New Haven Agenda campaign graphic.
The labor-backed Democratic Party establishment has a more than 2 – 1 fundraising lead so far in the run-up to a primary election taking place in New Haven Tuesday.
The primary is taking place in eight of the city’s 30 wards. Ward co-chairs cast votes at nominating conventions for candidates for municipal, state and federal offices. They can also serve as grassroots voter-turnout organizers.
There are usually few if any primaries for this little-known position. But a group called New Haven Agenda has organized a slate to challenge candidates backed by the Democratic Party establishment and Yale’s UNITE HERE unions. (In one of the eight wards, West Hills/West Rock’s Ward 30, the UNITE HERE-backed candidates told the Independent this week that they are no longer affiliated with that slate and are instead running as independents.)
The two groups’ political committees filed financial reports for campaign activity up until the last week of February.
From Feb. 7 to Feb. 25, incumbent and UNITE HERE-backed Democrats under the committee name “Dems For Dems” reported raising $4,370.34 in individual contributions for Tuesday’s co-chair races. Most individual contributions total $95.05. Individual donors included Mayor Justin Elicker, Alders Eli Sabin and Adam Marchand, Housing Authority of New Haven President Karen DuBois-Walton, lobbyists Chris DePino and Paul Nunez, Democratic Town Chair Vincent Mauro Jr., and national UNITE HERE Secretary-Treasurer Gwen Mills. The candidates themselves contributed $576 to the campaign.
Of that money, $1,689.92 went toward expenses — namely, lawn signs.
Meanwhile, the New Haven Agenda committee, whose treasurer is 2023 Republican and Independent Party mayoral candidate Thomas Goldenberg, raised $1,794 in individual contributions from Feb. 5 to Feb. 27. Candidate and slate organizer Jason Bartlett, a former mayoral aide, donated $850, Goldenberg donated $30, and most other donors contributed between $50 and $100. (Ward 18 co-chair candidate Sharon Braz donated $100 while also donating $500 in a separate finance report to a committee named “All Voices Matter.”)
Of that money, the New Haven Agenda spent $200 on advertising and $940.75 on expenses, including $800 paid to Universal Printing & Mailing Services in Fairfield; a total of $119.12 paid to Meta Platforms Inc (which owns Facebook and Instagram); and $21.63 paid to the online fundraising platform Donorbox.
Click here to look more closely at the reports.
"Special Interests" Debated
The final amounts of money raised and spent won’t be reported until after the election. But the money doesn’t appear to be a major factor in an election at this level, which depends more on door-knocking and person-to-person vote-pulling.
Instead, the role of money in this campaign serves as a basis for a broader argument Bartlett and his crew have been making in this campaign: They believe UNITE HERE has too much influence over local government.
Bartlett released a campaign video and graphics Thursday laying out the case: The slate supports UNITE HERE’s overall quest to hold Yale more accountable and support labor, but believes local government needs more voices to question major decisions. New Haven Agenda candidates have been critical during this campaign of support for Tweed New Haven Airport’s expansion, for instance.
The video appears at the bottom of this story (at least until Facebook messes around with the code).
“UNITE HERE has spent over $3 million over the course of the last 10 years to control our local government” by distributing through political action committees, Bartlett notes in the video, speaking from a table in an otherwise empty Bear’s Smokehouse ribs restaurant on James Street. He notes the many alders and co-chairs who either belong to or work for UNITE HERE locals or affiliated groups.
“All this has led to a singular focus on issues relevant to a single special interest group, while community voices on issues like education, youth, seniors, public safety, are all being deprioritized. At New Haven Agenda, we’re all about the community voice. We’re about empowering our leaders who are not tied to special interests.”
Board Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers, who is also a UNITE HERE Local 35 steward, responded that the issues she considers more relevant than alleged “special interests” are affordable housing, public safety, and youth opportunities.
“To spend time talking about that is a waste of time,” she said about Bartlett’s criticisms. “Let’s talk about how we get more people engaged in the process and more people wanting to come out to vote for ward chair. I’m interested in talking about things that are going to advance people in the city — not somebody’s opinion about who should be involved. People can organize around whatever they want. People have been doing it as long as I’ve been in this city. What issues have we ever dealt with that people haven’t organized around?
“I grew up here. I am raising my family here. I love New Haven. Is there a problem with that? I care more about the issues and what we should be doing: mobilizing people to get out and vote and get interested in the people they elect to make decisions to represent them.”
Who's On Tuesday's Ballot
Following are the candidates on the ballot in Tuesday’s Democratic ward co-chair primaries (with UNITE HERE-backed candidates listed first, then New Haven Agenda candidates):
• Ward 3: Angel Hubbard and Clarence Cummings vs. Inez Alvarez and Martha Dilone.
• Ward 4: Jennifer Chona and Howard Boyd vs. Joseph Fekieta and Earl Ali-Randall.
• Ward 6: Dolores Colon and Doris Doward vs. Jason Bartlett and Stephen Rabin.
• Ward 7: Christine Kim and Polly Gulliver vs. Dawn Bliesener.
• Ward 12: Theresa Morant and Sean Matteson vs. Carlena Taft.
• Ward 18: Rose Chatterton and Chris Avallone vs. Sharon Braz and Zelema Harris.
• Ward 28: Gary Hogan and Jess Corbett v. Ephrat Lieblich.
• Ward 30: Iva Johnson and Alberta Witherspoon (not UNITE HERE-affiliated) vs. Perry Flowers.
I find it so ironic that theres been no challengers, discussions, or even a news story about this particular election in over a decade and now all of a sudden these elected officials who's been in office since I was a kid care so much about issues in New Haven? what issues have any of these ppl solved or even addressed during their time in office? They don't even respond to emails from their constituents, nor do they address the issues in our communities when it's bought to their attention, but now their so concerned about the issues in the city..Don't be fooled, these folks have 1 thing in mind and that's keeping this power pyramid exactly the way it is but change is coming and so is new leadership!!