Outsider making inroads

Bermudez Zimmerman says primary bid achieved its goals

As it became clear Eva Bermudez Zimmerman wasn’t going to pull off an outsider victory in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, she found herself looking at a sea of supporters with tears in their eyes.

Her own eyes dry, she didn’t bemoan the loss or throw herself a pity party — that’s not her style.

“I played the role on election night mostly of consoling others,” Bermudez Zimmerman said Thursday. “When you work that

hard and you have so many people looking up to you, of course it’s disappointing . ... But I was a winner from day one.”

Coming from another candidate, it would be a cliche in the truest sense. But in many ways, Bermudez Zimmerman, who prides herself on authenticity, accomplished exactly what she’d hoped since entering the race for lieutenant governor just 48 hours before the state Democratic convention in May.

A longtime activist and union organizer, Bermudez Zimmerman, 31, pulled in nearly 40 percent of the vote Tuesday, mirroring the support she received at the convention. She challenged a longtime politician in Susan Bysiewicz, the party-endorsed candidate, pushed her further to the left, and brought light to a question that’s plagued the Democratic party across the country: Does the party represent the diversity of its base?

Bermudez Zimmerman is part of a wave of progressive candidates across the country challenging longtime politicians backed by the Democratic party. In most cases — roughly 89 percent of the time, according to a study published this week by Ballotpedia and FiveThirtyEight — the party-endorsed candidates are winning primaries against their more progressive challengers, but not without a fight.

“We were coming in with the least amount of time and I was going up against a 30-year political veteran,” Bermudez Zimmerman said. “There was no reason she shouldn’t have swept the floor with me. I didn’t have the name recognition, but I’m proud of where I went, and I know I have a lot of supporters out there.”

As for whether she’ll run again, Bermudez Zimmrman won’t rule it out, but she never wanted to be a career politician or a career candidate.

For now, she’s focused on November. Bermudez Zimmerman plans to work with local Democratic town committees across the state to help them figure out how

H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media Eva Bermudez Zimmerman got nearly 40 percent of the vote.

Catherine Avalone / Hearst Connecticut Media Democrat Eva Bermudez Zimmerman, who lost her bid for the lieutenant governor nomination, and her husband, Stacey Zimmerman, enter the courtyard outside of her campaign headquarters in Meriden on Tuesday. A longtime activist and union organizer, Bermudez Zimmerman, 31, she plans to help the Democratic ticket, engage unaffiliated voters and improve voter turnout in November.