GOP Happy Hour Toasts Change Mandate

Local Republicans found an unlikely source of optimism for their uphill battle to achieve political relevance in this deeply blue city: Justin Elicker’s victory in Tuesday’s Democratic mayoral primary.

Elicker’s win on Tuesday against incumbent Mayor Toni Harp was on the minds and tongues of many of the dozen local GOP members who gathered Wednesday over beer and barbecued chicken at a happy hour upstairs at The Regal Beagle bar’s new location on Whitney Avenue.

No one present committed to casting their vote this November for the former East Rock/Cedar Hill alder and 2013 mayoral candidate who, as of Tuesday night, is the local Democratic Party’s official nominee for mayor. The Republicans themselves are not fielding a candidate for mayor.

But several said they found optimism about the meaning of Elicker’s upset over an incumbent, party- and labor-endorsed candidate like Harp, who has been a fixture of Democratic politics in New Haven for three decades. They said city voters responded to Elicker campaign’s calls for fiscal prudence and transparency at City Hall. They also said that the primary rout reflected voters’ desire to overturn the city’s Democratic political status quo.

“It’s a clear signal that voters want a change,” said Republican Town Chair Jeffrey Weiss.

The cause for Wednesday’s meet up was to raise money for the four Republican aldermanic candidates running in this November’s general election: Chris Marcisz of Yale’s Ward 1, John Carlson of City Point’s Ward 6, Joshua Van Hoesen of Upper Westville’s Ward 26, and Eric Mastroianni, Jr. of East Rock/Cedar Hill’s Ward 10. The former three were endorsed by the Republican Town Committee at its summer convention, while the latter has subsequently petitioned his way onto the ballot.

The Republican Party, which has just under 2,500 local registrants, is not running any candidates for mayor, and hasn’t held the city’s top political officer since 1953. The city Democratic Party has nearly 40,000 registered members, by comparison, while unaffiliated voters number almost 16,400.

A smartphone clipped to his belt and a bluetooth headset wrapped around one ear, Weiss said that he was a little surprised by Elicker’s 58 – 42 percent margin of victory, but not surprised that the challenger candidate took the night.

“There’s a big interest again in seeing a change,” he said. He lauded Elicker for criticizing the Harp administration for raising taxes, increasing the city’s future debt load, and spending too much money on lawsuits and other ​“waste.” He said he also liked Elicker’s plans to implement an open checkbook that provides ready access to every city financial transaction.

Weiss said he remains skeptical of the new Democratic nominee, however. ​“As long as he’s not ideologically driven” and beholden to a ​“socialist agenda,” he said, ​“we’re going to be OK.”

When asked to elaborate on his fears of a socialist agenda, Weiss said, ​“The basic tax, spend, redistribution of wealth, and taking choices away from people.”

“I believe that historically, that’s how he rolls,” he added about Elicker. ​“But I’d be happy to be disappointed.”

Weiss said that the New Haven Republican Party’s priorities remain focused on calling for less spending out of City Hall. Every department’s budget should be cut by 5 percent, he said. In fact, make that 10 or 11 percent, he said.

“We should be able to hold the line on taxes.”

Carlson, a Bridgeport high school teacher and longtime Hill resident, said he wasn’t surprised at all by Elicker’s victory Tuesday.

“The writing was on the wall,” he said.

He praised Elicker for putting together a city-spanning campaigning where he and his volunteers knocked doors in every neighborhood, and the candidate himself gave out his cellphone number to any and all prospective voters. Carlson said he once called Elicker’s number just to see if that campaign pledge of open communication was sincere. Elicker called him back, he said, and they had a brief chat.

“From what I know about Justin,” he said, ​“he is fiscally responsible. Every indication is that he will be much more fiscally responsible” than the current administration.

Carlson said he hasn’t made up his mind yet as to whom to vote for for mayor in November. But, he promised, he will vote for someone. Besides Elicker and Harp, if she decides to run in November on the Working Families Party ticket, local activists Urn Pendragon and Wendy Hamilton have petitioned their way onto the ballot as unaffiliated candidates.

“I hope he’s going to be inclusive to all parties in all discussions at City Hall” if elected mayor, Carlson said. ​“I hope not only Justin, but any mayor elected will be open to discussions with Republicans.”

Marcisz said that he too interprets Tuesday’s Democratic primary results as New Haveners ​“voting for a change.”

“I like Justin’s views on [financial] transparency,” he said. ​“I believe that’s what put him over the top on his campaign.”

Beyond that open checkbook policy, Marcisz said he doesn’t know much about Elicker’s candidacy, and said he hopes that the Democratic nominee will follow Marcisz’s campaign promise to prospective Ward 1 voters. ​“I will promise as an alderman not to raise taxes,” he said.

Hill resident Paul Larrivee said that he believes Harp lost the primary because of local homeowners’ concerns about high taxes, but he remains unconvinced that Elicker, or any other candidate, would set out to mitigate that tax burden.

From what he saw during the Democratic primary contest, Larrivee said, Elicker ​“represents nothing close” to what Republicans stand for.

The closest that Elicker came to the GOP during the primary was when the Harp campaign put out that attack ad comparing him to President Donald Trump, he said.

Then, with a smile, he said that ad may have ultimately worked in Elicker’s favor, giving him a boost with local Democrats who are also Trump supporters.

“Maybe people gravitated to Elicker,” he surmised, ​“because of the comparison to Trump.”