Winfield, Bartlett Hit Beaver Hills

A high-profile crime wave brought a State Senate campaign to Beaver Hills, as candidates made their final pitches to voters in the run-up to Tuesday’s election.

Two candidates for the 10th State Senate District — incumbent Democrat Gary Winfield and independent challenger Jason Bartlett — hit the neighborhood this week to make the final case for their candidacies.

In doing so, they offered different pitches on how to deal with the rising violent crime that has led to three separate recent community events and demands for official action. (Read about that here, here, here, and here.)

The two candidates’ encounters on the doors also revealed the different challenges: Winfield’s job was to remind people who he is and what he has done, Bartlett’s to introduce himself and make the case for change.

Bartlett told Beaver Hills voters he’d fight harder to bring more money from Hartford to a city that has wrestled with a shortage of cops while neighborhoods throughout town have called for more officers on the street. Winfield argued that more cops alone isn’t the answer; he told voters his leading role in the Senate gives the city power in Hartford, and he spoke of his championship of a police accountability bill this year.

(Click here for a previous story in which the candidates discussed their positions at length at a campaign debate. You can watch the full debate in the video at the bottom of this story. A third candidate, Republican Carlos Alvarado, declined to participate in that event or be interviewed for this story.)

“I Saw Your Ad”

“I wanted to come because of the recent crime,” Bartlett said as he canvassed Norton Street Tuesday.

Bartlett, a former state representative and city youth director, petitioned his way on the ballot on an unaffiliated line. He has run hard this season, qualifying for matching public financing and blanketing the district with flyers.

“I’ve sort of heard about campaigns,” said Devorah Kamman, who shyly opened her door. ​“But not much. It’s hard to get through the day.”

Bartlett assured her that he would ​“bring back resources” to New Haven. She took a flyer. She had no more questions, she said, and closed the door.

“I think she was referring to the recent violence,” said Bartlett said later to this reporter.

“I saw your ad yesterday. I’ll vote for you!” said one elderly Beaver Hills man answering Bartlett’s knock on his door. (The man declined to give his name, saying he wished his vote to be private.) He didn’t care about party affiliation, he said.

Bartlett mentioned he is a petitioning candidate. ​“You don’t affiliate with a party?” said the man approvingly.

You use your own judgement, I see.”

Others pressed Bartlett on issues.

“Let me tell you what we need,” said a man, who came to his front door along with his wife. ​“We need programs. When I grew up, we had boys’ and girls’ clubs to keep kids off the streets. Now, there are kids breaking into cars at 5:30 a.m.!”

“Who’s our state senator right now?” asked his wife. ​“He ain’t doing his job!”

Bartlett listened to their concerns. ​“I’ll be a different voice,” he said. ​“We’ve bailed out Hartford in the past and lost money in New Haven. But I’d assert myself.” The woman declared that Barlett had her vote.

The man said he had lost 160 hours of work as a chef at a Yale medical facility when he had to self-quarantine after a co-worker got Covid-19.

“We need to be more proactive when dealing with the governor” to extend paid sick coverage to more workers, Bartlett responded.

Beyond attacking Winfield, Bartlett emphasized his own record.

“Have you heard of me?” he asked Angela Whitney (pictured), who was getting out of her car with her daughter. Whitney hadn’t voted since completing a ballot for presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000; she was disenchanted by what happened in Florida that year.

She had one simple question: ​“Are you a Democrat?”

Bartlett quickly mentioned he is a registered Democrat running as a petition candidate before transitioning to his pitch. ​“I served as the city youth director,” he said. ​“I lowered the number of [school] expulsions from 200 to 14” through a city program he spearheaded called Youth Stat. Whitney seemed impressed.

Running On Record

Meanwhile, Winfield, who was first elected to the state legislature in 2008, often didn’t need to introduce himself. He rarely said Bartlett’s name either, instead emphasizing his record.

He walked Beaver Hills Wednesday with State Rep. Toni Walker. Walker, who represents the neighborhood as well, personally introduced Winfield to neighbors.

“Don’t waste your time,” called Rachel Gilroy from her porch on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard. ​“We’re already voting for you!”

“I vote straight blue,” seconded her neighbor, Salma Mody. Mody asked the candidates a few questions about voting procedures and the census, but expressed no policy concerns. She had met Winfield’s wife at an event, she said, and was familiar with his work.

While Bartlett focused on state spending in response to concerns about crime in Beaver Hills, Winfield took a different approach.

“I’m worried about the solution of just sending in more police,” said Jessica Stanek. Stanek’s family had been the victims of a break-in last year during their sleep. ​“I went through this traumatic event, but I can still see that there are concerns with racism if we just bring in police. Plus, they’ll leave after a few months. And then what happens?”

Winfield assured her that he understood her concerns, citing his police accountability bill, which passed into law this July. Among other measures, the law limits police chokeholds, requires officers to intervene if colleagues violate citizens’ rights, and makes it easier for victims to sue officers who engage in ​“malicious, wanton or willful” misconduct.

“I passed the police accountability bill,” he told another voter. ​“It’s one of the toughest in the nation.”

“Tell me what you do,” asked Beaver Hills voter Cindy Williams.

Winfield again cited his criminal justice reform. ​“But there’s another committee I’m a part of that’s important – the screening committee,” he said. ​“We go through every bill that comes from the House.”

“So you screen what goes through?” asked Williams.

“Yes, and he tells us if anything will be bad for New Haven interests,” added Walker.

“If I lose, then New Haven loses that role on the committee,” said Winfield.

Williams revealed that she had already voted. She was glad, she added, that she voted Democratic.