Isaac Yu Photo
Robert Greenberg, at left, with Elicker (right) Tuesday night at BAR.
As candidates fished for last-minute cash in advance for a reporting deadline, Justin Elicker brought a crowd of supporters to a familiar celebration spot for an early show of strength.
Around 50 of the mayor’s supporters gathered at the pizza/craft beer brewery BAR on Crown Street Tuesday night for his reelection campaign’s end-of-quarter fundraiser.
The one-term incumbent had been there before. He used BAR’s back end for his first end-of-quarter fundraiser in 2013 as well as the election night party of his unsuccessful bid against former mayor Toni Harp that year. He returned six years later for a triumphant party after besting Harp in the Democratic primary, a night at which many previous Harp endorsers joined his bandwagon.
Elicker addresses the faithful.
“I love this room,” Elicker told those assembled Tuesday night. “In 2013, the night that we lost, we talked about the future and the potential to see what we could accomplish. And here we are today.”
Elicker urged his supporters to max out their donations, noting the limit of $390 set by his participation in New Haven’s Democracy Fund. His main Democratic primary opponent, Karen DuBois-Walton, is also participating in the fund and has been sending out similar fund appeals in advance of Wednesday night’s deadline for contributions that will be reported in upcoming 2021 first-quarter campaign finance filings, which candidates then present as proof of widespread support.
According to a campaign email sent on Monday, the mayor’s team was 26 short of its 1,000 contributor goal with more than a day left. Both the Elicker and DuBois-Walton campaigns said they expect to release exact dollar and contributor numbers after the fundraising quarter ends Wednesday at midnight. (See first-quarter funds given here.)
Mayoral spokesperson Kyle Buda with campaign manager Kim Agyekum.
Elicker reiterated a campaign mantra Tuesday night: “One and a half years is not enough.”
Attendees munched on mashed potato pizza and craft beers as they mingled with the candidate throughout the night. The crowd included five alders — Ward 1’s Eli Sabin, Ward 5’s Kampton Singh, Ward 7’s Abby Roth, Ward 10’s Anna Festa, and Ward 26’s Darryl Brackeen, Jr. — plus city attorney Mike Pinto and Ward 9 co-chair and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro campaign manager Sarah Locke.
The early wave of endorsements this cycle has generally favored the mayor and could signal a reversal from the 2019 election, when 16 alders — including now-Elicker supporters Singh and Ward’s 16 Jose Crespo — backed Harp in the primary.
Brackeen and Singh.
Singh, a first-termer who is running for reelection, said Elicker’s record on Covid-19 testing and vaccination won his support.
‘In March of 2020, he really stepped up. He deserves the next two years,” Singh said.
The Hill alder acknowledged that his ward backed Harp against Elicker by a significant margin in 2019’s primary. Though it’s still “too early to see”, he said he has heard a consensus of support for Elicker from his constituents.
For Sabin, who serves as the director of the state’s Democratic Party Progressive Caucus, Elicker’s record on equity gets his vote: “He’s been very focused on progressive values, and I think that’s what we need in this city.”
Robert Greenberg, a historian and executive director of the local museum Lost in New Haven, recalled first meeting the mayor during the 2019 race.
“I called him, and he came over the next day on his bike,” Greenberg said. “He cared enough about the history to actually visit the collection.” The mayor’s responsiveness and visibility throughout New Haven are important to his vote, he added.
Alders in the house for Elicker’s reelection: Festa, Sabin, Brackeen, Singh, and Roth.
