Paul Bass Photo
Urn Pendragon, Justin Elicker, Corey Evans, Erick Russell, State Rep. Robyn Porter at Sunday GOTV brunch: Harp’s name unspoken.
With 50 hours to go before the polls open, leading Democrats made the case for hitting the streets for mayoral candidate Justin Elicker — without making any case against the incumbent he seeks to unseat.
In fact, Mayor Toni Harp’s name rarely came up at all Sunday morning as the Democratic Town Committee (DTC) hosted a get-out-the-vote (GOTV) brunch at Westville’s Manjares bistro across from Edgewood Park. And never in a negative cast.
Instead, the talk was of unity.
“We do great things when we do things together. I believe that we are still a team,” State Rep. Robyn Porter (pictured) urged at the gathering. “We must support our Democratic candidate. He won the primary. We need to get behind him because he has done the grassroots work. He has done the work. He has knocked on the doors.”
Elicker won a Democratic primary against three-term incumbent Mayor Toni Harp by 58 – 42 percent. Now he faces Harp again in Tuesday’s general election, in which she appears on the Working Families Party line.
He and other speakers Sunday refrained from criticizing Harp. After months of blasting Harp’s record, Elicker has refrained from any criticisms since he won the Sept. 10 primary.
Conventional Campaign Strategies Jettisoned
Both he and Harp have gambled on defying conventional approaches in this general election campaign.
Usually a challenger to an incumbent tells voters why he believes they should support unseating the incumbent. Elicker did a lot of that in the primary campaign. He criticized Harp for her handling of the city budget and of lead paint enforcement, dysfunction in the public school system, a federal investigation of City Hall, failure to identify mystery campaign donors, among other issues. (Harp’s campaign, in turn, accused Elicker of planning to send drones to spy into people’s bedrooms in black and brown neighborhoods; and accused his wife of conspiring with President Trump and New Haven’s Democratic town chairman to have the FBI subpoena records from her administration.)
Now Elicker is gambling he can win the general election with a change message that leaves out the specific critiques. Even his flyers omitted any reference to the incumbent.
Similarly, usually an incumbent runs as the establishment leader. But now Harp finds herself running without the support of the Democratic Party that supported her in the 17 campaigns she won over the past 32 years for alderwoman, state senator, and mayor. So in the general election she is running against the Democratic establishment and gambling that she can prevail while focusing on less than half the electorate.
In that sense, Harp is returning to her roots: She won her first election, as alderwoman, in 1987 as part of a dissident slate called “The People’s Alliance.” That alliance ran candidates on both the Democratic and Green Party lines to challenge party establishment-backed incumbents, led by the late Town Chairman Vincent Mauro Sr.. This year Harp has shut down her campaign office for the general election and turned organizing duties over to a political action committee called “The People’s Campaign,” opposing a DTC led by the late Mauro’s son, Vincent Mauro Jr. (at left in photo Sunday).
Harp is also defying the conventional strategy of seeking to broaden voting support in a general election.
In the primary Harp, the city’s first African-American female mayor, focused on predominantly black and brown neighborhoods. She ended up losing ground there anyway (compared to previous elections) while losing decisively elsewhere in town.
Conventional wisdom held that the Democratic primary was her best shot at victory: African-Americans make up a smaller percentage of the general electorate, when 19,000 registered Republicans and unaffiliated voters are added to the mix. Elicker picked up more of those votes the first time he faced Harp in a mayoral general election, in 2013.
But rather than seek a broader voting base in the general election, the Harp camp is doubling down on the black vote, with a pitch that white people are stealing power from the black community in line with national trends. White women in particular came under attack at a Harp rally Saturday. (Read more about that here and here.)
Elicker was asked in a conversation Sunday why he has stopped criticizing his opponent since Nov. 5. He spoke about what happens in New Haven after Sept. 10.
“Mayor Harp has had a strong record at the state and done some great things for the city,” he said. “It’s time to look beyond politics and make sure New Haven comes together as a city. That’s what I’m focusing on.”
Rough & Tumble
Speakers at the Manjares DTC brunch referred to the metaphorical scars from this bitter campaign.
“It may have been a little bit brutal for some of us,” noted State Sen. Gary Winfield (pictured) of Newhallville, who endorsed Elicker in the general election campaign after remaining neutral in the primary. “But in the end I think it is going to be worth it.”
“It is really hard sometimes when there’s been a tough election to come together. It happens. We work together,” remarked State Rep. Pat Dillon.
“We understand at a certain point — we know how to count, we know that we’re a diverse community. At some point you have to move on.”
“It’s important for us to not be divided in this city. It’s not about what happens Tuesday. It’s about what happens the next day,” said Board of Education President Darnell Goldson.
Elicker picked up on that theme in his formal remarks.
“This has been a long, long election,” he said. “New Haven politics can sometimes be really challenging. We have lively dialogues, and sometimes over-the-top dialogues. From conversations I’ve had over and over again, it’s clear that overwhelmingly we all share a view of what government’s roles are in people’s lives and what are the actions we need to take to improve people’s lives.”
He spoke of how a consensus exists in New Haven for “change,” for more affordable housing, more free after-school youth programs, public-education improvements. “That is what Tuesday is about. More importantly ‚it is what Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and the many weeks and months are about,” Elicker said.
As she did at an Elicker event two weeks ago, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz came the closest to drawing a contrast with Harp, without repeating her name. She spoke of alluded to Elicker’s experience turning around an organization beset by financial and ethical problems (the New Haven Land Trust) and her belief that he can pick the right people for top jobs. In addition to an issues focus on government transparency and focusing more on “left behind” neighborhoods, Elicker supporters have basically made the case that Harp has chosen poorly in naming some key aides and fallen short on financial management.
As usual at these events, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro gave the liveliest call to action, including placing Elicker’s campaign in the broader Democratic Party commitment to the environment, urban development, and social justice …
… while state party Chair Nancy Wyman drew chuckles with advice based on long experience in politics.
“You think this is hard,” she told Elicker. “Wait until you become mayor.”
Gosh, this election was decided a full two months ago when Elicker trounced Harp, showing that she had lost her base of support.
Can we please stop pretending there is still a contest?
Yes, there is a remaining vote on Tuesday. But there is no question as to Elicker taking office in January.