The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Lamont targets urban vote
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 the candidate. “I’m like, ‘Who’s Ned Lamont?’ ”
Waith Mitchell knew. Mitchell was driving by when he too spotted Lamont, campaigning in the neighborhood, accompanied by state Sen. Marilyn Moore, DBridgeport. Mitchell let them know 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 and Lamont had challenged the incumbent’s support for the Iraq War. Then Lamont, a Greenwich businessman and millionaire, ran for governor in 2010 and lost that year’s 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 cities like Bridgeport that help Democrats win.
He has work to do.
“Ned Lamont,” Green said aloud to the candidate. “I need brochures and information about you so I can read up.”
Going everywhere
What Green did not tell Lamont is that she had agreed to help a friend gather signatures for Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim. Ganim is aggressively collecting petitions to force a summer gubernatorial primary. The mayor is focusing his efforts on urban neighborhoods around Connecticut whose residents seem to be more accepting of the fact that his 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 in a clear shot at Lamont. Ganim has also mocked Lamont’s wealth, though Ganim hails from a well-to-do Easton family that helped him on his release from prison and continues to aid his political ambitions.
“I can go everywhere,” Lamont cheerily insisted during Tuesday’s roughly hour and a half 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.”
Lawyer Max Medina, a city native and former school board member who joined Lamont and Moore, pointed out Ganim’s suburban upbringing and added, “Those of us who are really Bridgeporters know better than to listen to someone who says, ‘You can’t trust so-and-so because he comes from Greenwich or Trumbull.’ We spend our entire lives convincing people to give us a chance because we’re from Bridgeport.”
Don Wilson, founder of Bridgeport Youth Lacrosse, was tending his vegetables at the community garden Tuesday and was also greeted by Lamont. Afterward Wilson said, “I’ll give everybody a chance, just like the people of Bridgeport gave Ganim a chance.”
Ganim was re-elected mayor in 2015, campaigning heavily in minority neighborhoods with his second chance message.
Mitchell said Lamont “hands down” has his vote. He said, “Joe got a job in Bridgeport he needs to finish.”
Great Cities
From the community garden, Lamont strolled down Yaremich Drive to the Stone Ridge Cooperatives. Some longtime residents grew up in the troubled Trumbull Gardens low income housing development nearby, a favorite campaign stop of Ganim’s.
Lamont met with and fielded a few questions from a small gathering of co-op board members and local political leaders. His pledges were nothing new or detailed: He will be “the education governor,” “the jobs governor” and 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, specifying 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.”
Lamont also said he would provide more aid to cities and more education dollars, somehow without hurting small towns.
“This is who I’m putting all my energy in,” Moore told their audience. “I trust him and believe you can trust him, too.”
Moore, who is black, had been on the list of Lamont’s potential running mates for lieutenant governor, but declined in order to seek re-election herself. There were several moments Tuesday where Moore did much of the talking.
“We would have been a great pair, huh?” said Lamont afterward. He has been criticized by Ganim and others for choosing a white lieutenant governor — ex-Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, who ended her gubernatorial campaign as a result.
Asked afterward about Lamont’s chances with urban voters, Steve Nelson, the co-op’s president and a Bridgeport Democratic leader, said, “When you have a guy that comes from success, minority people will take a shot.” But, Nelson cautioned, “One thing about Joe (Ganim), he can connect with people.”
As Lamont headed for his car, Michael Hinton, vice president of the co-op, urged he return and visit Bridgeport’s churches.
“Let’s do it,” Lamont said. “I’m there.”