The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Critics: Democratic gov ticket lacks diversity
NAACP chief says party hasn’t met black voters’ expectations
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont solved one problem — removing a competitor from the field — when Susan Bysiewicz ended her own campaign in order to run as his lieutenant governor.
But their ticket, announced just days after Republicans nominated two white men for the same top positions, is now being attacked for being too white.
Meanwhile, the head of the state NAACP is taking the Democratic Party to task for its treatment of minority candidates and expectations of black voters.
Which all plays right into the hands of Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, another Democratic gubernatorial contender, who needs urban voters to turn out at the polls to win a primary against Lamont.
While this week’s LamontBysiewicz team-up was a blow to Ganim’s already challenged candidacy — he was convicted of corruption in 2003 when he first ran Bridgeport City Hall — the mayor has pounced on the lack of diversity.
It was Ganim’s heavy courting of inner-city Bridgeport residents that helped get him re-elected in 2015 despite his criminal past. “I’ve been talking for months about the lack of inclusion by party leadership and the need for greater diversity in this convention process. I believe our party needs to be more inclusive and more fully embrace communities of color that have been a bedrock of the Democratic Party,” said Ganim. He made his comments Wednesday while campaigning in West Haven. “We need a ticket at the highest levels that reflects the rich diversity of our state.”
And later his campaign tweeted out a photo of Ganim mingling with AfricanAmerican senior citizens.
State Sen. Gary Winfield, who is black, has also criticized Lamont’s choice of Bysiewicz.
Winfield, according to the New Haven Independent, had been preparing to announce his own candidacy for lieutenant governor. He told the Independent: “We’ve had a female lieutenant governor and governor before. We haven’t never had a person of color. I’m not saying it has to be a man . ... You’re going to rely on certain communities to get over the hump. Those communities want to see themselves reflected on the ticket.”
Lamont and Bysiewicz during a joint appearance Tuesday in New Haven sought to address the criticism.
Bysiewicz said “our backgrounds and our experiences make the best team for Connecticut.” But she also pledged: “Ned and I are very committed to having a diverse team running statewide in this election” and appointing a diverse selection of judges, commissioners and board members.
Lamont said: “Our administration will be the most-diverse administration in Connecticut history.”
Winfield mocked Lamont’s statement on Twitter: “Whew! They are going to have the most diverse administration ever. Guess I was wrong. #ThatWasNotMyPoint #Meh #NotLettingUp.”
Hearst Connecticut Media contacted Winfield through Twitter and asked if that meant he will run for lieutenant governor with Ganim. He responded: “Uh... ThatIsNotWhat IWasSaying.”
No popularity contest
Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut NAACP, declined to comment on Lamont and Bysiewicz. But Esdaile said: “We’ve done a lot to deliver for the Democrats. Inner cities have come through tremendously (in elections). And to whom much is given, much is required.”
He noted, for example, that Shawn Wooden, who lives in the Hartford area and is running for treasurer, “is qualified, has the skill set, is tirelessly committed to our community (but) hasn’t gotten one major endorsement from any of the so-called power brokers in the party.”
Lamont recently received the coveted endorsement of New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, an African-American whose support was also sought by Ganim. There was speculation the two candidates had eyed Harp for lieutenant governor but she did not want to run.
Another black elected official — state Sen. Marilyn Moore of Bridgeport — said Wednesday that Lamont had asked her earlier this year if she was interested in being his running mate, and she declined. A source with the Lamont campaign confirmed Moore, who is a sometime critic of Ganim’s, was considered.
Moore said she was not disappointed with Lamont’s choice of Bysiewicz.
“I’m disappointed that he didn’t have a prior conversation with people who he should have acknowledged before (that announcement),” Moore said, like Winfield and Eva Bermudez Zimmerman of Newtown.
But Moore also saw the practicality of Lamont’s alliance with Bysiewicz: “He wants to win. By aligning himself and taking Susan out of the governor’s race it increases his opportunity. And nobody gets in a race to lose. Everybody gets in to win.”
As to whether Ganim’s criticism of Lamont and Bysiewicz will translate to minority votes, Moore said, “Joe’s a popular guy among people of color because he goes into the communities where they are. But being popular and people supporting you for governor, that’s two different things.”