Independent Party endorses Simmons for Stamford mayor
STAMFORD — The state Independent Party has endorsed Caroline Simmons for mayor of Stamford, according to her campaign.
Simmons, a current state representative, was endorsed by the Stamford Democratic City Committee in July but faces a primary with Mayor David Martin next month. After he lost the DCC’s endorsement to Simmons, Martin gathered and handed in enough signatures to force a primary on Sept. 14.
He needed 1,550 signatures from registered Stamford Democrats, equal to at least 5 percent of the city’s registered Democrats. The Democratic registrar said Martin ended up turning in hundreds more qualified signatures than he needed.
If Simmons wins the primary, her name will appear twice on the ballot in November — as the Democratic Party candidate and as the Independent Party candidate, her campaign said Friday.
“I am grateful to have the support of a diverse coalition of supporters across party lines,” Simmons said in a statement Friday. “My platform is focused on rebuilding our schools, taking advantage of billions of federal funding for infrastructure repairs, and making our government more responsive to resident concerns. All of these issues affect everyone in our city. I believe my conversations with Connecticut’s Independent Party have been productive and I look forward to earning the support of Democrat, Republican and unaffiliated voters this election.”
When asked if she would remain on the November ballot on the Independent Party line if she does not win the Democratic Primary, Simmons said, “It is my intention to remain in the race until the general, but I will make a final determination after the primary result.”
Her campaign noted in a release that there is a difference between being a member of the Independent Party, which is a minor political party, and being an unaffiliated voter. The latter is not registered with any political party.
Av Harris, Martin’s campaign spokesperson, said endorsements by “outside parties or organizations are not relevant to the conversation.”
“We’re running in a Democratic primary,” Harris said. “Mayor Martin is focused on taking his message of eight solid years of accomplishment, economic growth, fiscal stewardship and leadership during the COVID crisis directly to Stamford Democrats.”
Ex-Major League Baseball manager Bobby Valentine is running for mayor as an unaffiliated candidate. He announced earlier this month that he had landed a spot on the November ballot.
In a statement Friday, Valentine said the Independent Party “asked to endorse” him months ago, but he “determined their views were too radical; often to the right of the Republican Party.”
Dan Miller, Valentine’s campaign manager, said Simmons was a “Democrat through and through ... and Caroline should be proud of her affiliation. Accepting the Independent Party endorsement, however, without explaining the party’s historic and current views, many of which can be described as radical, is only an attempt to muddy the waters and confuse the voters that she is somehow independent minded.”
To get on the ballot, Valentine needed 188 signatures from registered Stamford voters — equal to at least 1 percent of the total votes cast in the last election for mayor. His campaign manager has said that he gathered many more signatures than needed.
Former cop Joe Corsello is set to appear on the ballot as the GOP candidate for mayor after receiving the endorsement of the Stamford Republican Town Committee. When asked about the Independent Party endorsement, Corsello said he had no comment.