The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Elicker, Harp rivalry sets current race apart
Little precedent for New Haven competition for mayor as incumbent pursues 3rdparty bid
NEW HAVEN — At one point, there was a question of whether or not the contest between Toni Harp and Justin Elicker for mayor will continue to be a competitive race up to the general election.
That is no longer the case.
Alyson Heimer, administrator for the New Haven Democracy Fund, said recent events featuring Harp, the threeterm incumbent, show she is actively running for office, this time on the Working Families Party line after losing the Democratic Party primary to Elicker 5,150 to 7,198.
The question was important to Elicker as the Democracy Fund, which is the public campaign financing mechanism in New Haven, had already ruled that he qualified for a $20,000 grant towards the Nov. 5 election.
The confusion came when Harp announced that she was “suspending” her campaign on Sept. 25, but keeping her name on the ballot as the nominee of the Working Families Party.
But Joshua Foley, a spokesman for the State Election Enforcement Commission, said there is no such thing as a suspended campaign. It is either open or terminated with a filing with the SEEC.
Heimer said ballot access, plus Harp’s spending or raising at least $5,000 since the Sept. 10 primary and sponsoring an event
on Oct. 20, where tickets are available for $100 to $1,000, contributed to the active campaign status. She said the check for Elicker will be available on Oct. 18.
Having to decide whether a campaign is active is an unusual question, among many, that sets this election apart from other mayoral fights through the decades. This is in addition to the hot rhetoric around race and the characterization of campaign positions as lies, something that didn’t surface full force until the vote totals in the Democratic primary were in.
The primary is her toughest race in more than 30 years in office, the last six years as mayor, with more than 20 years as a state senator from New Haven. The primary is the first race she ever lost.
On Sept. 27, a group calling itself the People’s Campaign for Toni Harp, held a rally where speakers described the mayor’s loss as a political “lynching” and a “political rape” that has set back relations between black and white neighbors. They said they were in no mood to come together as a party.
Held outside City Hall, the mayor did not attend, and has since said she would not go so far as to endorse the characterizations made at that rally. Both sides charge the other with distortions.
The People’s Campaign also held a second rally, where the mayor reminded those in attendance she is still on the ballot and asked them to get their friends to the polls. It was billed as a tribute to Harp for her accomplishments in the last six years, but in the end it was a robust pitch to keep her in office — a pitch that seemed lacking in the long campaign leading to the primary.
There were numerous debates and Elicker had a citywide operation that Harp did not match. Some supporters will say privately that her campaign was lacking after her longtime campaign manager was put on administrative leave when word leaked that the FBI was looking into grants to the Youth Services division.
Harp told the enthusiastic crowd that it was difficult to run the city and find the time to campaign and respond to criticism from her opponent who had a citywide operation and the ability to run full time, although the news cycle continued with coverage of events coming from City Hall.
For the primary, the Harp campaign had raised $272,133, while Elicker brought in $316,479.
In the most recent filing, for the month of September, the mayor’s campaign raised $24,185 in that time period, while Elicker had $43,369 in donations. Harp, however, has also lent her campaign $13,500 of her own money and the campaign is showing a deficit of $4,910.
Harp’s campaign and state Sen. Marilyn Moore’s mayoral campaign in Bridgeport are sponsoring the Oct. 20 event, which was organized by Women Advocates for Victory at the Elections. Valita Luckett, one of the organizers, said the group was talking about doing this months ago, but just got around to it. It is billed as an opportunity to feature the two women’s contributions to public life.
It is being held from 2 to 4 p.m. at 11 Zak Hill Drive in Woodbridge, the home of Dr. Gary Desir and his wife, Dr. Deborah Dyett Desir. Luckett said she is apolitical and knows Moore from when they worked together at SNET and Harp from various community functions, as well as membership in The Links, a sorority.
Vincent Mauro, New Haven Democratic Town Committee chairman, said since the primary, the mayor’s message on whether she is continuing to run or not was “consistently inconsistent,” although that appears to be cleared up at this point.
There already has been one event where the party, including some leaders who supported Harp, have come together to support Elicker.
Polarization
Scott McLean, chairman of the philosophy and political science department at Quinnipiac University, said some of the sharp rhetoric that evolved after the primary loss reflects something that is going on throughout the country.
“There is no explaining the weirdness of voters in 2019 after the political year we have had,” McLean said, referring to the actions of President Donald Trump and the now active impeachment investigation.
“There is a sense of anger in politics that has permeated elections,” McLean said. “If you start angry early in the campaign, it is hard to step back.”
The professor said the city has two good candidates and it will be sad if polarization continues. McLean said the mayor lost because she did not get out the grassroots support she needed.
Elicker outright won several African American and Latino wards, as well the more integrated sections of the city, in addition to the less diverse wards where voter participation is high.
McLean said going forward it will be interesting to see how Mauro brings the party back together for next year during the presidential election and when the state representatives are on the ballot. There was an almost complete break between Harp and the state delegation.
McLean said if there were a strong Republican Party, the inner party squabbles would be limited, but GOP representation is almost totally lacking in New Haven. The unaffiliated contingent however is a factor and an area where Elicker did well in 2013.
New Haven’s Democratic Party has a history of political cooperation among black, white and Latino voters, and that was evident when they united behind then state Sen. John Daniels for mayor in 1989 over John DeStefano Jr. Daniels was the city’s first black mayor. Harp was the second African American mayor and the first female top leader.
The party also coalesced to push former Gov. Dannel P. Malloy over the top as governor in 2010 and Gov. Ned Lamont in 2018, which defines its importance in state politics.
The Rev. Stephen Cousin Jr., pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a supporter of Harp, just recently announced his support for Elicker, with whom he said he has always had a cordial relationship.
Cousin gave a fullthroated endorsement of Harp at a church service in July, reminding the parishioners that the $668,000 mortgage on the former community center the church owns next door, was now under $392,000, given the longtime lease for a city senior center and a second monthly lease on the large space that was marked to become a youth center.
Begun in 2015, the youth center project has been stalled over questions of the final cost and a decision by the Board of Alders to sequester some $250,000 in remaining funding until that issue can be worked out. The disposition of grants destined for the center are also part of an FBI investigation.
“I still believe it is a great concept,” he said of a youth center.
Cousin said he feels Harp lost because of the optics of an 11 percent hike in the tax rate last year, at the same time administrative staff got raises, although some had not had them in years. He said a trip to China by the mayor and others was not well received nor was a school deficit, that has since been taken care of.
He said, however, she has accomplished much and opened up employment opportunities for African Americans that previously were lacking, contributing to wealth building. “I think she has a phenomenal record with accomplishments that will live on forever,” Cousin said.
The pastor said he is backing Elicker now because after a primary, the party has to come together.
“I wish the rhetoric was not so divisive. It is the language that divides us. We have lost, in our politics, the ability to have civil discourse with somebody you disagree with,” Cousin said.
Given how close he is with Harp, he felt it was important to share his views on what the Democrats should do now. Basically his message was, “if I can do it (endorse the primary winner,) as hard as it is, and it is hard, if I’m willing to do it,” for the party, then others can too.
On the issue of race, Cousin, who has been in New Haven since 2013, said “unless we acknowledge racism, classism and sexism, we can’t move forward as a city or a nation.”
Does he feel New Haven is a racist city?
“No. The rhetoric is harsher than the reality,” he said.
Cousin said ultimately what happens on Nov. 5 is not known, given the vagaries of politics. He said campaigning is much different than governing however, and it remains to be seen what Elicker will do.
“It is easy to campaign and make promises. It is harder to get things done. Time will tell,” Cousin said.