Bridgeport Senate candidate asks judge for spot on ballot
BRIDGEPORT – Juliemar Ortiz told a judge Friday that she wants to represent her city community in “a transformative and historic way.”
But the Bridgeport political newcomer was blocked in her path to get on the ballot for state Senate for the 23rd District when the city’s Democratic Registrar of Voters rejected more than 300 signatures on Ortiz’s petitions for a primary against incumbent state Sen. Dennis Bradley and the Democratic Partyendorsed candidate, the Rev. Herron Gaston.
Ortiz, a former political reporter for the New Haven Register who later worked as a press secretary for Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and more recently for Vineyard Wind energy company, is now suing in Superior Court to get on the primary ballot.
In order to get a spot on the ballot Ortiz would have had to collect 1,585 signatures from Democrats registered to vote in the 23rd District which includes the city’s East Side and a small portion of adjoining Stratford. Her campaign states that it turned in 1,905 petition signatures but Bridgeport Registrar of Voters Patricia Howard rejected 351 of those signatures, leaving them 31 signatures short.
Her lawsuit claims Howard improperly rejected dozens of signatures, disenfranchising those voters qualified to elect a candidate of their choice.
Deputy City Attorney John Bohannon Jr. did not file his usual motion to dismiss the lawsuit as he has done in previous election-challenge cases but said he will wait to hear the plaintiff’s case.
Because of the time restrictions before the scheduling of the primary and printing of ballots, Judge Thomas Welch is expected to issue a decision within the next two weeks.
Jacob Pudlin, a New Britain campaign consultant hired by the Ortiz campaign, was the first witness called by Ortiz’s lawyer, William Bloss.
After Ortiz did not receive the party endorsement to run as the senate candidate, Pudlin said they began the process to petition to get on a primary ballot against Gaston and Bradley.
He said they recruited a number of volunteers to collect signatures on the petitions. Many of the volunteers were from out of town, but Pudlin said they could collect signatures as long as they were certified Democratic voters in Connecticut.
After turning in the petitions with a total of 1,905 signatures, he said they received notice from the Office of the Secretary of the State that the Bridgeport registrar had rejected a number of the signatures on the petitions and they were short of the number needed to get on the ballot. Pudlin said he had gotten no notice of a problem from the registrar.
Following an email exchange with Howard, Pudlin said he received copies of their petitions back with notations next to the signatures that appeared to have been rejected. He said 35 signatures had apparently been rejected for no known reason.
Also, a petition circulated by Josue Saint-Fleur had been rejected because the registrar stated SaintFleur was an unaffiliated voter and not a Democrat, Pudlin testified. However, he said Saint-Fleur had submitted a form to the registrar’s office changing his affiliation to the Democratic Party prior to the petitions being handed in.
Ortiz then briefly testified about bringing the lawsuit.
Testimony is to continue Tuesday morning.