Bridgeport Democratic primaries could change council lineup
BRIDGEPORT — While the general election is over two months away, Tuesday’s City Council primaries will have significant consequences for the next two years of municipal government, with most of the legislative body’s 20 members — including its president and one of her most outspoken rivals — facing challengers.
Meanwhile an additional two incumbents are seeking reelection while also facing criminal charges.
Twenty-nine candidates in all — 16 backed by the Democratic Town Committee at its July convention and 13 who petitioned onto the ballot — are battling in eight of Bridgeport’s 10 council districts. Each district is represented by a pair of councilpersons whose responsibilities include passing the annual budget, new ordinances, development deals and union contracts, as well as dealing with neighborhood-specific issues.
And dependent on the council’s final make-up are the final two years of Mayor Joe Ganim’s current term and his and his department heads’ ability to enact their agenda smoothly or sweat to obtain the necessary votes.
“Is the council going to work with the mayor to implement his agenda?” is the key question, said Kevin Reynolds, a private lobbyist who represents City Hall at the state Capitol building in Hartford.
And while Tuesday’s victors — the top two vote-getters — still have to compete in November’s general election against Republican and third party or petition opponents, given Democratic domination of Bridgeport politics the primaries can be the deciding races.
“If you’re a registered Democrat and you go and vote in the primary, the winner of that primary is, generally very often, the winner over all,” said Callie Heilmann, who heads the Bridgeport Generation Now civic group. “So registered Democrats should vote in our local primaries because that is where your power as a voter lies.”
Tuesday’s match-ups are as follows:
1 In the 131st District, the town committee endorsed incumbents Jorge Cruz and Denese Taylor-Moye versus petition candidates Shavonne Davis and Tyler Mack;
1 In the 132nd District, petition candidate Dasha Spell wants to oust either M. Evette Brantley or Marcus Brown;
1 Aikeem Boyd is looking to defeat the town committee-backed incumbent Jeanette Herron and her running mate, Raymond Collette, in the 133rd District;
1 Another petition candidate, Joseph Thompson, is taking on incumbents Rev. Mary McBride Lee and Rosalina Roman-Christy in the 135th District;
1 Council members Alfred Castillo and Avelino Silva are being challenged by former Councilman Jose Casco and by Carmen Nieves in the 136th District;
1 Council President Aidee Nieves and fellow incumbent Maria Valle lost the town committee’s endorsement in the 137th District and are trying to save their seats from Rosa Franco and Elsie Mercado; 1 In the 138th District, incumbent Samia Suliman, who has the town committee’s support, and Councilwoman Maria Pereira, who does not, are paired up, respectively, with Kevin Monks and Michelle Small;
1 And 139th District Council members Eneida Martinez and Ernie Newton are being challenged by petition candidates Victoria Majewski and Wanda Simmons.
The roster has some good examples of the evershifting alliances in Bridgeport politics. For example, Brown at one time was an opponent of Brantley’s, while Casco is Castillo’s old council partner.
While all of the races impact the make-up of the council, a handful are of particular interest.
As previously reported, Nieves, council president since December 2017, and her partner Valle failed to receive the endorsement at the town committee’s convention thanks to opposition by some strange political bedfellows: Influential veteran Democratic leader, City Clerk Lydia Martinez, who has said Nieves has refused to work with her; the anti-establishment Pereira, who has repeatedly clashed with Nieves over council business and Pereira’s often-combative conduct; and John Ricci, a former public facilities director under Ganim who resigned that powerful position in late 2019 following a series of controversies and who sometimes butted heads with Nieves while on the job.
Nieves and Valle, meanwhile, can boast of having support from their own mismatched backers: Ganim, who has campaigned for them and recently promoted plans for a new senior center in their district, and of Generation Now Votes, the self-described “political arm” of Generation Now that frequently opposes Ganim.
The outcome of Pereira’s own primary will also be a key factor in the council’s immediate future. The former school board member earned a reputation on that body and during her two years on the council for asking tough questions of city officials and of her colleagues, but critics view her as an obstructionist and a bully.
Michael DeFillippo, who sometimes joined with Pereira in challenging Ganim and the council majority, in late July formally resigned from his 133rd District seat after he was indicted on multiple federal election fraud charges. DeFillippo’s partner, Herron, has distanced herself from him and is now running with Colletta.
Another council member who has been opposing Ganim and Nieves — Castillo of the 136th District— was also recently arrested but is still pursuing reelection. Castillo was arrested by Bridgeport police last month after Public Facilities Director Craig Nadrizny complained the councilman allegedly threatened him outside of the city-owned, privately-managed Wonderland of Ice rinks.
Castillo’s case was recently continued to Nov. 5, after that month’s general election.
In the 139th District, Eneida Martinez has been serving her constituents while facing her own criminal charges. The incumbent, who managed the now-closed Keystone strip-club/social-club, was arrested last Oct. 7 and charged for operating an illegal bar and violating public health rules related to the coronavirus pandemic at the time of a fatal shooting.
The case against Martinez stems from the unsolved shooting death of Nyair Charles Nixon that took place at Keystone Sept. 27, 2020, and what investigators concluded regarding the business and Martinez’s role running it.
Nieves had initially stripped Martinez of some of her council duties, but because her case was repeatedly delayed — most recently until November — allowed Martinez in April to resume all of her responsibilities.