The mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut won the general election and called on his challenger to withdraw, despite a judge ruling that the challenger showed that the primary election was rife with fraud.
Mayor Joe Ganim, a Democrat, received 5,723 votes, according to unofficial results from the Nov. 7 general election.
Challenger John Gomes, another Democrat, received 5,548.
“The Gomes people and his crew have been beaten twice now. In sports terms, you call them two times loser,” Mr. Ganim said in remarks to supporters as he declared victory.
“You’ve been rejected twice by the voters. Respect the voters of the City of Bridgeport!” Mr. Ganim added, speaking to Mr. Gomes. “Withdraw these claims. They have now lost their legitimacy.”
Mr. Gomes’s campaign told The Epoch Times in an email that Mr. Gomes “will not withdraw.”
Videos showing two supporters of Mr. Ganim, including a city worker, dropping off absentee ballots into drop boxes despite not registering as people who could drop off absentee ballots were “shocking to the court and should be shocking to all the parties,” Connecticut Superior Court Judge William Clark said in his ruling.
The primary count had Mr. Ganim receiving 4,212 votes, 251 more than Mr. Gomes. Mr. Ganim took 1,564 absentee votes, versus just 861 for his challenger.
Under Connecticut law, candidates are able to ask for a new election based on “a mistake in the count of votes cast” or having been “aggrieved by a violation” of state law.
The violations of the law left the judge “unable to determine the results of the primary,” prompting the order for a new election.
Mr. Ganim has said he did not condone the actions of the supporters, and testified that he was not involved in the illegal scheme.
The supporters appeared in court but invoked their rights against self-incrimination, refusing to testify.
Judge Clark directed the parties to confer to reschedule the primary, which could ultimately render Tuesday’s general election meaningless.
“The one thing I want to make clear is that this is not over. It’s not over,” Mr. Gomes told supporters as votes were still being counted.
Mr. Ganim has said that he would explore appealing Judge Clark’s order but was focusing on the general election.
“I’m the endorsed Democratic candidate on the top line, and I’m asking everyone to come out and vote in this election,” he said.
Judge Clark’s order gave the parties 10 days to confer and propose a new Democrat primary.
Arrests
The election got an extra dash of chaos Tuesday when two City Council members were arrested in separate incidents at the same polling place.Councilwoman Samia Suliman was charged with breach of peace after police received a 911 call at 4:21 p.m. about a person causing a disturbance outside the John F. Kennedy School. Less than an hour later, police arrested Councilwoman Maria Pereira and charged her with assaulting a 70-year-old woman.
Texts seeking comment from the two Democrats were not immediately returned. Police did not release details about the circumstances of either arrest.
In more normal contests held Tuesday, voters across the state chose candidates for local offices, including first selectman and school board.
Voters chose Democrat Arunan Arulampalama, CEO of the Hartford Land Bank, as the new mayor of Hartford, the state’s capital city. The current mayor, Luke Bronin, chose not to seek a third term.
In the mayor’s race in Derby, Connecticut, a city of 12,400 people near New Haven, former Alderman Joseph DiMartino, a Democrat, beat three other candidates in a contest that highlighted a split in the Republican party.
He defeated the Republican incumbent, Mayor Richard Dziekan, Republican Alderman Gino DiGiovanni Jr., who was charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol, and an unaffiliated candidate.
“Today, the residents took back their city,” Mr. DiMartino told a crowd of cheering supporters. ”Today is a new beginning for Derby.”
Despite his arrest, Mr. DiGiovanni beat Mr. Dziekan in the Republican primary. But the mayor refused to give up, gathering enough voter signatures to run as an independent candidate in the general election.
Having two GOP candidates on the ballot lifted the chances of Mr. DiMartino, 57, who had lost to Mr. Dziekan in the 2021 mayor’s race by just 48 votes.
Mr. DiMartino also bested non-affiliated candidate Sharlene McEvoy. A retired Derby Public Works employee, Mr. DiMartino focused heavily on the city’s fiscal challenges and the need for a professional finance director. There was scant mention of Mr. DiGiovanni’s arrest throughout the election campaign.
In New Haven, incumbent Democratic Mayor Justin Elicker easily won a third term, defeating a Republican and an independent candidate.
