Long Trail Ends With Hometown Bash

Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. closed a nearly three-year longshot run for the governor’s mansion back where it all began, in a rally at New Haven’s Temple Street Plaza.

The election-eve rally wasn’t as glamorous and confetti-strewn as Saturday’s extravaganza featuring DeStefano and Senate hopeful Ned Lamont, but Temple Street Plaza brimmed with DeStefano loyalists waving signs to the sound of tunes from a Branford high school band.

DeStefano skipped his ​“my father was a cop” stump speech and went straight for the battle: ​“Rell’s got to go!” he cried, upbeat in his quest to defy the odds and oust popular Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell. Democrat DeStefano trails her by 24 points, according to the latest poll.

The mayor even poked fun at his own absence in the city as he’s crisscrossed the state in quest for a higher office over the last two years. ​“You know, I’ve been out of town a lot, so I was surprised to see the Coliseum is still here.”

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, D‑3, gave a rousing speech of support, sticking to the theme of ​“working families” and charging against the governor, who has maintained a grandmotherly, ​“caretaker” public image in a guarded, low-key campaign. DeStefano and his running mate, Mary Glassman, are not ​“caretakers”, she said. Click on the play arrow (or click here) to watch her.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal called DeStefano ​“the most intelligent candidate that I have seen in my time” in state government.

Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan hoped that the nationwide anti-incumbent, anti-Bush trend would sweep DeStefano into office, despite the polls. ​“There is a trend, and that trend is strong in Connecticut and strong in the nation. The question —is whether it’s enough to counter the Jodi image.”

He acknowledged the task would be tough.

“It’s a sad thing to see in Connecticut that it’s good enough to some degree that you’re not John Rowland,” who resigned as governor due to a corruption scandal, passing the torch to Rell.

Buoyed by local support, DeStefano headed to a dinner in Waterbury to cap off Election Day Eve. He said he and Glassman are hitting 30 towns in the final three days of his campaign.