Election Day Results

I wish I could say that I'm deeply satisfied Sen Harp can barely pull off a majority with her $300,000 war chest (mostly from people outside of New Haven), but I can't.
Best election that money can buy.

Is it a surprise that 'One City' couldn't win a single ward? Would have thought that Danny Glover could have delivered at least one victory.

I'd like to personally congratulate Mr. Carolina on his preliminary 8.28% of the vote. Perhaps if you had played on a city sports team, somebody in charge could have given you a few more points.

Now the haters will be out trashing Sen Harp. Excellent campaign by Elicker.

Congratulations to Senator and Mayor Toni Harp!

49.49% for Harp it's been at for a while now. Oh man, that means its rounded down to the mentally important 49%. Like 3 more votes would make it 49.51% which would let it be able to round up the ever important 50%.

It sucks that I didn't get to vote today because I am a independent! I can't wait to vote in the general election. That's when the true test will come.

It's also sad that out of 130k people in this city, people barely exercise their right to vote.

All in all good luck to whoever the winner is. I have my favorite candidate, but whoever wins in the end, we all will have to deal.

Remember people, vote smart. Do not believe everything you hear. At the end of the day, it's politics and keep in mind that no one really keeps their promise once in office.

This is a terrible result for Elicker and it can't be spun any other way. He placed just a few points ahead of Fernandez despite an incredibly loyal base and significant volunteer effort. East Rock just did not turn out for its supposed golden boy. Elicker's a smart guy with some good ideas but he clearly doesn't have the political acumen to swing it in the big leagues.

Elicker talked a big game about refusing to make deals but sometimes politics is about deal-making. Self-righteous know-it-alls hate deal-making. Politically astute and effective leaders know that it's actually called coalition building. Sometimes, despite a well-organized campaign, dedicated volunteers and a loyal base, you only get to 24%. And in those circumstances, the way you express your political voice is to build a coalition to get yourself up to 51%.

I sincerely hope that Elicker's supporters stop being delusional about his chances in November but also don't get disillusioned. There's room in New Haven politics for them but they need to carve it out for themselves and they need to work with the other 75% of folks in New Haven to get there. Complaining about how Harp is bought and paid for isn't going to get them there.

On another note, congrats to Mike Smart on riding Toni Harp's coattails into a do nothing job. Tough break for Sergio Rodriguez who would actually be a fantastic public servant as city clerk.

Why does Ward 8 have so many absentee ballots compared to other wards?

It's truly disheartening to see how many people have been fooled by Harp. She is a puppet for the unions and how frustrating to know my tax dollars are paying her salary and will continue to do so, considering her lack of respect for the tax payers. The tax payers have truly lost in this election.

Well these numbers are interesting. I honestly didn't think Harp would get her number quite that high but I also didn't think that national municipal unions would be dumping $30,000 into her campaign at the last minute.
Be that as it may, If Elicker takes only 25% of independents, he's up to Toni's primary number. If they split the remaining Carolina-Fernandez votes. It's a tie. This election is WAY not over.

HewNaven, because that's probably where AFSCME and Locals 34/35 directed their absentee GOTV efforts.

Worth looking at, though. I wasn't aware of a big senior complex in that ward, which is where I have a seen a lot of these absentee votes come from in other wards.

Hey Staff/Paul: I would love if you could add one more column to the spreadsheet - "TOTAL DEMOCRATS REGISTERED TO VOTE" for each ward. The turnout numbers are always one of the most interesting parts of the election... Seems like there were another 1800 votes cast in this primary vs 2011 - where'd they come from? Thanks

My congatulations to Justin Elickeron a well run campaign and on his 25% showing. Ever since he got his start in government as a polling place worker while in High School, he has demonstrated great potential.

interesting factoids upon further review: first, Henry's supposed strength in Fair Haven was a myth. He didn't win any ward, and came in third more often than not. Second, looks like a lot of people voted for Toni Harp BUT NOT Michael Smart. In fact, it looks like a lot of people didn't voted for either Smart or Rodriguez! What to make of that? Third, Westville continues to vote in large numbers. And last, looks like Toni Harp is a decisive winner in November.

The math seems pretty sobering for the Elicker campaign. Justin only won 522 more votes than Jeffrey Kerekes. Toni won 2,077 more votes than John DeStefano. In the general election, Jeffrey Kerekes won 6,901 votes. This is still 426 less votes than Toni won in the primary. In the primary, DeStefano beat Kerekes by 2,821 votes. Toni beat Justin by 3,910 votes. This margin is larger than the total number of votes that Justin won. Toni and her campaign are still going to have to work hard for a victory, but overcoming this defeat must be pretty daunting for Justin.

Some may argue that Justin is a better candidate than Kerekes. I'm not sure, as Kerekes was raising important issues along with the slate of BOA challengers. Either way, Kerekes ran against an unpopular incumbent when a slate of alders were running against and beating the incumbent's slate. He actually had the support of some elected alders and was at least not opposed by the challenging alders who won the primary and/or the general.

He was also winning support across New Haven. In ward 20, Kerekes won 55 votes in the primary and 258 in the general. In ward 23 he won 36 votes in the primary and 146 votes in the general election. In wards 20 and 23 Justin has won 15 and 19 votes, and more voters voted in both of these wards this time around.

EDDIE,

The union coalition didn't support Kerekes because they have no interest in cost cutting; Jeff's main plank. Instead they let him carry their water and be the guy who put a chink in DeStefanos armor. But obviously the union coalition didn't think DeStefano was vulnerable enough because nobody from that camp had the guts to stand up and run BEFORE Mayor D announced retirement. Justin did have the guts and he's certainly not going to back down from you guys now.

UBholden first the race between rodriguez and smart did not get the kind of publicity that the mayoral campaign got and you are right over 2000 voters did not mark for either candidate. Incredibly the rodriguez campaign garnered over 5700 votes with less of an operation and much less money than any of the mayoral candidates. This is a campaign that would do well in the general. I sure hope they decide to run and who knows maybe we will see a Erlicker/Rodriguez team.

As someone who knows both candidates, the best one WON for City Clerk. Hard work, honesty and dedication will always win

Correct! Justin won 522 more votes than Jeffrey Kerekes, and that in a 4-way race compared to a 2-way race on 2011. That's pretty great.

Luv,

I get that Elicker die-hards are delusional but please don't rewrite history. There was a 4 way Democratic primary in 2011 as well.

Luv the 2011 primary was also a 4 way race. The results of that election are here: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/upload/2011/09/election_results.pdf