Bond Takes Quest To Beaver Hills Streets

Ross Collins took a break from serenading Colony Road with his alto saxophone to talk jazz and politics with — and ultimately pledge his support for — the secretary of the state candidate who came knocking at his door.

That candidate was Maritza Bond, the city’s New Haven-raised public health director who is running to succeed outgoing incumbent Denise Merrill as Connecticut’s next secretary of the state.

She’s running against state Democratic Party-endorsed candidate Stephanie Thomas in an Aug. 9 Democratic Party primary for that state constitutional office. Next Tuesday will also see a Republican Party primary for the secretary of the state role between state party-endorsed candidate Dominic Rapini and challenger Terrie Wood. The winners of each primary will then face off in November’s general election.

The Democratic candidates agree on issues ranging from universal no-fault absentee balloting and early voting (both for). They differ on whose experience best fits the position, which oversees elections, business filings, and the state’s commercial registry.

As the challenger to a party-endorsed candidate, Bond is taking her campaign to the streets, door to door, hoping that energy and an ability to connect to voters will lead to an upset. (She has also amassed labor union support in the hopes that that can counteract the organizational advantages of running on the top endorsed party line.)

On Wednesday afternoon, Bond joined former Beaver Hills Alder Shafiq Abdussabur and a handful of campaign volunteers to pound the tree-lined sidewalks of Colony Road to visit homes and make a closing pitch for voters to back her in next week’s intraparty Democratic contest.

After coming across Collins playing the Brazilian jazz standard ​“A Day in the Life of a Fool” on the front steps of his red-brick, single-family home, Bond introduced herself as a born-and-raised New Havener, a two-decade-long public servant who has helped lead the city through the Covid pandemic, and a devotee to expanded ballot access and small-business support. 

She also told Collins about her son’s time playing the trumpet, and listened in as Collins described a childhood attending jazz clubs across New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island — and the excitement he felt watching his dad David play alongside such legends of the genre as Dave Brubeck and Duke Ellington. 

After five minutes of chatting — about music and about the terracotta shingles on Collins’ home’s roof, about spending decades living in New Haven and about their shared alma mater of Southern Connecticut State University — Collins told Bond that she had won his vote in the August primary. 

“I like your style,” he said. 

He said many politicians knock on doors and don’t really listen to the people they’re trying to get votes from. ​“They don’t follow through,” he said. 

Collins said he thinks she’s different. ​“I think you’ll be the person we need.”

“I’m a community person,” Bond said. 

With a smile and a wave, she thanked Collins for the music — and for his support this upcoming Tuesday. She asked him to tell his friends and family to come out and vote for her as well. Then she turned back to the sidewalk and continued her march up Colony Road, on to the next door to knock and prospective voter to woo. 

Early Voting. Small Biz Support. "Civic Engagement"

Bond’s name will appear on Row B of the Aug. 9 Democratic Party primary ballot. That’s because she’s challenging state Democratic Party endorsed candidate and first-term Norwalk State Rep. Thomas for the constitutional office.

Thomas — who recently made a campaign stop in Hamden to receive the endorsements of a host of town elected officials — and Bond agree on many of the big-picture issues that the secretary of the state’s office has some say over. 

They both support constitutional amendments to expand voting access by finding ways to legalize and promote early voting and no-excuse absentee ballots. They both promise to promote civic engagement and trust in elections, including what Bond has described as combatting the the Republican Party’s ​“misinformation campaign” around voter fraud. They both vow to support small businesses across Connecticut by helping centralize resources and connect them with the government help they need to grow and thrive in this state. 

They also both tout their respective professional experiences — Thomas as a nonprofit leader and state legislator, Bond as a public health expert and local government administrator — as making them the most qualified to helm a statewide bureaucracy charged with building trust with the public and providing services to voters and businesspeople alike.

Having emerged on top of a crowded field of secretary of state candidates at the state Democratic Party Convention in May, Thomas has subsequentlracked up the endorsements from much of the party’s establishment — including from incumbent Secretary of the State Merrill. Bond, meanwhile, has become the favored candidate of Connecticut organized labor, having picked up endorsements from the state AFL-CIO and UNITE HERE’s Local 34, among other unions.

During a pre-doorknocking interview with the Independent on Wednesday, Bond said that, if elected, she would convene a task force of local registrars of voters and town clerks to help build grassroots support for early voting. She would launch voting education campaigns with ​“trusted messengers” able to appeal to a diverse swath of Connecticut’s electorate. She would maintain the office’s ​“misinformation officer” position and would work with local voting officials to ​“make sure we have consistent messaging across towns” about how to vote. And she would revitalize the office’s ​“small business unit” and set up a ​“one-stop shop model to attract entrepreneurs” looking to start and grow their businesses in Connecticut.

“I want to be able to protect our democracy,” she said. Asked about the most important lesson she’s learned from her time as city health director that she thinks would make her a successful secretary of the state, Bond said, ​“We were successful when we were able to serve as conveners.” That is: Building grassroots public trust in a government agency is critical to that agency’s success. Bringing together local voting officials and small business owners to talk through their experiences and needs, she said, will be the best way for her to provide what voters and businesspeople need if she’s elected. 

Click here, here and here to read previous articles about Thomas’s candidacy for secretary of the state. In previous interviews, Thomas has said that, if elected, she would support early voting and ​“civic engagement”; she would send out regular email blasts to Connecticut business owners with links to relevant resources and information; and she would work to educate business owners about how to incorporate in Connecticut.

"Good Intentions, Good Energy, & A Vision"

During Wednesday’s Beaver Hills canvassing, Bond — who grew up in Fair Haven and now lives across the river in Fair Haven Heights — walked side by side with Abdussabur, the neighborhood’s former alder and a retired former police sergeant.

Abdussabur said he’s supporting Bond because she has ​“good intentions, good energy, and a vision.”

Also, he said, because she was born and raised in New Haven, just like him. 

“If you’re from New Haven, if you live in New Haven, I’m a die-hard New Haven native” and supporter of New Haveners holding public office, he said. He said ​“the best way to solve a problem is to get someone close to the problem” in a position where they can help up come up with solutions. 

As someone from New Haven, he said, Bond will be able to amplify at the state level the voices and needs of her fellow Elm City neighbors and residents.

No New Havener has been on the statewide Democratic ticket since John DeStefano ran for governor in 2006. No New Havener has held statewide office since Hank Parker, who served as state treasurer through 1986. Two other New Haveners are running in Tuesday primaries: Erick Russell and Karen DuBois-Walton, in a three-way contest for state treasurer. (Dita Bhargava is the third candidate in that race.)

She has ​“over 20 years in public service,” Chelsey Jara said about Bond. ​“She is the most qualified” for the job.

Back on the doors on Colony Road, Bond centered her government experience and her commitment to expanded ballot access as she sought registered Democrats’ votes.

“I’ve been in public service for two decades,” Bond said as she handed Chaya Marasow campaign flyers. During her time as city health director during the Covid-19 pandemic, she said, she helped make sure that polling places were safe and accessible spaces to vote.

She pledged her support for ​“expanded access to voting,” and said her ​“vision is to expand and revitalize the small business unit.”

Marasow said that she’ll have to do her own research on the candidates before deciding for whom she’ll be voting in Tuesday’s primary. It’s ​“nice putting a name to a face,” she said as she thanked Bond for knocking on her door.

While she wasn’t sure based on that one interaction if she’d be voting for Bond on Tuesday, Marasow did say she was impressed with Bond’s energy and personality. ​“She’s very sweet,” she said.

Bond got a firmer commitment of support halfway down the block after running into retired former Albertus Magnus College Professor Norm Davis.

Davis said he came outside of his home upon hearing his friend and neighbor Ross Collins playing the saxophone. He wound up standing on the tree-lined sidewalk and chatting with Bond as the latter made her pitch for winning his primary-day vote.

After talking with Bond about the late Brooklyn Dodgers announcer Vin Scully and about a book he had written that was inspired by the late Black football star Marlin Briscoe, Davis told Bond that she had his vote.

That’s because of the ​“information I’ve heard, and her energy, and her apparent commitment to what it’s all about” to run the secretary of the state’s office, Davis said.

A few doors further down Colony Road, Bond rang a doorbell — and was greeted by a familiar, smiling face.

She transitioned from English to Spanish as she caught up with the home’s owner, Abimael Ortiz. 

She said that she and Ortiz attend the same church in Fair Haven. She was even once his student in an Introduction to the Bible course that he taught many years ago through a consortium of churches called the Assemblies of God.

Ortiz said he’ll be voting for Bond. And he promised to say hello to his wife for her.

“I think she’s inquisitive” and a quick learner, Ortiz said. He said that he’s ​“proud” to see a New Haven Latina vying for statewide office. ​“Life is interesting,” he said, reflecting on how a former Bible student of his was now knocking on his door, asking for his vote. He said seeing Bond campaigning reminded him of ​“all the good things” that life has to offer.

Thomas: Early Voting Enthusiasm. RCV Hesitation

Both Thomas and Bond offered further insight into their shared commitments to expanding ballot access in their responses to a candidate questionnaire prepared by the government watchdog group Common Cause Connecticut in advance of Tuesday’s primary.

On Friday, Common Cause Connecticut announced via an email press release that 80 candidates running for public office in Connecticut have responded to their ​“Our Democracy 2022” questionnaire about proposed election changes.

Thomas and Bond both answered ​“yes” to all five questions about supporting early voting and no-excuse absentee voting, banning foreign spending on state ballot referendums, backing the Connecticut Voting Rights Act, and supporting a ranked choice voting bill.

While Bond mostly just selected ​“Yes” for each of the election-reform position questions, Thomas went into detail on all five about where she stands on the issue, and why.

Below are excerpts from Thomas’s responses to each of those five prompts:

Early Voting: ​“The passage of this bill is what first led me to run for the state legislature in 2018. I found it unfathomable that anyone charged with advocating for the public good would vote against early voting as my predecessor did — not only once, not twice, but multiple times. After learning this fact, I called Hartford to find out how I could get onto the ballot by petition. … The day after the 2021 election, I began and will continue working to ensure that the electorate is educated around what this bill is and what it isn’t so that when they arrive at the polls on November 8th, they are ready to cast their vote in favor of the referendum because it is good for our democracy.”

Ban Foreign Spending on State Ballot Referendums: ​“This loophole should be closed at the state level so that our policy keeps pace with the digital age.”

Connecticut Voting Rights Act: ​“As a woman of color, I believe there is a missing link in the narrative around voting rights. We cannot ignore the result of systemic oppression on depressing voter turnout. I have often hear the refrain when it comes to casting a ballot, ​‘What difference does it make; nothing ever changes.’ I believe our undone work to empower all, especially for those most often disenfranchised, is teaching civic education and fostering greater civic engagement. We need to put resources behind these efforts and prove that their voice does matter and that they can have impact. … I would also support the provisions of the Connecticut Voting Rights Act that seek to codify aspects of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.”

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) Bill: ​“I have answered this question yes, but I would like to add an asterisk. Any bill raised to discuss Ranked Choice Voting would need to incorporate robust participation from our local Registrars of Voters. A major concern I have around implementation is the ability for each town to carry it out. Our system of individual town management of elections creates some unique difficulties and I am sensitive about creating a mandate, possibly unfunded, that will become a burden for municipalities.” (In the one written response that Bond provided for the Common Cause survey, she too expressed some hesitation around RCV: ​“While I do support this measure,” she wrote, ​“I believe the priorities listed above are far more important to strengthening our democracy.”)

No-Excuse Absentee Voting: ​“Like early voting, it was an honor to co-sponsor and advocate for the passage of this resolution in 2021. Connecticut is one of only a handful of states that offers neither early voting nor no-excuse absentee voting. We heard from hundreds of individuals during the public hearing. People like me who were running a business with unpredictable hours. Workers with long commutes. Mothers of young children. Grandfathers with arthritic knees. Students without a car. Caregivers of an ailing family member. Although we fell short of achieving the 75% vote required in both the House and Senate to send the resolution to voters this year, I will continue advocating and educating the public about why this is a common sense reform that helps all voters participate in our democracy.”

Click on the videos below to watch previous interviews with Bond and Thomas on WNHH’s ​“Dateline New Haven” program about their respective runs for secretary of the state.