Peak, Ricks Photos
Above, from left: Alder candidates Catalbasoglu, Williams, Winter. Below; Alder candidates Colon, Carlson; mayoral candidate Ganong.
Ricks, Bass Photos
New Haven voters Tuesday will elect the first new probate judge in 32 years, and Republicans are taking a stand in Morris Cove and City Point to try to bring party diversity to the Board of Alders.
Those are the highest-stakes races in town Election Day. Polls open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Click here to find out where you vote. Or call the registrar of voters at (203) 946‑8035.
The probate judge race is the only contested citywide election. Democrat Clifton Graves Jr. faces Republican Melissa Papantones for the position, from which Judge Jack Keyes is retiring. Click here for a story about the issues and backgrounds of the candidates; click here for a story about how the campaign has been in part about informing people of what a probate judge does — and about the fact voters decided who does the job. And click on the Facebook Live video below to watch the two pitch their candidacies on an episode of WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven.”
Voters will have three names from which to choose on the mayoral ballot. Incumbent Mayor Toni Harp, a Democrat, is seeking a third two-year term, arguing that drops in crime, a development boom, and new programs helping at-risk young people have earned her the post. Working Families Party (WFP) candidate Sarah Ganong, a political organizer who worked on the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign and managed Joshua Elliott’s successful upset victory for a state representative seat, is also on the ballot. But Ganong hasn’t campaigned, and she doesn’t want the job; instead, she is hoping to gain 1 percent of the vote so that her party gets an automatic spot on future municipal ballots.
“As part of WFP, I believe in fundamental collective bargaining rights, investments in quality public education and infrastructure, reforms to protect and defend the rights of our immigrant communities, single-payer healthcare, tuition-free public college, comprehensive paid family and medical leave, environmental responsibility, public funding of our elections, and fair taxation of the wealthy,” Ganong, the party’s statewide political director, wrote Sunday in an email to a WFP list serve. She said if she wins the 1 percent, “the WFP will be able to endorse and run candidates all the way down the ticket in the next election here in New Haven.”
Marcus Paca also has his name on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate. But Paca suspended his campaign after losing to Harp by a 3 – 1 margin in the Sept. 12 Democratic mayoral primary.
On Saturday, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy came to East Rock for a reelection rally for Mayor Harp. Click on the Facebook Live video at left to watch it.
Most candidates for the Board of Alders are running unopposed. Republicans — who currently have no elected alders — have fielded candidates in two wards: Morris Cove’s Ward 18 and City Point’s Ward 6. Republican candidate Joshua Van Hoesen, a Libertarian-leaning software engineer who campaigned with a copy of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in hand, is taking on Democratic incumbent Sal DeCola in the Cove; click here to read all about that race, and click on the audio file below to hear an interview with Van Hoesen on “Dateline New Haven.” (DeCola declined an invitation to appear on the radio.)
The GOP is fielding schoolteacher John Carlson, an active SeeClickFix user, against incumbent Democrat Dolores Colon in City Point; click here to read a story about that race. Colon is the only alder affiliated with Yale’s UNITE HERE union locals — which has a slate that dominates the Board of Alders — to face a challenge Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Republican Kate Adams also has her name on the ballot against incumbent Democratic Board of Education member Ed Joyner. But she ended up not fielding a campaign.
Two community organizers are squaring off in another contested race, for the open alder seat in Newhallville/Prospect Hill’s Ward 21. Democrat Rodney Williams, a contractor who has spoken out for more city hiring of local contractors, faces independent Steve Winter, an environmental and police-reform activist. Click here for a full story on their race.
Petition candidate Mayce Torres also has her name on the ballot in the race for Ward 4 alder in the Hill, against incumbent Democrat Evelyn Rodriguez. The names of Charles Delgado and Tosha James-Goldson will appear as petition candidates against Democrat Michelle Sepulveda in West Hills/West Rock’s Ward 30.
The Democrats do not have anyone running for alder in Yale’s Ward 1. The one candidate on the ballot, petition candidate Hacibey Catalbasoglou, therefore is poised to add an independent member to the Board of Alders, which currently has only Democrats. (Click here and here for previous stories about Catalbasoglou.)
Four Hill alder candidates are running as a slate: Ron Hurt, Rodriguez, Colon, and David Reyes. Click here to read a story about that. Click here for a story about Ward 20 Alder Delphine Clyburn’s reelection quest.
And click here for an official list of all the candidates, including uncontested Democrats, whose names will appear on Tuesday’s ballots.
Like I said Before.
The Politician Prayer.
The Politician is my shepherd; I shall not want,
He leadeth me beside the still factories,
He restoreth my doubt in Politics
He guideth me to the path of unemployment,
He anointeth my wages with taxes,
Surely Poverty and hard living shall follow this administration.And I shall be living in a rented house forever.
5000 years ago, the Politicians said, Pack your camel, pick up your shovel, mount and I shall lead you to the promised land of gentrification.
Today, the Politicians will tax your shovel, sell your camel,screw you and tell you the Vote for me I will set you free.
Mark 8:36 KJV: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
No shame hast the Judas Goat!!