Carpenters Back Harp; Bluegrass Trio Backs Elicker

The endorsement the mayor really needs is the one from the voters in November. That endorsement is in doubt.

On Sunday, Elicker reunited with members of the Bait & Switch acoustic trio (Steven Nystrup on guitar, Maureen Wasik on vocals, and Dan Rausch on bass) for a musical campaign event. Elicker used to play with the band. On Sunday, he performed two solo numbers, then played a couple with his former band mates, including a rousing finale of "Wagon Wheel."

Bait & Switch acoustic trio reminds me of the Band Carolina Chocolate Drops.

Carolina Chocolate Drops "Cornbread and Butterbeans"

https://youtu.be/1xOxHyTP91c

"This year Elicker is participating in the public-financing system created under the law; Harp is not."
I have been out of state....Why is Toni Harp not participating in Public Financing?

@Tessa,

Because she doesn't want to. And, if you read all the stories, Elicker is raising a whole heck of a lot more money than Harp, and you can bet that all of those contributors will want a payback on their investments, especially all of those Yalies who have contributed. Why hasn't the NHI doe an analysis of Elicker's donors?

[FYI: https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/campaign_finance_mayor/ ]

To Tessa M.,
Why is the Mayor not participating, that answer is very simple- Her only hope is to continue to benefit from the " Pay to Play " crowd of contractors, job seekers and politicians . Her only other supporters are - low info. voters who have no idea how she's governing and what it's costing them those who are stuck on her being a woman and / or black , and of course the leaders of HERE Unite . If any out there actually
like the way she's doing her job, please tell us !

CBig Joke Notes:

Paul Bass, Paul Bass...NHI Staff... If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, how much more are three photo videos worth? Mayor Harp gets two major endorsements, but Bluegrass band gets three photo videos in an article that is suppose to be about the endorsements of the mayoral candidates! I confess, I enjoy bluegrass, but are you really comparing two major union endorsements to a bluegrass band's endorsement? Thank You Carpenter's Union Local 326 & Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ.

You have to get out and vote, for something new or the same old crap............

Ok NHI, from your own analysis from the story you provided a link

Total raised - $26,042
Avg Donation from New Haven - $163
Donors from Yale - 4
New Haven Donors - raised her local donations from throughout the city

Total raised - $117,694
Avg Donation from New Haven - $137
Donors from Yale - 113
New Haven Donors -raised a majority of his donations from residents in East Rock, Westville, Fair Haven Heights, Downtown, and the East Shore.

"Low Information Voters" is a derogatory term that is used to imply not all votes are equal or that some people should have more say in an election than others. Democracy is premised on the notion that adults are best suited to decide for themselves what is in their best interest.
Making principled arguments about which candidate is best for this city should be welcomed here. Nursing biases by maligning voters should be shunned.

Makes sense that the carpenters union and janitors union endorsed Harp. Harp has left so much to fix and clean up that theses unions will be busy for years to come :-)

Tessa: Harp's actual response when asked why she doesn't participate is along the lines of "it's too complicated." All campaign finance is pretty complicated these days, I don't think the Democracy Fund is more complicated than the State CEP. Both programs reward candidates for raising small donations from people actually in their district, or at least a town represented by their district. With CEP, candidates must reach thresholds of in-district donors and a minimum amount raised, with donation between either $5 and $100, or $5 and $250 qualifying for a match. The Democracy fund makes a direct match for donations between $10 and $30 made by New Haven voters, and no donation can be over $370. So, there's a premium on getting a lot of local people to donate small amounts.
Candidates who do not participate can accept donations up to $1,000, but get no match wherever the donor is.
Con't.

Tessa, Con't: Both candidates are not local, but settled in New Haven after attending a Yale professional school. Harp has been here since at least the 1970's, Elicker only eleven years. From his donor list, it's evident that Elicker has maintained and made friendships with many out-of-staters. Harp was raised in Utah, and went to undergrad in Chicago, but has few if any out-of-state donors.
Both have a lot of out-of-town donors, although Elicker probably has more in town donors. Harp's first fund-raiser was in Avon. Another was organized by Branford resident and contractor Vinnie Giordano, who was open that contractors like him should give to Harp because she had put a lot a tax dollars in their pockets, and keeping her in office was likely to keep the flow coming. Her donor lists are dominated by those who work for or do business with the city, so there's more than a whiff of subtle extortion and bribery.
Elicker has a few former city employees on his lists, which may be sour grapes with some. It's not good that Harp's former CAO Carter is supporting Elicker. As Real Discourse says, there are also a lot of people such as Yale faculty, whose income is wholly unrelated to government payments. For the life of me, I cannot see what a Yale prof would expect in return for a donation other than good, honest government. Most are tenured and have a great job for life.

I like what 1644 said in this post.

posted by: 1644 on August 10, 2019 9:31pm

In Connecticut, unlike Louisiana or California, winning the Democratic endorsement doesn't not mean winning the election. We still have competitive elections, so who wins the primary is not determinative. It's quite possible that Elicker will lose the Democratic primary but win the general with the support of unaffiliated voters.

He is right about the support of unaffiliated voters.

And this is also why I posted

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on August 9, 2019 5:59pm

Let me tell you how see this.Mayor Harp will get the Help from the Machine,Most Black and Latino Minsters and some of the unions.This may get her the primary.But when the November election comes.It will be a all open fight.You see the Machine,Most Black and Latino Minsters and some of the unions will only be in the Black and Latino Hoods for Mayor Harp.The people in East Rock and Morris Cove that I know are not going to let the the unions.Knock on there doors in there hood Do the math.The Black and Latino Vote will not be enough to give her the victory.She has to get a lot of the white Vote.Also if that FBI Report comes out before the November election and More Lawsuits.She is going to have a big problem.This race is going down to the wire.

In fact this just came out.

City Loses Again On Lead

A state judge has ruled that a class of 300 lead-poisoned children can sue the city as a group, thereby delivering the latest, and largest, blow to date to the city regarding its alleged lax enforcement of existing law.Superior Court Judge John Cordani issued that ruling Monday afternoon in his decision to approve class certification in the case Nyriel Smith v. City of New Haven, which New Haven Legal Assistant Association (NHLAA) attorneys filed in May.

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/lead_class1/

As we would say in the Hood.Time to get Paid and Trust Me this lawsuit pay out is going to be a whopper.

I'm anti-Harp but I have to agree with Dorthula, there is a huge Elicker bias in the coverage on this site. Fair and balanced.