Allan Appel Photo
In their quest to get the first Latino elected to statewide office, Connecticut’s Latino movers-and-shakers are throwing their support behind Ned Lamont.
Two dozen members of the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus (CHDC) gathered Wednesday at City Hall to endorse Lamont, who’s vying with former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy for the Democratic nomination for governor in an Aug. 10 primary.
Their endorsement of Lamont took place as the race heats up in New Haven: Malloy on Tuesday opened his regional campaign headquarters in a converted garage in New Haven’s black community.
The Hispanic caucus endorsed Malloy in the last governor’s race, in 2006. This year, its members supported Juan Figueroa, who would have been the state’s first Latino governor, until he dropped out of the race in May.
Caucus members said their new endorsement is part of an overall strategy to address their top priority: getting the only remaining Latino statewide candidate, former New Haven Alderman Gerry Garcia, into office.
Garcia, who’s half-Puerto Rican, is running against Denise Merrill, the house majority leader, to replace Susan Bysiewicz as chief elections official, the secretary of the state. Though he lost the Democratic convention to Merrill, Garcia made history as the first Latino to land a spot on the primary ballot for constitutional office. If successful, Garcia would be the first Latino elected to statewide constitutional office.
Caucus members said now is their moment to get a Latino elected, and they think Lamont may lead the way.
Part of the reason lies on the ballot. Garcia and Lamont are both facing party-endorsed candidates in the Democratic primary. That leaves them as ballot bedfellows: Garcia appears on Line B alongside Lamont; Merrill and Malloy appear on Line A.
Lamont stopped short of endorsing Garcia, but his Latino supporters said they’re looking forward to a Line B alliance to boost their candidate on Primary Day.
“There will be a community-driven Row B strategy,” announced caucus chair and former president of the New Haven Board of Alderman Tomas Reyes (pictured above with Lamont).
Eugenio Caro, Sr., a former deputy mayor of Hartford and a member of the caucus (center, with Alderwoman Migdalio Castro, right, and Lamont campaign manager Joe Abbey), said while Lamont hasn’t endorsed Garcia, he has welcomed him.
“One of the greatest points [reason we went with Lamont] is his reception of Gerry Garcia,” Caro said. “That’s very sacred.”
In his remarks, Lamont made no specific reference to Garcia. He hit an education and jobs theme. “Connecticut will only be great again when the city’s are great again. That’s why the [state’s large city] mayors support me. Greatness starts with education.”
When asked by a reporter, Lamont declined to make any endorsements in the secretary of the state’s race.
Yet his supporters feel that Lamont is more in Garcia’s corner, .
“We felt he would be more available to talk to us and more participatory [with us] in his future government. Plus he’ll be useful to Gerry’s campaign” said Reyes.
Reyes said that 35 members of the caucus interviewed three Democratic candidates in April — Lamont, Malloy, and Figueroa.
Click here for a story on the Lamont/ Malloy interviews.
Reyes said there were clearly people leaning toward Malloy, too. There were two deliberative sessions in June. “They [the candidates on the issues] were not worlds apart,” but in the interest of consensus, the caucus voted unanimously to support Lamont.
Reyes said caucus members must be Hispanic and support its agenda, but they don’t have to be a current or former official to join. Only 35 dues-paying members were permitted to vote.
Of her support for Lamont, Manchester’s Yolanda Castillo, a founder and current vice president of the six-year-old caucus, said she was impressed that Lamont “talked about small business development and [he would] cut red tape. That will open more opportunities for us.”
Hill Alderman Jorge Perez (pictured with Castillo) said the candidates had different approaches to achieving the same goals. In job creation, for example, he said Malloy had created more in the public sector, and Lamont in the private.
Vice President of the New Haven Democratic Town Committee Norma Reyes-Rodriguez, captured the feeling behind the endorsement when she responded to reporters’ questions as to her main reason for choosing Lamont:
“We were disappointed at the outcome of the convention. We need new Democrats in there [on the slate] so the Democratic Party can reflect the make-up of the state.”
As she spoke, her voice cracked with emotion, and her words were followed by applause.
Others attending the event included Fair Haven Alderwoman Migdalia Castro, Spanish American Merchants Association chief Frank Alvarado, and area senior advocate Celestino Cordova.
Lamont campaign manager Joe Abbey said the next step was a meeting with caucus chair Reyes’ to integrate his grassroots resources with the campaign.
“We have 27 days left. We will take this endorsement and run with it,” he said.
Someone should tell them that with the new ballots there is no more row b. You see all the candidates in the box and fill in the circle.