DTC incumbent slate sweeps primary in 8 contested wards

NEW HAVEN — Incumbent Democratic Town Committee ward co-chairs, most of whom were allied with Yale’s Unite Here unions, swept the city’s DTC primary in eight wards Tuesday, defeating all of the candidates allied with the New Haven Agenda challenge slate.

Incumbents handily won races in Ward 3, Ward 4, Ward 6, Ward 7, Ward 12, Ward 18, Ward 28 and Ward 30, according to figures released by the Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans. Most won by at least 2-1 margins, with many incumbents winning by better than 3-1 margins.

“It was a clean sweep — clean, clean sweep,” said Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Mauro, who worked on behalf of the incumbent slate.

He pointed out that people challenged Mayor Justin Elicker in the last election and this challenge followed that.

The result of this election “will help the stability of the part,” said Mauro, who was working Tuesday night out of the New Haven Central Labor Council.

Asked to what he attributed the result, Mauro said, “The magic is we do the work. You do the work, you connect with voters.”

Jason Bartlett, a former city youth director and onetime state representative who was campaign manager for Democratic mayoral challenger-turned-Republican-candidate Tom Goldenberg in the 2023 election, led the New Haven Agenda slate.

“My understanding is we didn’t win” any of the races, said Bartlett, who was an unsuccessful candidate in the Ward 6 race in the Hill and City Point.

“This is still a win,” Bartlett said. “It was a win for me personally in that I got to go out and meet my neighbors and talk about the issues ... and I think it’s a win to have people participate.

“As far as I was concerned, it was a big win,” he said.

Asked why he thought his slate lost all the races, Bartlett said, “Most of the alders were making as if they were on the ballots” and got involved in campaigning.

“The state reps showed up ... the mayor” was out campaigning in several ward, Bartlett said. “They definitely took us seriously.”

Bartlett said that “hopefully, by running, people will be more engaged.”

Overall, “I think this was good,” he said.

The results were as follows (winners are in bold):

Ward 3: Incumbents Angel Hubbard, 81, and Clarence Cummings, 76; New Haven Agenda candidates Inez Alvarez, 26, and Martha Dilone, 23.

Ward 4: Incumbents Howard Boyd, 110, and Jennifer Chona, 108; New Haven Agenda candidates Joe Fekieta, 15, and Earl Ali-Randall, 11.

Ward 6: Incumbents Dolores Colon, 150, and Doris Doward, 135; New Haven Agenda candidates Jason Bartlett, 54, and Stephen Rabin, 47.

Ward 7: Incumbents Christine Kim, 156, and Polly Gulliver, 142; New Haven Agenda candidate Dawn Bliesener, 32.

Ward 12: Incumbents Theresa Morant, 92, and Sean Matteson, 87; New Haven Agenda candidate Carlena Lee-Taft, 39.

Ward 18: Incumbents Rose Chatterton, 251, and Chris Avallone, 248; New Haven Agenda candidates Zelema Harris, 91, and Sharon Braz, 89.

Ward 28: Incumbents Gary Hogan, 267, and Jess Corbett, 208; New Haven Agenda candidate Zahava Lieblich, 93.

Ward 30: Incumbents Iva Johnson, 86, and Albertha Witherspoon, 70, and New Haven Agenda candidate Perry Flowers, 26.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo “It was a clean sweep — clean, clean sweep,” said Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Mauro, who worked on behalf of the incumbent slate.