Melissa Bailey Photos
As union organizers citywide get out the vote for Democrats for Tuesday’s elections, they’re working against the party candidate in New Haven’s one hotly contested local race.
That race takes place in East Rock’s Ward 9. Two candidates there are competing for the city’s only open aldermanic seat, which Roland Lemar left vacant as he moves on to become a state legislator.
In such a local race, many votes come down to personality and personal relationships in the neighborhood. The race is also drawing interest — and significant campaign dollars — from people outside the ward.
The executive boards of UNITE HERE Locals 34 and 35 at Yale have officially backed former union organizer Jessica Holmes, who’s running against lifelong East Rocker Matt Smith, the endorsed Democrat. Smith won the party’s nomination in a meeting of 35 ward committee members. Holmes, a Democrat, got on the ballot as a nominating candidate after failing to win her party’s blessing. Her signs say “Democrat,” but on the ballot she’s technically an independent running as a Democrat.
Her union support comes at a time when vote-pullers are being dispatched citywide to urge voters to choose Line B to keep a Democratic U.S. Senate seat and return the governor’s chair to a Democrat for the first time in 24 years. Holmes sits dead last on the ballot, six rows below the Democrats.
Schools have emerged as a major issue in the campaign. Both candidates speak of rallying more neighbors to attend East Rock Global Magnet School. Holmes has called for using a union organizing-style campaign to do that, and for considering changing the structure of the mayorally appointed school board. Smith, who graduated from the school (as well as Cross), speaks of boosting its quality so neighbors have a choice beyond “Hooker or bust.” (Click here and here to read more on issues and candidates’ backgrounds.)
The two East Rock candidates have been busy, each knocking on hundreds of doors. Together, they have raised over $6,000.
A large chunk of Holmes’ support comes from her former employer: UNITE HERE organizers have poured in $1,400 into her campaign, according to documents filed this week in City Hall.
Holmes has personal experience with the union. When she moved to New Haven in 2003, she worked as a secretary at the Yale Medical School, becoming a member of UNITE HERE Local 34, which represents over 3,400 clerical & technical workers at Yale. Sometime around 2005, she took a leave of absence to take a year-long “union internship,” learning the ropes of organizing at the union office at College and Elm Streets.
For his part, Smith is getting support from neighborhood folks, family, as well as some high-ranking members of the Democratic machine, including local party chairwoman Susie Voigt and the mayor’s chief of staff, Sean Matteson.
The support comes with a backdrop of increasing tensions between union and City Hall forces, made public in a recent protest over contract negotiations.
So far, Holmes has out-raised Smith by a 2 – 1 margin.
Here’s where the money’s coming from, according to campaign finance documents filed Tuesday.
Holmes raised $4,202 in donations from Sept. 24 to Oct. 19. She has $1,986 remaining on hand.
Smith raised $1,830 in a slightly longer time period, from Sept. 23 to Oct. 25. He has $1,217 remaining on hand.
The Union-Backed “Underdog”
About a third of Holmes’ money came directly from higher-ups and organizers at UNITE HERE. She received $1,400 from union organizers, including $250 from Local 35 President Bobby Proto and $200 from Laurie Kennington, the new president of Local 34. She got an additional $250 from UNITE HERE’s unofficial bard.
Holmes (pictured) downplayed the influence of the special interest group. She said while Kennington’s was one of the first names on her campaign donation list, “she’s also one of the first names on my list” in her personal life, as when both women recently shared their news about babies on the way. Holmes said the people supporting her campaign are those with whom she has personal relationships.
“These are people I know,” Holmes said.
“Part of my introduction to New Haven politics was through Local 34,” she added. Holmes said she “shares values” with the union organizers, mostly on the topic of “getting more people involved in the democratic process.”
Hugh Baran, a Ward 9 resident and full-time political organizer for Local 35, has been volunteering with her campaign. He said the executive boards of Locals 34 and 35 have endorsed Holmes, but the full union memberships have not taken votes. He said the endorsements did not hinge on a particular issue. Both candidates have come out in support of strengthening the city’s living wage ordinance, which will be the next big labor issue before the board. Rather, Baran said Holmes has proven herself through her work with the unions.
“Jessica has a long history with our locals,” Baran said. On tough issues such as medical debt, and organizing a union at Yale-New Haven Hospital, he said, she “built relationships on both sides of the issue.”
“This neighborhood in particular has a lot of people with different points of view,” Baran continued. “You need someone who has got that kind of skill.”
Holmes also brought in over $1,000 in donations from friends and family in other states. She said she hasn’t been shy about calling up people in her life and asking for their support.
Her election team, headquartered in her Nash Street kitchen, has been staffed by her partner, Katie Poynter, as well as volunteer organizers and members of Local 34, she said. Some help her knock on doors; others watch her baby, Evie. Several of the union organizers live in East Rock.
Holmes is relatively unknown in the ward. Unlike Smith, she hasn’t lived here all her life: She moved here in 2003, and just moved back into town after a three-year hiatus. Unlike Smith, she has not had a prominent role in organizing neighborhood events such as the Orange Street Festival.
The Party-Endorsed Neighborhood Guy
Smith’s money has come in the form of more small donations, from friends, family, neighbors, as well as some more high-profile folks with experience pulling votes for the Democratic machine.
Smith held a campaign fundraiser on Saturday at Café Romeo, with wraps and Mexican food donated by Chris Mordecai.
He has also drawn contributions from neighborhood people who have fought City Hall in the past such as firefighters Ray Saracco and Kevin Donahue. Other support has come from East Rock Ward 10 Alderman Justin Elicker, restaurant owner Christopher Vigilante, and landlord and former Alderman and Realtor Bob Frew.
Smith has the endorsement of Roland Lemar, who showed strong support across the neighborhood in the primary for the 96th District General Assembly seat, which he won by a 2 – 1 margin. Smith served as Lemar’s deputy campaign manager and personally knocked on hundreds of doors for Lemar.
Matt Smith at his campaign headquarters on Edwards Street.
Now that Lemar has returned the favor in political support, Smith is reminding voters with a visual cue. Twice, on Monday and Tuesday of this week, Smith was spotted on the trail donning a white Lemar campaign T‑shirt.
Smith said he has about a dozen Lemar T‑shirts. He said while he’s proud of the endorsement, his choice of wardrobe was more practical — he’s been working so hard on the campaign that he doesn’t have any other clean shirts left, he said.
Smith also has support from some folks outside Ward 9, including some from City Hall. On a recent weekday afternoon, mayoral Chief of Staff Sean Matteson and Deputy Chief of Staff Adam Joseph were spotted knocking on doors on Orange Street.
Matteson lives in Fair Haven; Joseph lives in the East Shore. Matteson said they were in the neighborhood to support Smith. Matteson said he knew Holmes from his former career as a union organizer. He got to know Smith this year through Lemar’s state representative campaign and decided to support him this election.
“He’s been a longtime resident,” Matteson explained. “His family has deep roots in the city. He’s going to be willing to work with everybody on the Board of Aldermen for the greater good.”
Matteson was asked about the recent clash between the broader labor community over municipal contract negotiations. While the Yale unions don’t have a contract with the city, Local 35’s Proto stood with 250 union workers on the steps of City Hall and joined a fervent call for a fair contract. The event culminated in a chaotic confrontation with the mayor. Tensions ran high.
“It has nothing to do with that,” he replied about showing up in Ward 9 the following week to cast support for the non-union-backed candidate.
On Tuesday, Smith said he wasn’t aware of the Oct. 6 union rally outside City Hall. He called back Wednesday to say he had reviewed the issue. He called it “a delicate balance between taxpayers” and making sure workers have good benefits like health care. “I look forward to getting updates from union leaders and City Hall” as negotiations continue, he said.
Smith said Matteson spent only one day door-knocking on his behalf. He said Matteson got involved at the behest of Carlos Eyzaguirre, who graduated from Wilbur Cross High with Smith in 1992. Eyzaguirre is a seasoned vote-puller for Democrats. His mother, Susie Voigt, chairs the town Democratic Party.
Voigt showed up at Saturday’s fundraiser and donated $30 to Smith’s campaign. Reached Sunday, she said in addition to being the endorsed Democrat, Smith is a “family guy” with a “lifelong commitment to the neighborhood.”
Smith, who’s 36, grew up with his five brothers and three sisters on Pearl Street; his family is well-known.
Other members of Mayor John DeStefano’s administration who have donated to Smith’s campaign include mayoral staffer Liz Benton, a Ward 10 resident who gave $50, and schools Chief Operating Officer Will Clark, who lives on Humphrey Street in Ward 8 and put in $250.
Smith said he stopped into the mayor’s office at the end of the workday for a brief introduction. Asked if he has made any commitments to City Hall or to the mayor, he said “absolutely not.”
His campaign has been supported mostly by neighborhood people — and mostly by himself. Smith said he is his own campaign manager, and has spent many hours solo on the campaign trail. On Monday afternoon, he walked down Humphrey Street alone, carrying a stack of campaign literature.
“I’ve running my own campaign,” Smith said.
On Tuesday, East Rocker and cycling activist David Streever showed up to help him, as did his sister Diane Cassella.
Both candidates said they have been door-knocking every day, and working double-shifts on the weekends. Both said they have personally knocked on every door of the ward.
Holmes hit Nash Street Wednesday with Yale graduate student Cristina Cruz-Uribe, who lives in the ward and sits on the Democratic ward committee. They announced that their campaign has signed up 200 new voters, including many students at Yale.
As they came across a voter, Cruz-Uribe pulled out a key prop: The ballot for election day, showing Holmes’s name is buried way on the bottom.
“Nobody is going to vote for me on accident,” Holmes said.
Regardless of how high-profile supporters split between the two camps, Holmes said the choice will be made through a series of one-on-one meetings.
“I’m a big underdog,” she said. “If I win, it’s going to be because I talked to more people and I had better conversations with them.”
Past Independent stories on the Ward 9 race:
• Holmes Makes Ballot
• Lifelong East Rocker Wins Party Nod
• It’s A 3‑Way Race In East Rock
• Schools The Issue In East Rock Race
At the end of the day, I want to see my Ward 9 neighbors have as strong an alderman as we do in Ward 10, with the same dedication to community issues. Between Matt's involvement with SoHu helping to build the block watch--his support of community activities like the East Rock Festival--and the strong support I see from his neighbors, I believe he is going to be the neighborhoods alderman.
Canvassing with Matt is actually pretty easy--everyone we spoke to knew him, and they all genuinely liked him. Even the few Holmes supporters we met expressed their reservations about voting for Holmes because of her newness to the city. The reason they articulated for supporting her was that she was so involved with the unions.
I don't doubt her love of New Haven or her desire to do good work here. I think those two qualities are obvious. However, when it comes down to an alderman race, I just think voters need to ask themselves: "Who is going to be best for my neighborhood?"
I like unions, respect them, and think they've done really important work in our country. However, I don't think that Holmes union work is a valid reason to vote for her over Smith in this election. Smith is also pro-unions and a staunch Democrat. Neither candidate is going to be bad for the Yale union, or any other union for that matter.
Faced with a choice between a lifelong resident who has demonstrated his enthusiasm and worked tirelessly for his neighborhood and an outsider who is heavily financed by unions, I really think Smith will be the voice of the people in this office. I think Holmes has every intention of being independent, but I think she will find it impossible to remain independent considering that union contributions alone matched Smith's ENTIRE fund.
Best luck to both candidates at the polls next week!