Ganim wins in landslide

Joseph Ganim celebrates after winning the election as Bridgeport's new mayor at Testo’s Restaurant in Bridgeport on Tuesday. Joseph Ganim celebrates after winning the election as Bridgeport's new mayor at Testo’s Restaurant in Bridgeport on Tuesday. Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 86 Caption Close Ganim wins in landslide 1 / 86 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT — Voters on Tuesday decided to either forgive — or forget — Joseph P. Ganim’s federal corruption conviction, offering him another chance to lead the state’s biggest city in a landslide victory.

Ganim’s yearlong quest to regain the mayor’s office used a relentless, sophisticated grassroots neighborhood-by-neighborhood strategy, including key support from city clergy and Democratic Town Committee Chairman Mario Testa, who leveraged the city’s overwhelming Democratic voter registration to crush independent Democrat Mary-Jane Foster and Republican Enrique Torres.

On the podium, surrounded by family at Testo’s Restaurant in Bridgeport’s North End, Ganim claimed a 2-to-1 victory over Foster and a distant third-place showing for Torres.

He promised to build on the 12 years he previously held the mayor’s office that culminated in his criminal indictment, jury trial and guilty verdict in 2003.

“Some will certainly call this a comeback story, but for me, this is a city I feel I never left,” Ganim told a jubilant crowd shortly after 9 p.m. (in fact, he lived in Easton before moving back to Bridgeport in March). “Tonight, we’ve not only made history, but we’ve defined a new course for this great city. I never stopped caring about the challenges people face in every neighborhood. I never stopped thinking that maybe one day, we could begin the work that we’re going to begin today, moving this city forward again, picking up, in many ways, on the great things that we were working on together.”

During a 10-month, street-by-street campaign for support, Ganim said he listened to taxpayers.

“I realized we needed a new direction,” he said. “Taxes were too high, crime was out of control, our educational system needed improvements and the people of Bridgeport needed jobs. And of course, there is an element of redemption in all this, in the true sense of the word. It’s not distant or philosophical or religious redemption. It’s real and it’s human and it applies to every one of us.”

Unofficial totals had 11,198 votes for Ganim, 6,029 for Foster and 2,838 for Torres, including absentee ballots. He won 59.4 percent of the vote.

Forgiveness is one thing. But to earn redemption, Ganim has to fulfill some of the promises he’s made since returning to public life in January.

That means more development opportunities, more jobs, more police and lower taxes. He’s also going to have to convince skeptical state officials to support his second chance.

“He’s going to be the mayor he could have been,” said Lisa Parziale, a real estate agent and former member of the City Council who worked on Ganim’s campaign.

Outside Central High School at about 3:45 p.m., Parziale said Ganim, now 56 and five years out of prison, is ready to make amends.

“He’s older and humble,” Parziale said in the school parking lot, as dozens of workers for Foster, Ganim and Torres met voters a few yards away.

Foster, who initially announced her intention to withdraw after a distant third-place loss in the September primary, never really got her campaign off the ground, even with Mayor Bill Finch’s endorsement after he failed to register an independent campaign.

Foster came to the podium at 9 p.m. in the Bijou Theater downtown to concede to about 100 supporters.

“Obviously, the outcome was not what we hoped or expected,” she said. “The people of this city have spoken ... I have one thing to ask of you. Please don’t give up on this city. It’s just 16 square miles. You can wrap your arms around it and give it a big hug. And we should.”

“The majority of voters sent a criminal back to the scene of the crime,” said Jack McGregor, Foster’s husband and a registered Republican. “That’s what happened. I have seen no evidence he has changed.”

Many of Foster’s supporters were bitter over the loss and accused Ganim of dirty politics and even paying supporters to vote.

“I can say I don’t understand what happened. I do understand,” said State Sen. Ed Gomes, D-Bridgeport. “What went on was unusual and unprecedented.”

During an interview, Foster said Ganim “has been campaigning for a year and a half. He worked very hard. I will give him every opportunity to be a good mayor.”

Ganim, who served seven years in federal prison, began his political comeback Jan. 1, with his first public apology for criminal activities after years of claiming innocence. Though hardly a landslide, Ganim won a narrow but stunning primary victory over Finch.

It helped that a paperwork error scuttled Finch’s backup plans to continue on as a third-party candidate, after which he set aside a few years of animosity and supported Foster’s petition candidacy. Finch on Tuesday night said he loved his eight years in office.

“I thought Mary-Jane was the best candidate, but that’s life,” he said.

While Foster’s hybrid campaign made its own local history, it was not enough to overcome Bridgeport’s Democratic machine, led by Ganim pal Testa.

With Finch a lame duck, some Bridgeport Democrats, either out of party loyalty or personal ambition, lined up behind Ganim. And while Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in the waning days of the race made his displeasure with Ganim’s candidacy clear, other prominent statewide Democrats sat on the sidelines, perhaps hoping for a Foster victory but ready to swallow hard and work with Ganim if he won.

State Democratic Chairman Nick Balleto must have drawn the short straw, because he arrived at Testo’s to offer the state party’s congratulations. Balleto received boos when he mentioned Malloy’s name.

Ganim’s comeback is also the result of hard work by a consummate politician who went anywhere and everywhere to court voters, from family events to the line at the municipal dump.

And while outsiders were shocked that voters would rebuff Finch, who has been credited with bringing new development and restoring dignity to City Hall, Ganim tapped into residents’ resentment over high taxes and a feeling that, Finch’s positive crime statistics aside, the neighborhoods are not safe.

While waiting for returns following the close of the polls in his Harborview Market, Torres’ coffee shop and luncheonette in Black Rock, the GOP candidate and his supporters stoked the narrative of dirty elections in the Park City.

“The political machine pays people to vote,” Torres said, pointing a finger at both the Ganim and Foster campaigns.

John Slater, Bridgeport’s Republican Party boss, was initially speechless once Ganim’s victory was sealed.

“I wish him well,” Slater said. “Let’s see how he finishes his comeback story. The real work starts today.”

Malloy, who first supported Finch, then Foster, said Bridgeporters made their choice.

“The voters have spoken, and I want to congratulate Joe Ganim on his victory,” Malloy said in a statement. “I am committed to moving Bridgeport forward and, as I have said, I will continue to put the best interests of the community first. I am hopeful that Mayor-elect Ganim will live up to the huge responsibility that comes with leading our state’s biggest city by building trust not just with those within the city he will soon lead, but with leaders statewide.

Glenn Marshall, whose New England Council of Carpenters Local 2010 endorsed Ganim after Finch lost the primary, said Ganim connected with voters during a forceful campaign that overcame his criminal past.

“This guy went out, met with the people,” Marshall said. “He’s authentic.”

Also participating in the celebration was Lou Holiday, who owns an East Main Street thrift shop that is part of a ministry working with inner-city men struggling with substance abuse, criminal records and other issues.

Now that he has won, Holiday said, “It’s time to silence all the haters and make all the doubters eat their words.”

But Holiday also had advice for Ganim — keep your promises and do good for the sake of all the other felons seeking another shot after being released from prison.

“The future of the ‘second chance’ mission rides on the back of Joe Ganim,” Holiday said.

Staff writers Neil Vigdor and Bill Cummings contributed to this report.