Finch, who has led Bridgeport since 2007, has been touting development, including the waterfront Steel Point complex, while his campaign has reminded voters of Ganim’s criminal convictions at every opportunity.
Advertisement
The biggest Connecticut political news story this week undoubtedly is former Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim’s September 16 victory in the Park City’s Democratic mayoral primary.
Ganim beat Finch by about 400 votes of 13,300 cast Wednesday in Connecticut’s largest city. Malloy had endorsed incumbent Mayor Bill Finch prior to the primary, but on Thursday said he was not “doing anything on that race”.
Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch vows to run in November in his speech…
Ganim was sentenced to prison for steering city contracts in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in expensive wine, custom clothes, cash and home improvements when he was mayor.
“I thought [Finch] was the best candidate”, Malloy said.
LENNIE GRIMALDI: There are people from outside of Bridgeport who look at this race and go, why is it close?
Ganim’s campaign manager Dan Roach said: “We are ecstatic, though it was a very close election”.
Gary Rose, a political science professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, believes the state Democratic Party will continue to support Finch due to concerns about the party’s reputation. “I don’t think many people are sympathetic”.
Advertisement
“He worked hard and he got the people of Bridgeport voting for him”, Testa said. (The former mayor ultimately was set free after seven years of incarceration.) The crimes are all the more despicable when one considers they allowed Mr. Ganim to live like a mogul while his constituents struggled through life in one of the poorest American cities.
