In a startling comeback, convicted felon Joe Ganim squeezed out a win in the Democratic primary for his old job as mayor Wednesday night, defeating two-term incumbent Bill Finch.
Waving his fists in the air, Ganim, whose corruption convictions sent him to prison for seven years, jumped on a table and shouted along with his political staff and loyalists.
"It's a victory for the people of the city of Bridgeport," Ganim told a cheering crowd of supporters at his campaign headquarters.
Officials at Ganim's headquarters said Ganim outpolled Finch 6,135-5,683 with absentee ballots counted.
Asked if he felt this primary victory was his redemption, Ganim smiled, and said, "Of course." But the former mayor just shook his head when asked if he could have imagined a night like this, a political comeback like this when he was serving out his prison term. "The focus is on today forward," Ganim said, turning away to hug another supporter.
"It's a great night," Ganim said as he headed for the restaurant owned by Democratic Town Chairman Mario Testo for a victory celebration.
Ganim entered Testo's Restaurant to wild screams of joy from a massed crowd of his supporters and campaign workers. "I'm so happy to be here tonight," Ganim told the joyous crowd, "feeling like we're on top together." "We got here together because we know our cause is just," he said.
Ganim spoke of the beginning of his improbable political comeback and the room hushed. "It was only a dream inspired by the suffering... and disenchantment of so many people in the city of Bridgeport."
He said that everywhere he went in the city people asked him to "lead us to change."
But the November general election -- where he will meet Finch again -- was clearly on Ganim's mind, and he concluded his victory speech by asking his supporters, "Tomorrow, join with me again... Together we will succeed."
Despite Ganim's declaration of victory, Finch and his supporters vowed to stay in the race in November as a third party candidate.
In a fiery speech in which he was screaming at times, Finch said, "Bridgeport will not be denied by crookedness, greed, corruption, and lies."
"We will prevail," he declared in a speech that lasted less than six minutes. Before Finch stepped to the stage, the crowd chanted, "Four more years!" They then switched to "Save our city!" Several supporters were literally jumping on the stage and shouting, "We want Finch!"
Finch was smiling at times, despite Ganim's declaration of victory. Finch pumped his fist in the air multiple times as his supporters cheered around him.
Wearing a blue tie and blue jacket, Finch joined the crowd by saying, "We will win."
"We knew it was going to be close, and we knew it could go either way," Finch said. "Whatever happens tonight doesn't matter."
"Bridgeport, you've had an honest mayor for eight years, and I intend to go nowhere," Finch shouted.
Finch had said he has been working for the past eight years to overcome Ganim's corruption that he says stalled the high-profile Steel Point waterfront development on the city's harbor. Today, multiple name-brand retailers are coming to the Park City on the waterfront, including Chipotle Mexican Grill, Starbucks, Bass Pro Shops, and a new, 120-room Hampton Inn hotel.
The two main contenders battled against Mary-Jane Foster, a vice president at the University of Bridgeport who was also a co-founder of the Bridgeport Bluefish baseball team. She lost to Finch in a Democratic primary for mayor in 2011.
Despite spending more than $1 million combined on the primary, the battle is far from over. All three candidates are expected to face off once again in November due to rules allowing petitioning candidates to run in the general election after having lost in a primary.
The city's legislative delegation to Hartford -- like the city itself -- was sharply split in the mayoral race. Of the seven-member delegation, four were for Finch, two for Foster, and one for Ganim. The two state senators are supporting Foster, while Rep. Charlie Stallworth was supporting Ganim. Stallworth is the senior pastor at an East End church where Ganim publicly apologized on New Year's Day and essentially launched his comeback campaign.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the state's top Democrat, was asked Tuesday if he would have any problem working with Ganim if he were to win the race, given Ganim's past felony convictions.
"I prefer not to cross that bridge," Malloy said during a conference call with reporters from Los Angeles, where he was speaking at a climate change summit meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials. "I'm supporting Mayor Finch."
(c)2015 The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Conn.)
