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New Haven, Waterbury Craft Vote Swap
by Melissa Bailey & Thomas MacMillan | May 21, 2010 9:13 pm
(9) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author
Posted to: Politics, State, Campaign 2010
In a late-game scramble to get hometown secretary of the state candidate Gerry Garcia on the ballot, New Haven is working out a trade with the town of Waterbury.
New Haven Democratic Town Committee Chair Susie Voigt said she has proposed a deal by which New Haven’s 81 delegates would vote for Waterbury Mayor Mike Jarjura for an open comptroller’s seat, in exchange for Waterbury’s 49 delegates voting for Garcia (pictured) for secretary of the state.
Candidates need 275 delegates, or 15 percent of the vote, to earn a place on the Democratic primary ballot.
Voigt brought Jarjura (pictured) over to where New Haven’s delegation was seated Friday night and encouraged delegates to vote for him. She said she has known the mayor for years, and went to his inauguration in 2002. Voigt said as cities, Waterbury and New Haven naturally have their interests aligned.
Voigt said she couldn’t speak for her whole delegation, but she felt confident they would go along with the trade, in an effort to boost Garcia onto the ballot. Garcia has reportedly been scraping to get 15 percent of the delegates, though the candidate himself sang a much more confident tone.
“People are eager to have Gerry get that 15 percent,” Voigt (at right in photo) said.
Sean Matteson, New Haven mayoral chief of staff, was positioned on the floor with an earpiece arranging introductions for gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont with undecided delegates. He said he stands behind the New Haven-Waterbury deal.
“I hope it works—I think it will really help Gerry,” Matteson said.
Asked about the deal between his delegates and the New Haven contingent, Waterbury Democratic committee chairman Ned Cullinan would say only, “There are discussions going on. Things are fluid.”
Delegates are set to vote for secretary of state on Saturday, after they pick candidates for treasurer, governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general.
Friday evening, Garcia was being escorted around the convention floor by Fair Haven Alderman Joey Rodriguez, who was dressed in the campaign’s unique, red tie-dye T-shirt, an homage to the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia.
Asked if he would petition for a spot on the ballot if he doesn’t get the 15 percent of delegates he needs, Garcia said it is an “open question.”
“I don’t think we’re going to face that,” he said.
Garcia declared that even without Waterbury, his campaign has already cleared the 15 percent threshold.
“We’re over it. We feel good,” Garcia said.
Garcia paused to speak with Dave Wooley, the chair of the Old Lyme delegation. Garcia asked him if he still had Old Lyme’s support and Wooley promised him four of his town’s five delegates. Garcia thanked him.
After Wooley stepped away. Garcia said, “That’s the process.”
“You can’t take a single delegate for granted,” he added later.
In living proof of that statement, one of Garcia’s opponents swooped in to New Haven’s delegation’s seats. West Hartford State Sen. Jon Harris is seeking the open secretary of the state seat along with Garcia and State Rep. Denise Merrill. Harris (pictured) knelt beside New Haven delegate Ron Smith, who’s New Haven’s city/town clerk and a biennial running mate for Mayor John DeStefano.
Harris stressed his experience as the former mayor of West Hartford and then his service in the legislature since 2005, according to Smith. He gave Smith a campaign sticker.
Smith already had a sticker—one for Garcia, who served with him on the Board of Aldermen. Smith politely accepted it, but didn’t put it on.
“I’m not putting this on!” he declared after Harris walked away.
Smith said he remains unfazed in his support for his original candidate. He said he is leaning towards supporting Jarjura for comptroller, but would like to meet him first.
“I really want to talk to him personally,” Smith said. “When you’re voting for someone, you want to know who they are.”
Tags: gerry garcia, campaign 2010, 2010 democratic covention
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Comments
posted by: AndersonScooper on May 22, 2010 12:48am
While the politics of this might be very smart, and deeper and more complicated than might be seen at first blush ..... they’re also disturbing.
For the life of me, I don’t know what’s best for New Haven. This isn’t just about Gerry Garcia. It’s also about New Haven having a determinative role in state politics.
So I’m going to withhold judgement, until I see what, if anything, the Waterbury deal does for us.
posted by: SmallTownDad on May 22, 2010 1:09am
Nothing says “not qualified” or “not the best candidate” like a swap deal.
Liberal-delegate rich New Haven is up for a tough sell by Mrs. Voigt. Jarjura wouldn’t be elected dog catcher in a million years in New Haven. Talk about selling your souls! Will New Haven delegates really vote for Lieberman-supporting, anti-choice Jarjura? I don’t think so.
posted by: Delegate on May 22, 2010 4:32am
I am ashamed of this disgusting sell-out of New Haven’s progressive credibility in order to achieve for a hometown candidate that which is likely otherwise achieved—primary ballot qualification. Ron Smith exposes the treachery in Susie Voigt’s dealings, as a high ranking NH official, he has not even had a satisfactory meet and greet with Jarjura. They are asked to support and unknown on her word. Mike Jarjura is the Joe Lieberman of State politics and this Comptroller nonsense is clearly not being taken seriously by most of the Convention—and is not a unanimous choice in Waterbury. I predict a very significant majority of delegates will favor Kevin Lembo, the State Healthcare Advocate who was, for six years, deputy to current Comptroller Nancy Wyman. When I first heard that Jarjura was the pairing NH Dems had stooped to, I could not believe how far their desperation to have a local name on the ballot had brought them down.
posted by: Leonidas on May 22, 2010 12:30pm
Mr. Garcia may be a wonderful candidate but in supporting Jarjura the committee is supporting an individual for Comptroller who stands to the right of even most CT Republicans on social issues. He is anti choice and anti rights for LGBT people. Shame, Shame, Shame on you New Haven Democrats!
posted by: Aldon Hynes on May 22, 2010 8:44pm
I had met with Garcia early on and was torn between supporting him and supporting Denise Merrill. Any sort of vote swapping seems pretty questionable to me, especially when swapping votes with someone like Jarjura.
Having seen the swap play out on the convention floor, I have to agree with SmallTownDad, that it clearly sent the message “not qualified”.
At this point, there is no way that I can support Garcia. It was a stupid trick that gained him nothing but scorn.
posted by: shadydeal on May 23, 2010 2:43pm
Garcia had way over 275 so this wasn’t completely necessary. All New Haven did was trade away its dignity. In the article, it also mentions that Waterbury was suppose to give Garcia 49 delegates- not sure they gave them him all 49. NH traded 81 delegates for 40-something?
posted by: roomforaview on May 24, 2010 8:04pm
It would be nice to have a New Haven person on the state ticket. And Latinos should have a place of recognition in the coalition. But Gerry Garcia??
posted by: abg on May 28, 2010 3:33pm
Rhetoric like “disgusting sell-out” and “not qualified” strikes me as a bit overheated. I don’t much care for brazen horse-trading, but what is the point of having a convention if deals are not going to be made? Wouldn’t it be more disturbing to see a good candidate fail to get on the ballot simply because he or she is too pure (or too politically clueless) to cut a deal? And what about Lamont’s deal with Mary Glassman or Malloy’s deal with Nancy Wyman? These are just as much about self-interest as political compatibility. It’s like the trumped-up controversy about Sestak being offered an Administration job if he backed out of challenging Specter… this is only a scandal if you think politics is all about purity and principle (and results are just a side-show).
Secondly, while I don’t much care for Jarjura’s views on social issues (which will have little relevance in the job of comptroller) or his past support for Joe Lieberman, why shouldn’t he be on the ballot so that voters can decide?
If you don’t want to support Garcia, don’t support him—but don’t use this as an excuse. (And don’t reject Garcia because he’s supported by the “New Haven machine”—he’s being supported by pretty much all the non-machine politicians in New Haven as well.) Now can we get back to talking about real issues, please?
posted by: Aldon Hynes on May 28, 2010 4:13pm
I think abg’s comparison of the Gubernatorial candidates selecting running mates and a deal between a Secretary of State candidate and a Comptroller candidate is at best misleading.
In a well working administration, the chief elected officer is expected to work closely with their second in command, and should have some say in who they want to be their second in command. As such Gubernatorial candidates normally select who they want as a running mate, in a manner similar to how Presidential candidates select their running mates.
There is not that sort of relationship between a Secretary of State and a Comptroller. If there was, the deal would seem more respectable.
The reason the deal disqualifies Mr. Garcia, in my mind, is based on an important issue. A key responsibility of the Secretary of State is to uphold electoral integrity. Making deals that facilitate a candidate getting on the ballot that may not have otherwise gotten on the ballot, raises questions about the ability of the Secretary of State candidate to defend the integrity of the electoral process.
Should Jarjura be on the primary ballot? Connecticut laws are designed so that a candidate that receives 15% of the delegate votes has the right to be on the ballot. If Mr. Jarjura could demonstrate that level of support without brazen horse-trading, then even though I don’t support him, I would believe that he should be on the ballot. However, managing to get on the ballot through brazen horse-trading raises serious questions about the viability and integrity of the candidate.
A good Secretary of State should be able to address these issues without being implicated as a participant in the effort work around State Laws.
I do believe that Mr. Garcia damaged himself by being involved in this deal. It was a rookie sort of mistake, but we deserve better.
