
You can’t take a person’s campaign literature and do that. Plus you can’t tell absentee voters how to vote. Eric, you and I have had discussions before but this will be my last response, I don’t deal well with racists.
My life is great without talking to you. No clue where you get I’m racist, but if that’s your opinion, and you know what they say about opinions.
So we’re talking about a Portuguese woman crossing out two other European women’s faces and a Puerto Rican man’s face on paper she probably photocopied at her expense. How is that racist?
The ironic thing is I think you’re a bigot.
This is an absolute joke. She’s going to get her clock cleaned. I wonder whom she will sue after she loses.
Rob, you are a man I respect since I met you. You’re a reporter, dig a little and you’ll be surprised what you find. You also know you can call me at any time.
Lisa, my point being is running for State Rep or some other political position was always the end game and the BBOE was a means to that end. As I look back on Bridgeport politics for the last 10 to 15 years, there were very few who ran who didn’t have ulterior motives and used the BBOE as a stepping stone to something they perceived as something better.
Donald, I would be a fool to disagree with your observations, they’re true. However, it’s not the case in this situation. Maria’s passion for the children is real and no one would dispute that. She served on the BOE before this time, was off for awhile and ran again. Her decision to run for the State Rep seat comes from her concerns and she hasn’t used the BOE as a springboard. I found out she was running the same time everyone else did. I have nothing to say about Charlie Stallworth one way or another. I like and respect him as a person. I’m not in that political district and have no standing in that election.
Maria initially ran for BBOE because her daughter had nine math teachers in one year when she was at Central. That was her “motive.”
Eri–I believe the nine teachers narrative was prior to Central high school. Either way, she did have nine in one year and the school never told the parents until afterwards when they asked.
She will likely win this. One OIB commentator once asked how does MP win elections. I predict she will win this one too. Here is why.
1) She is going to outwork Stallworth. He is going to rely on old-school campaigning. She is going to knock on every door in that district.
2) She is the QUEEN of negative campaign. She will highlight her wins, but she will focus on his negatives. She once bragged in OIB comments she was like Karl Rove in that way. She likely has a record for every vote by Stallworth, every day he missed, etc. Hell, she may be taping him with her iPhone at this point, LOL. She will convince voters to either vote for her or just not vote for Stallworth. She ran a version of this tactic during the primary run when she supported Ganim, she stopped when he stepped in and stopped it.
3) She has time on her hands and is obsessed with bringing her enemies down, as we have all seen in the comments sections when she was active on OIB and her commentaries. She has a hit list and was obsessed with taking down Finch, she was obsessed with Ganim winning, and then turned on him so now she is obsessed with taking bites out of him and his administration.
4) She is smart, and knows voter dynamics. She thrives on these low-turnout elections. Primaries are low turnout. With BPT being 10-1 Democrat, in a general election all you need to do is appear on the Democrat line and you are all but assured victory. Which goes back to her being smart. She broke from Ganim BEFORE the general, but did not make that widely known to the public (insiders knew). If the general knew, it could have affected her vote count. She did win a general as Working Families party in 2009. But everyone knows the WP had the silent support of the Democrats at the time, to freeze out the Republicans running.
With all that being said, she knows how to win elections. It’s the actual governing that becomes an issue. Once you are elected you represent everyone. She does not. She only listens to you or values you if you are in lockstep with her beliefs. Dissenting voices to her, she tries to crush. She has helped drive wedges among the parents of the BOE in her time there (charter parents, PAC fiasco, etc).
She also knows voters have short memories. She used to blast BOE members like Andre Baker and others who held or ran for other offices. She questioned their dedication to the “22,000 BPT students and their families.” But now she is doing the same. She is BBOE, District Leader of 138, and DTC member, and is going to keep all seats. Three elected positions at once. In that respect, Donald Day is correct, another person building their political career on the back of the BOE position.
LB, you left out a few things, there had to be a recount in order for her to win. She will need black voters NOT to come out and vote for Rev. Stallworth and her past negative against another black board member, Baker and now Stallworth won’t go over well because it will seem like she’s running just for Maria. There’s always a backside.
Ron–you are correct, I forgot about the recount. That was telling as her ticketmates won easily that night. And you are right, will her past actions and statements come back on her? Thanks.
LB, if she is as smart as you say she is, which I believe she is, then she will know this.
1. Even a leader knows a broken clock is right twice a day.
2. A leader knows when to lead and when to follow.
3. Charter Schools are not the enemy. The lack of educating Bridgeport’s kids is, and the last time I looked, Charter School students are Bridgeporters.
4. Read Machiavelli’s works. Politics is not about winning and losing, it’s about enjoying the perks. When the will needs to be done, it will be done. I expect great things from you. Yes you will keep Joe in line. I wish you extraordinary success in Hartford. Who knows, maybe Joe becomes Governor and you become the Mayor of Bridgeport.
Brother Mackey,
You should research the vote. Maria beat Villegas by more than 200 votes on the machines. The fraudulent AB operation run on the east side and PT is what made the race close.
Baker broke his campaign promises probably to get the state rep position.
Oh, one more thing. The vast majority of Ganim’s line lost. The victors were two sheriffs, Paulette, Smith and Pereira. All hail from the 138th.
LB, thanks for correcting, it happened in her daughter’s elementary school.
I would characterize her as the Queen of retail politics (door knocking, etc), and the Queen of fact-based politics. Stallworth’s voting record, attendance record, and the fact he already holds two full-time positions (pastor and city job) is not negative campaigning.
Maria told me right after the primary she was no longer supporting Joe. She earned the most votes in Hooker, even more than Joe. The BOE race was competitive because of the AB operation, which we all know is mostly fraud due to high occupancy address voter manipulation.
Baker went against his campaign promises almost immediately.
DTC is a part-time position. we meet formally two to four times a year.
BBOE is a volunteer position that requires a lot of time.
She pulled the DTC slate together, why wouldn’t she be the leader?
Eric, yes she’s a hard worker who needed a recount to win so she’s not overwhelming her opponents, then she is going against Mayor Ganim, not a smart move. If Bradley challenge Ed Gomes there will be a big turnout and Maria will not win.
Let’s remember Maria Pereira is no Chris Caruso who didn’t need the backing of any mayor or DTC or the chairman of the DTC to run and get elected. Chris only lost by 260 votes against Bill Finch in the Democrat primary. Chris knew the rules, the policy, the issues and the voters, something Maria is nowhere near.
But Ron, if Bradley challenges Ed Gomes and gets the nomination, then Ed will be on the second line with Maria, you don’t think that could possibly help Maria? Also, if what is going around is true, McCarthy gets the nomination and Marilyn is on the second line with Ed and Maria. That will be interesting. If Ed and Marilyn’s supporters pull them in, do you think they’ll cut Maria?
Eric Alicea, are you Maria’s spokesperson, because AB’s do count in any election and Maria needed a recount in order to win. It’s obvious voters in Baker’s district support him because he got elected. Maria is showing she’s not a team builder, she gets mad and runs in another direction, she doesn’t know how to convince others, thereby IF she got elected to the State House she doesn’t have the ability to form a coalition to get others who don’t agree with her way to bring them over to her side, instead what she wants to do is tear somebody because they don’t agree with her.
No, I’m not her spokesman, I’m her treasurer. Maria can speak for herself.
Something must be in the water at the retired firefighters association hall. I have one of you calling me a racist (which is laughable) and now you accuse me of not knowing AB count. The key phrase in my statement was FRAUD! There were an inordinate amount of AB’s on the East Side and P.T. Only in Bridgeport do the AB tallies fail to follow the machine vote as much as they do in these precincts.
Whomever ends up on Row B would be foolish to encourage their voters to cut Maria. Hooker school is the 4th highest voting precinct in the city. A victory in the 22nd Senatorial district will hinge on who wins Hooker.
In my experience with Maria, her mantra towards politicians is simple. Your word is all you have, and you have one chance to break it. Baker waffled on his support for charter schools. Baker then votes for the new Harding and boom he has Finch’s support for the state rep job, and gets the city morgue contract to boot.
Eric, I’m sorry but I must have missed Maria’s court victory concerning ABs, would you please tell us what that decision said and who got in trouble and arrested?
Eric, there is nothing in the water but there is something flawed in your thinking. You told me you were working on the dropout problem with blacks and Hispanics. I asked you about whites and you told me you were doing nothing with whites because there are too few of them. That my friend is racist.
Andy Fardy, if Eric said that to you about whites then he’s showing you how little he knows about life, not politics.
Okay Lisa. Thanks. I’ll be talking to you.
Lisa–Ed on the same line with Maria would be interesting considering her thoughts on Ed when he decided to support Foster when she was with the Ganim campaign.
onlyinbridgeport.com/wordpress/senator-gomes-joins-foster-and-other-mayoral-candidates-for-discussion-on-race/
LB, they’re good now. She’ll help Ed.
Ahhh Lisa, thanks. BPT politics, same as it ever was. Survival of the fittest. 🙂
Lisa, yes, if Ed and Marilyn run, their supporters would cut Maria out. Lisa, let me make a few points, Hillary Clinton is out there targeting black voters and they are supporting her with about 90% of their vote. Now Joe Ganim goes to a black church to say he’s sorry and then goes to more black churches seeking their vote and he gets it and he wins. Well, what does the black community get from Mayor Ganim, NOTHING. Blacks in Bridgeport need to do what everybody else does, target their votes, but the black community MUST demand from those elected what they want. Bradley has done nothing, he’s a rookie. Let’s have this fight now with McCarthy, Bradley and now Pereira.
Got it.
Martinez was fined in the past. I’m not sure if someone has filed a complaint for the most recent election cycle.
You’re more jaded than I thought if you think the AB operation running in Bridgeport is on the up and up.
Eric, a suggestion. Don’t do like Angel Figueroa did and make charges like fraud and you have no proof. You assume there was something wrong with the election but you have no proof, it took a recount for her to win, don’t make it look like she was the runaway vote-getter, she barely won.
She did need a recount. Bottom line is she won. And she we will win in August.
Eric, yes, she won with a recount, so why are you challenging my statement about that? You are playing the same game as Maria and Angel, you cry about things you can’t back up with facts. That’s one reason Maria won’t win. If you notice no other candidate or person elected gets as many bad comments as Maria outside of whoever the mayor is and you know why, because she doesn’t get along with people plus there is no way the black voters will support her.
Ron,
I am black and Puerto Rican, she’s got my vote. I have met at least 40 other black voters, and she has their vote. Black voters are tired of do-nothing politicians who don’t keep their word. Shoot, all voters are tired of it.
As stated before, a politician has only their word. Once it is broken, they have nothing. Baker broke his promises, Hennessy broke his promises, Paoletto and Smith went against their word. The list goes on. Maria has worked well with Sauda Baraka, Howard Gardener, John Bagley and Mr. Simmons, to name a few.
Furthermore, I’m not sure if you have left your little fiefdom on the West Side, but you do realize the 126th district is one of the most diverse in the city.
Andy, BPS are 96.6% non-white. It is would be very easy to go knock on the doors of the one or two white males who drop out of high school in Bridgeport. The white male dropout rate in Bridgeport is not at pandemic proportions. The non-white dropout rate is about 65%. This is a crisis!