nothin Count Keyes In | New Haven Independent

Count Keyes In

Paul Bass Photo

New Haven’s mayoral campaign landscape got more crowded as Judge Jack Keyes has privately let people know that he has decided to seek the city’s highest office.

Keyes (pictured), who is 63 and has been active in New Haven political and civic life since the 1970s, decided after weeks of soul-searching that the time is right to pursue a longtime ambition to serve as mayor, according to numerous people who have participated in the conversations.

That was the latest in a series of decisions among prominent potential candidates this week that began to clarify the emerging mayoral field.

In a conversation Friday Keyes, a Democrat, neither officially confirmed nor officially denied the reports of his candidacy.

I am constrained by law from discussing a candidacy publicly unless I resign” as probate judge, Keyes noted.

Keyes has served as a probate judge since 1986. He is expected to resign the position in coming weeks.

Keyes’ expected entrance into the race makes even more interesting what has already shaped up as the most hotly competitive and energized mayoral race since 1989. Newhallville state Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield and East Rock Alderman Justin Elicker declared their candidacies even before incumbent Mayor John DeStefano announced Jan. 29 that he’s retiring after 20 years in office, an announcement that sparked many other potential candidates to consider candidacies. Former city economic development chief Henry Fernandez and Hillhouse Principal Kermit Carolina have begun gauging support for expected mayoral runs.

Former Chamber of Commerce chief Matthew Nemerson has also made the rounds exploring a candidacy. A Newhallville plumber named Sundiata Keitazulu has filed papers to run as well.

Another potential front-running candidate, Board of Aldermen Jorge Perez, confirmed Friday that he has decided not to run.

And housing authority chief Karen DuBois-Walton (pictured), who seriously considered a candidacy as well at the urging of some prominent New Haveners, is believed to have decided against running.

All the candidates and potential candidates so far are Democrats. The Democratic primary takes place Sept. 10.

Democratic Town Chairwoman Jackie James said Friday that Keyes would be a strong candidate. She noted that his support cuts across racial lines.

I think he would do well. He’s very well known around the city and the state,” said James, who said she is not backing any candidate at this point. Historically he has worked with a lot of people. He has great relationships as a probate judge. He has worked with diverse backgrounds.”

Another local Democratic campaign veteran involved in the mayoral discussions and unaffiliated with any candidate also noted the strong support Keyes, who is white, enjoys among African-Americans and Latinos: Jack instantly becomes the frontrunner. He is the only one who has the bridge” across the city’s various racial and ethnic divides.

On the other hand, this same observer noted that it’s far too early to predict an eventual frontrunner because none of the candidates or potential candidates has run for citywide office before. The ever-important endorsement of the labor-backed campaign organization that won a majority of the Board of Aldermen’s seats two years ago remains up in the air without Perez in the race. Months of debates and endorsements and coffee klatches will determine that question — potentially exposing New Haven to the liveliest discussion of issues in decades, and potentially enlisting hundreds of thousands of new people in the political process.

It will come down to who can convince between an estimated 8,000 and 11,000 registered Democrats to pull a lever, and get them all to the polls on Sept. 14. The mayoral race remains anyone’s to win, depending on hard work and communicating a compelling vision for the city’s future.

Keyes leaving the Hall of Records Friday.

For Jack Keyes, that process will be reminding lots of veteran New Haveners who he is, while introducing himself to a newer generation that may have never heard of him.

That’s because much of his work has taken place behind the scenes. A self-deprecating attorney (he has a law practice with state Senate Majority Leader Marty Looney) with an encyclopedic knowledge of local politics of the past four decades, Keyes has generally stayed out of the public spotlight.

At the same time, he has interacted with — and helped — hundreds of families as both a probate judge and a civic volunteer. He also served as city clerk from 1980 to 1986.

In his capacity as judge, he spearheaded efforts to build up a guardianship fund named after his late father (a former city clerk named Thomas Keyes). The fund gives out $450,000 a year to impoverished people who want to take in relatives’ children whose parents can no longer safely take care of them. It is the largest fund of its kind in the state. As society collapsed around us, with unemployment and drugs and poverty, poor people would come in and say, I want to take these kids, but I can’t afford them,’” Keyes recalled. Hence the fund.

Along with Sens. Looney and Toni Harp, among others, Keyes also created a fund for impoverished potential guardians who aren’t related to the children in question. That fund currently gives out $100,000 a year, Keyes said.

Meanwhile, Keyes was a driving force behind the growth of the Life Haven emergency shelter for women and their newborn children; he served as president of the board for years. He took a public stand over the years in favor of gay marriage, as well, testifying in favor of a series of bills before it became law.

The key issues confronting candidates this year include the city’s current school-reform and community policing drives. Keyes said he absolutely” supports the idea of school reform, but added that he would not address any specific campaign issues at this point.

He similarly did not say whether he would participate in the Democracy Fund, New Haven’s voluntary public-financing system designed to lower costs, limit special-interest influence and broaden the field in mayoral campaigns. Elicker and Holder-Winfield have both signed up to participate in the Democracy Fund, which offers matching public dollars in return for a promise to limit individual contributions to $370 and swear off donations from outside committees. Candidates who collect at least 200 donations of at least $10 can quality for a $19,000 grant from the fund plus matching dollars. The fund matches the first $25 of donations at a rate of two to one.

In 1982, as city clerk, Keyes proposed a campaign-finance bill to limit all spending, including from outside groups. He said he has been bitterly disappointed” by U.S. Supreme Court decisions — most recently in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission —that prevents campaign-finance laws from limiting spending and outside special-interest contributions to candidates. He questioned how effective campaign-finance laws can now be as a result. Citizens United annihilated it,” Keyes said. Some corporation can write you a check for a million dollars.”

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