Lamont aims for urban vote on tour

BRIDGEPORT — Debbie Green, who helps oversee 39 plots at the community garden on Reservoir Avenue, was dropping off supplies Tuesday afternoon when she bumped into the Democratic nominee for governor.

“I keep hearing this name, ‘Ned Lamont’,” she told him. “I’m like, ‘Who’s Ned Lamont?’ ”

Waith Mitchell knew. Mitchell was driving by when he too spotted Lamont, campaigning in the neighborhood with state Sen. Marilyn Moore, D-Bridgeport.

Mitchell called out through his passenger window that he would happily display a “Lamont” lawn sign at his home.

“I voted for him before, when he ran for Congress,” Mitchell said in an interview afterward. “He lost to Lieberman, right?”

U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman. It was 2006. Then Lamont, a Greenwich businessman and millionaire, ran for governor in 2010 and lost in the Democratic primary to Dannel P. Malloy.

And now Lamont is back, again running to be Connecticut’s chief executive, introducing or re-introducing himself to voters, and seeking to prove to skeptics he can energize not just suburbia, but the inner cities that often help Democrats win elections. Bridgeport, where he spent several hours walking the territory, was on Tuesday’s itinerary.

“Ned Lamont,” Green said aloud to the candidate. “I need brochures and information about you so I can read up.”

What Green did not tell Lamont is that she had already agreed to help gather signatures for Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim.

Ganim is aggressively collecting petitions to force a summer primary with Lamont, focusing on urban neighborhoods whose residents are more accepting of the fact that Ganim’s first stint as mayor ended in 2003 with a federal corruption conviction and prison sentence.

“For us (Democrats) to win in November, voters need a candidate who can walk in any neighborhood, connect with a diverse group of voters and can generate enthusiasm,” Ganim tweeted last week.

“I can go everywhere,” Lamont insisted during his stop in Bridgeport. “They know I’m a stiff from Greenwich and don’t care. It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you stand.”

From the community garden, Lamont strolled down Yaremich Drive to the Stone Ridge Cooperatives. Many Stone Ridge residents grew up in the troubled Trumbull Gardens low income housing development nearby where Ganim gathered signatures last week.

Lamont met with and fielded a few questions from a small gathering of co-op board members and local political leaders.

He pledged to be the education governor, the jobs governor and to improve transportation.

“For me, that starts in cities,” Lamont said. “Look, Connecticut is not going to be great unless our cities are great.”

Asked where he stands on a controversial proposal by MGM Resorts International to build a casino in Bridgeport, Lamont, noting it would be a resort with a hotel, said: “I would not stand in the way of that. I’d like to see more development come to Bridgeport.”

He also said as governor he would “honor our commitments and promises we’ve made” as a state. That, Lamont said, means fully reimbursing cities for the non-taxable state properties located within their borders and providing more education dollars.

“When he’s governor, that’s gonna be fixed. I’m gonna be in his office on Day 1,” said Max Medina, a local attorney, of the school aid promise. Medina, a Lamont ally, served on Bridgeport’s school board from 1993 to 2009.

Medina and Moore sought to assure audiences that Lamont cares about Connecticut’s urban centers.

“I’m confident he’s not here to use us. He’s here to work with us,” Medina said.

“This is who I’m putting all my energy in,” said Moore, who had been on the list of Lamont’s potential running mates for lieutenant governor, but declined to seek re-election herself. “I trust him and I believe you can trust him, too.”

As Lamont headed back to his car, Michael Hinton, vice president of the co-op, followed, encouraging the candidate to visit city churches.

“Let’s do it,” Lamont said. “I’m there.”

Mitchell, who had pulled over his car to say a quick hello to Moore and Lamont, said afterward why he preferred the Greenwich millionaire be elected governor over Bridgeport’s big city mayor.

“Lamont, hands down,” Mitchell said. “Joe got a job in Bridgeport he needs to finish.”