Democrats Sweep Alder Races

Democrats swept all 30 races for Board of Alders seats in New Haven.

Following are the results from contested races:

Ward 1
Eli Sabin (D, WFP) 313
Christopher Marcisz (R) 25

Ward 3
Ron Hurt (D) 209
Maria Rodriguez (I) 64

Ward 5
Kampton Singh (D) 271
Germano Kimbro (I) 32

Ward 6
Carmen Rodriguez (D) 285
John Carlson (R) 126

Ward 10
Anna Festa (D) 570
Eric M. Mastroianni Sr (R) 59
Write in 1

Ward 21
Steven Winter (D) 429
Anais Nunez (I) 13
Eddie Gist (I) 17
Maceo Streater (I) 58

Ward 25
Adam Marchand (D) 857
Dennis Serfilippi (I) 512

Ward 26
Darryl Brackeen Jr. (D) 786
Joshua W. Van Hoesen (R) 204

The following candidates were elected to Board seats with no opposition: Frank Douglass (Ward 2), Evelyn Rodriguez (4), Abigail Roth (7), Ellen Cupo (8), Charles Decker (9), Renee Haywood (11), Gerald Antunes (12), Rosa Ferraro-Santana (13), Paola Acosta (14), Ernie Santiago (15), Jose Crespo (16), Jody Ortiz (17), Salvatore DeCola (18), Kimberly Edwards (19), Delphine Clyburn (20), Jeanette Morrison (22), Tyisha Walker-Myers (23), Evette Hamilton (24), Richard Furlow (27), Jill Marks (28), Brian Wingate (29), and Honda Smith (30). All are Democrats.

So was Darnell Goldson, who won another term on the Board of Education and faced no opposition.

Next Door In Westville

The social-media site NextDoor was a factor in at least some Ward 25 voters’ decisions.

One woman, who asked not to be identified or photographed, said the rise in car and home break-ins influenced her vote in favor of challenger Serfilippi, who has used the social media site to organize neighbors and spark conversations about issues like crime. ​“Every single day we hear about cars being stolen” and young arrestees’ ​“charges being reduced,” she said, citing NextDoor as her main source of information on that subject. ​“I have a heart for the poverty in New Haven,” she said, but New Haven has lost too many officers and patrol cops aren’t visible in the neighborhood.

Nadine Amalfi cited NextDoor as well — as a reason she voted for Marchand. ​“It feels Trumpian,” she said of the crime discussion on the site. ​“I don’t like fear-mongering.”

Hill: Safety, Speeding

Safety and speeding were the top causes of concern for many of the Hill residents the Independent spoke to Tuesday afternoon as they headed to vote in three contested aldermanic elections in the neighborhood in Wards 3, 5, and 6.

At the Ward 3 polling place at Career High School on Legion Avenue, a Stevens Street resident who gave her name as Kim W. (pictured) said she went back and forth, back and forth on whether to vote for incumbent Democrat Ron Hurt or independent challenger Maria Rodriguez.

“It was almost like flipping a coin,” she said. Ultimately, she decided to vote for Rodriguez — because, she said, she had seen the independent challenger in the neighborhood more. She had seen more of Rodriguez campaign lit. Based on her few conversations with the candidate, she believed Rodriguez would most fight fight for more speed bumps and traffic safety measures.

Legion Avenue residents Monica Smallwood and Danyne Mercer (pictured) declined to say for whom they voted for alder. But they did say their top issues are ​“consistent potholes in every street,” as well as ​“snow piled up in residential side streets.”

“They just take care of Yale and the rest goes to shit,” Mercer said about the neighborhood’s roads.

Hurt (pictured) stood near a table of campaign literature where the sidewalk met the school’s back parking lot, signing up voters on an aldermanic email listserv and making his re-election pitch.

“I’d like to finish what I’ve started,” he said. He listed public safety, ​“more responsible development,” good paying jobs as his top priorities.

Rodriguez sat a few dozen feet away in the open trunk of her van, which was covered in Justin Elicker stickers.

“I didn’t make any campaign” after the primary, Rodriguez said. She said she was happy to speak to a few voters who told her they would be voting for her for alder, but mostly she wanted to show up to the polling place Tuesday to encourage Ward 3 residents to vote for the Democratic mayoral candidate.

“I’m here to back Elicker,” she said.

A few blocks down Howard Avenue at Ward 6’s Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy polling place, Democratic candidate Carmen Rodriguez and a supporter for Republican candidate John Carlson made their cases for whom they wanted to see succeed retiring Hill Alder Dolores Colon.

“We want to see people engaged,” said Rodriguez (pictured) as she spoke with voter after voter in Spanish on their way from the school’s parking lot to the polls. ​“It’s important for myself to be in a community where people care.”

“She’s real,” Howard Avenue resident Marisol Bayano (pictured, with daughter Catherine and husband Luis) said about Rodriguez. She’s relatable, she added.

Bayano’s top priorities for the next alder for Ward 6? ​“Schools and safety.”

Greenwich Avenue native and current Hartford resident Hector Logan (pictured) stumped for Carlson just a few feet away. The two grew up as neighbors in City Point, Logan said. ​“He’s a good friend of mine and he’s a good guy.”

Logan said he was encouraging Ward 6 voters to cast their ballot for Carlson because ​“he’s really focused on the neighborhood. He’s been here his whole life.” He knows every cracked sidewalk, Logan said. Every bumpy street. And, as a Republican running for a seat on a local legislature currently occupied entirely by Democrats, ​“He understands that New Haven really needs some variety. Diversity is good.”

A few blocks more down Howard Avenue at Ward 5’s firehouse polling station, where voters had to pick between Democratic candidate Kampton Singh and independent candidate Germano Kimbro to replace retiring Hill Alder Dave Reyes.

“The most important issue to me is bringing more new affordable housing,” said longtime Greenwich Avenue resident and mail carrier Carl Sampson. As well as more police service in the neighborhood, more activities for both the elderly and for youth.

Sampson said he voted for Singh because he’s been active in the community management team for years. ​“He’s been participating in all kinds of things in the area for a long time,” he sad.

He also praised Reyes, a staffer for Gov. Ned Lamont in Hartford, for responding to every call Sampson ever made, for always trying as hard as he could to address anything Sampson or his neighbors brought his ways.

“I never had anything negative to say about him,” Sampson said approvingly about Reyes. He said he thinks Singh will make for a worthy successor.