Alt candidates on the ballot. Clockwise from top left: Alex Taubes, Jason Bartlett, Justin Paglino, Paul Garlinghouse, and Sergio Rodriguez.
New Haven could have four different registrars of voters next year, now that a second third-party candidate has qualified for the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
In total, five major party alternatives (that is, candidates who are neither Democrats nor Republicans) in various state and local races have gathered enough valid signatures to appear on New Haven’s general election ballots this November.
On Monday afternoon, Secretary of the State Elections Officer Taffy Womack confirmed that Sergio Rodriguez has submitted enough valid signatures to appear on the general election ballot as a Working Families Party candidate for New Haven registrar of voters.
Womack said Rodriguez needed 261 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot, and that her office received and verified 291.
Rodriguez will be running for that local election position against Democratic incumbent Shannel Evans, Republican incumbent Marlene Napolitano, and Green Party challenger Paul Garlinghouse.
Because of a state law passed by Democrats and Republicans, Democratic and Republican registrar candidates automatically win general elections and serve four-year terms.
If one of the third-party candidates wins more votes than the major party candidates, than he will receive his own city office and assistants — in addition to the offices and assistants assigned to the Democratic and Republican registrars.
Womack said that, if Rodriguez and Garlinghouse each wins more votes than Evans or Napolitano, then New Haven would have to seat all four separate local registrars next term: One for the Working Families Party, one for the Green Party, one for the Democratic Party, and one for the Republican Party.
Markeshia Ricks file photo
Rodriguez: Independent voters deserve options.
“I think we need choice in our communities,” Rodriguez said about why he’s looking to serve as a third-party registrar in town. He said the city has over 16,000 unaffiliated, independent registered voters. “I think they’d like to have additional choices. I think they should have an opportunity to have an additional choice.”
Rodriguez, a former Westville alder, currently works as a contractor for the city Board of Education, where he focuses on serving the public school system’s homeless population. He said his day job has him identify local homeless students, connect them with supportive services, and make sure they have school supplies, access to food, and, during the pandemic, face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE). Rodriguez is also the chair of the city’s public financing Democracy Fund.
If elected as Working Families Party registrar, Rodriguez said he would prioritize including young people in the election process, not just by going to high schools and registering juniors and seniors to vote, but also by designing a program with the city schools to educate students about the history of elections and voting rights in this country.
“There’s a lot more information than just registering to vote,” he said, that goes into making someone an informed and engaged elector.
“I want to share my vision for a more responsive, inclusive office,” he told the Independent in a written statement. “One that motivates our residents to vote, a Registrar who actively engages the community, responds to personal calls, meets with our management teams, seeks input for ways to more effectively get out the vote and help each of you feel your voice does make a difference to our way of life.”
Registrars oversee voter registration, culling and updating of voter lists, distribution of absentee ballots and candidate petitions, and Election Day poll working and ballot counting.
The Working Families Party issued an official online endorsement of Rodriguez late last week. Womack said that she is still waiting for the WFP to submit an official letter of endorsement to her office before she can finalize his place on November’s ballot. (Update: After receiving the WFP’s endorsement letter, the Secretary of the State’s office on September 1 certified Rodriguez’s placement on the November general election ballot.)
Not A Democrat Or Republican? Not A Problem
Ko Lyn Cheang photo
Justin Paglino seeks signatures at the Wooster Sq farmers market.
Rodriguez isn’t the only third-party or unaffiliated candidate to make New Haven’s general election ballot this year.
In addition to Garlinghouse, who will appear on the local ballot running as a Green Party candidate for New Haven registrar of voters, local attorney Alex Taubes, former city department head Jason Bartlett, and Guilford virologist Justin Paglino have all qualified for general election ballot access in their various bids to represent New Haven in elected office.
Secretary of State Communications Director Gabe Rosenberg confirmed that Paglino will appear on the ballot as a Green Party candidate for the Third Congressional District race. He is challenging three-decade Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, and is running a single-issue campaign focused on his support for Medicare for All. Republican challenger Margaret Streicker is also running in that race. Rosenberg said Paglino needed 1,893 valid signatures, and he submitted 2,166.
Taubes will appear on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate for the 11th State Senate District race. He is challenging longtime Democratic incumbent and State Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney in a bid to represent parts of New Haven, North Haven, and Hamden in the state legislature’s upper chamber. Rosenberg said Taubes needed 215 valid signatures, and that he submitted 330. Republican Jameson White is also running in that race.
Garlinghouse will appear on the ballot as a Green Party candidate for the New Haven Registrar of Voters. Rosenberg said he needed 261 valid signatures, and submitted 266.
And Bartlett will appear on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate for the 10th State Senate District race. He is challenging Democratic incumbent Gary Winfield in a bid to represent parts of New Haven and West Haven in the State Senate. Rosenberg said he needed 161 valid signatures, and he submitted 1,048. Republican Carlos Alvarado is also running in that race.
“I’ve gotten a good response from voters about actually being independent,” Bartlett said. He said he’s still collecting knocking doors and collecting signatures in an attempt to qualify for public financing for the race.
“Everyone, Democrats included, want somebody who’s going to make change and be free to speak their minds,” he said. “People are sufering. Policies exist that don’t make sense. … That state is not being run properly or efficiently.”
He criticized the new police accountability bill recently championed by Winfield, passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor as not going far enough. And he said state legislators have left behind a majority of New Haven Public Schools students who are unprepared for an all-remote start to the school year. “It’s good to be independent to actually point these things out,” he said, “and to advocate for what should be done differently.”
Questions for Mr. Rodriguez: