nothin Special Election Thursday For State Rep Seat | New Haven Independent

Special Election Thursday For State Rep Seat

Voters have five candidates to choose among Thursday in a special election for the 94th General Assembly District seat.

One is a Republican. Four are Democrats. But they won’t appear as Democrats on the ballot; that’s because the Democratic Party failed to nominate anyone in the race.

The five candidates are competing to fill the seat for the remaining two weeks of the General Assembly session. Then candidates will start running again for the seat. The special election was called after the seat’s former occupant, Gary Holder-Winfield, won a state Senate seat.

The district includes portions of southern Hamden as well as a swath of New Haven: Newhallville, Prospect Hill, and part of downtown.

Polls open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. In New Haven, Ward 1 voters will vote at the public library at 133 Elm St. Ward 19 voters at Celentano School at 400 Canner; Ward 20 voters at Lincoln-Bassett School at 130 Bassett St.; and Ward 22 voters at Wexler-Grant School, 55 Foote St.

If you live in Ward 21, that’s a more complicated question. Some Ward 21 voters are supposed to go to Lincoln-Bassett, others to Celentano.
Where to vote in New Haven elections has become a complicated question. If you’re confused about where to vote, call the New Haven Registrar of Voters at 203 – 946-8035.

We couldn’t send out letters this time [about where to vote] because there was a big huge thing wrong with the map” that the city received about ward districts, Democratic Registrar of Voters Sharon Ferrucci said Thursday morning. We had to hire a GPS company from Middletown to help us,” and the final list of voters arrived too late. The confusion stemmed from the redrawing of district maps, which greatly changed the contours of the 94th District.

Have them call us. We’ll be more than happy to help anybody,” Ferrucci said. She said her staff also gave lists of all voters for each polling place to each of the candidates.

The five candidates include:

• Newhallville barber Rev. Charles Ashe III, who calls for prayer in schools. Read about him here.

• Newhallville homeowner, single mom and communications workers union staffer Robyn Porter. Read about her here.

• Rey Harp of Hamden, who works for Renaissance Management and calls for a new transit study of Dixwell Avenue. Read about him here.

• Berita Lewis-Rowe, a Hamden councilwoman and choice of her town’s Democratic committee; she says she’s eager to vote this session on a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes program) bill. Read about her here.

• Leonard Caplan, the Republican candidate. He has run a stealth campaign — i.e., he’s been invisible. He failed to return weeks worth of phone calls seeking an interview. He did issue one written statement promising to keep up the controversial fence that keeps people living in New Haven’s West Rock housing developments out of Hamden, as reported by the Register’s Mary O’Leary.

A sixth candidate, Jerome Dunbar, had signed up to run as a write-in, then withdrew his name from consideration.

Previous coverage of this campaign:
Map Discovery Throws Convention Into Disarray
Candidate Calls For Prayer In Schools
A Candidate Un-Draws The Line
Candidate Encounters 2 Worlds On Huntington St.
She Has A Vote Ready

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