The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Dems to hear complaint on ballot-switching
A complaint about 11thhour vote changing at the Democratic convention for the 5th District that gave a former elected leader the endorsement over a star teacher will be heard Thursday at party headquarters in Hartford.
The complaint stems from the dramatic finish at the Democrats’ May 15 convention, which saw former eight-term Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman edge Waterbury’s Jahana Hayes, who is making her first run for office.
Glassman and Hayes are running in the Aug. 14 Democratic primary to replace three-term Democrat Elizabeth Esty, who was forced to drop her re-election plans after news broke that she covered up an office abuse scandal.
The convention finish was dramatic because at the time of the voteswitching, Hayes had taken the lead over Glassman after two rounds of voting, 171 to 169.
The tension in the auditorium of Waterbury’s Crosby High School was palpable. Hayes, the 2016 National Teacher of the
Year, had the backing of Waterbury’s 43 delegates as well as several hundred spectators.
The voting was held open — as is often the case at conventions — to allow delegates to switch their votes. Three delegates changed their votes, giving Glassman the edge and the Democratic endorsement.
Hayes, who was disappointed by the way the convention had finished, decided to challenge Glassman in the primary after speaking with U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, who had encouraged Hayes to run in the first place.
Others also objected to the vote switching. Scot X Esdaile, president of the Connecticut NAACP, said he wanted a probe of the nominating process. Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary and another Democratic delegate from Waterbury lodged complaints with the Democratic Party.
Specific details about the complaints were not immediately available.
In response, the party will assemble a panel of Democratic State Central Committee members on Thursday to resolve the dispute.
“Each involved party will have a chance to present their side,” said Christina Polizzi, a party spokeswoman. “And then the panel will have five days to make their decision.”
Promoting diversity within the Democratic Party has been in the news. In April, a group of New Haven ministers called for party chairman Nick Balletto to resign, charging that state Democrats were ignoring people of color.
At the Democratic convention last month, Latina union organizer Eva Bermudez Zimmerman, who announced a bid for lieutenant governor, received support from Democrats dissatisfied with having two white people heading the party’s gubernatorial ticket — Ted Lamont and endorsed lieutenant governor candidate Susan Bysiewicz.
The 5th District is Connecticut’s most competitive Congressional seat. Republicans will nominate their choice at the GOP’s primary in mid August. Candidates include frontrunners Manny Santos, who was endorsed at the Republican convention in May, Southbury’s Ruby O’Neill and Watertown businessman Richard Dupont.