Segarra Claims Primary Victory In Hartford
Edwin Vargas, his opponent, has conceded
By Jeff Cohen - WNPR
Published: Sep 14, 2011
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Segarra Claims Victory
In Hartford, Mayor Pedro Segarra claimed victory in the city's Democratic primary. And as WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports, the win brings him one big step closer to a owning the office he inherited.
It was about six o'clock on primary day, and Segarra and his Democratic slate were flocking to any of the voters who were making their way to Rawson School. Turnout was low -- in a city with 33,000 Democrats, it looked like only 20 percent had made it to the polls.
One of them was Martha Dawkins. After she voted, she said Segarra -- who became mayor after the conviction and resignation of former Mayor Eddie Perez -- was stronger than his opponent, Edwin Vargas. She also said Segarra deserves a chance to get elected in his own right, and to serve in his own term.
DAWKINS: I don't measure a person as a cleanup person. It's where they go from -- if he gets elected, then that's his Day One.
COHEN: You mean, he's been dealing with the hand he was dealt...
DAWKINS: Right. Okay?
COHEN: And if he wins he's getting his own hand?
DAWKINS: It's his own hand. He's inherited some of the stuff, but it's his own hand now.
Also standing outside Rawson school was I. Charles Mathews. He ran four years ago against Mayor Perez and lost. Looking back, he said both he and Perez were known as aggressive politicians. Segarra, he said, is not.
"In Hartford, we're used to the rough-and-tumble. I mean, clearly, Pedro Segarra is a different kind of guy. He's very kind, very gentle, and I think we need some of that after the last four or five years. I had a reputation as you know of being kind of aggressive also, so I really like the fact that Pedro is the kind of guy you can sit down, you can talk to, he listens very intently, and I think in the next four years this city may need a lot of that."
In the city's South End, challenger Edwin Vargas was finishing up his day at the polls, too.
"Like everything else, whether it's a low turnout or a high turnout, it depends who's pulling out their voters and we're hoping it's our people coming out. We're very hopeful."
But what Vargas needed more than hope was votes, and he didn't appear to get anywhere near enough.
Not much later, supporters started to come into Segarra's celebration party. Want to know how popular he is? Just ask Mike McGarry. He was at Segarra headquarters, sipping a beer.
He's also the official Republican candidate for mayor.
"Much of the direction the Democrats in the town have taken is similar to a Republican agenda. They're for economic development, they're for clean streets, enough cops. I mean, I could have written the speech."
Eventually, Segarra made his way to the hall and thanked his supporters.
"I want to thank the people of the City of Hartford, the Democrats of the City of Hartford, who today by a margin of almost three to one said, 'We are it!'"
The mayor said he was proud to have run a positive primary campaign.
"I never took a shot ant any one of my opponents because I think that this should not be about personal, this should be about ideas, about work, about commitment, and about what we have to produce as a community."
Now, it's on to the general election in November. But in a city where more than 70 percent of the voters are Democrats, Segarra may have already won the war.
For WNPR, I'm Jeff Cohen.
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No show voters is hardly a victory!
September 13th - An overwhelming NO SHOW VOTE! In-spite of the other candidates spending more than $400,000.00 it was an all time low voter turn out on a prefect 70 degree day. In a city where silence is a deadly political tool the people spoke with a NO SHOW and said NO!
How much money does it take to shackle Hartford Voters?
(I wrote this note back in March and published it April 5th, 2011. Sometimes what has been said needs to be said again and again. This is one such note.)
If money equaled leadership and an ability to govern, the 2007 Hartford Mayoral election would have yielded the best government in Hartford's history. The reality however is that money is the corrupting force that ruins political leaders and the cities they are elected to lead.
Anyone that believes the 2011 Hartford mayoral race is about money has already lost because the people of Hartford are not up for auction and their municipal government is not for sale. The same can not be said of the candidates, their political decisions are heavily influenced by the donor block that gives the most money.
Hartford voters are no longer asleep. They are wiser, smarter, and far more politically active and savvy than ever before and will no longer be taken for granted. This fact was made clear with the defeat of Kenny Green in the last election cycle.
Voters know that in the back room of this political game of “who can raise the most money”, are the gatekeepers that have been the beneficiary of a corrupt patronage system, and said gatekeepers don't want it to stop. And they will give as much money as they can to candidates that will keep the Status Quo alive and well.
The McCauley for Mayor 2011 campaign made a conscious decision in October of 2009 to adopt our own campaign finance reform and not raise large sums of money, but rather raise the consciousness on the voters, and run our campaign like no other.
Candidate J. Stan McCauley at his own expense over the last 3 years produced over 150 episodes of “One Hartford” an hour long political TV show that kept Hartford voters informed. Bringing to light much of the corruption that brought the last well financed municipal administration to its knees.
Hartford's 2011 election is about economic, human, and community development. It's about all of Hartford's neighborhoods being safe for children and seniors. It's about fair distribution of tax resources. It's about functional accountable governance that will fire employees that do not do their job. It's about a Mayor understanding that he or she is employed by “We the people of Hartford”.
Candidate J. Stan McCauley has a plan to rebuild the integrity of Hartford by bringing in community minded businessmen that have a love for cities and are willing to hire the people that live in them. Candidate J. Stan McCauley has a plan to cut the homicide rate by 50% and make Hartford one of the top ten small cities in the country.
Some actually believe money equals votes, J. Stan McCauley believes that knowing your city as your city knows you equals votes. Money can not cast a ballot and out of state donors in Washington D.C. can't vote in Hartford. Cheap politicians may go for $750,000.00 or under, but the people of Hartford are not for sale. Votes are the only currency that matter in this race and they will be spent on election day in record number.
J. Stan McCauley and his family live by choice on Enfield Street in Hartford's North End. For more information about J. Stan McCauley's candidacy for Mayor, please visit www.McCauleyForMayor.com.
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