Minor candidate dragged off stage in Brookfield Democratic forum

Lee Whitnum was dragged off the stage by cops at the Brookfield Town Democratic Forum. She hadn't been invited and refused to leave when asked. Lee Whitnum was dragged off the stage by cops at the Brookfield Town Democratic Forum. She hadn't been invited and refused to leave when asked. Photo: Kaitlyn Kresselt / Photo: Kaitlyn Kresselt / Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Minor candidate dragged off stage in Brookfield Democratic forum 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

BROOKFIELD — Gubernatorial candidate Lee Whitnum was charged with breach of peace and trespassing after officers were forced to drag her off the stage during a forum Monday.

Seven Democratic candidates for governor were invited to speak in Brookfield Monday night. They were joined, temporarily, by Whitnum, a minor candidate who was not invited to the event.

Whitnum, a perennial candidate, pulled up a chair, plopped down a sign with her name on it and refused to leave, shouting, “I am a Democratic candidate for governor!” to a crowd of more than 200, most of whom will be delegates at the May party convention.

Here's my video of Lee Whitnum being dragged off stage at the @BrookfieldDTC Gubernatorial forum #ctpolitics pic.twitter.com/GauaSMuhw4 — Alfonso Robinson (@ctblogger) April 10, 2018

The invited candidates left the stage as officers tried to remove her — grabbing her by the ankles and arms to drag her off the stage when she laid down in the middle. The audience booed Whitnum and applauded the officers who removed her, and the invited candidates returned the stage to talk about their platforms.

Whitnum, police said, provided officers with several identifications and was charged under the name Lisa Baker. She was released shortly after her arrest on a $500 bond.

“Despite appearances to the contrary, this has been an extraordinarily cordial and civil campaign,” said Ned Lamont, the Greenwich businessman and progressive crusader who fell to Dannel P. Malloy in the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial primary.

“We’re going to fight for Connecticut values every day. Fighting for our Connecticut values means that we’re not afraid to change.”

Democrats have been avoiding drama and holding forums in town committee meetings across the state in advance of their convention in May. The state Republican party, on the other hand, has held sometimes fractious debates.

When it was Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin’s turn, he said the Democrats need to harness the energy the electorate has seen since the 2016 presidential election.

“The energy is on our side,” he said. “I believe that the future of our state hangs on what happens in the next two to four years. We all know the fiscal challenges this state faces, and we know over the next few years, our budgets are going to be awfully tight.”

Susan Bysiewicz, the former three-term secretary of the state, said the future of the state is personal for her. Her daughters have both left the state for jobs elsewhere.

“We are losing young people, we are losing seniors,” Bysiewicz said. “We haven’t recovered the jobs that Connecticut has lost since the the recession of 2008, and I think about these issues a lot because two of my daughters have both found their first jobs in New York City. This is personal to me.”

>>Click through to see who is running for governor in Connecticut in 2018.

>>Click through to see who is running for governor in Connecticut in 2018. Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media File Photof Buy photo Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media File Photof Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Connecticut's candidates for governor, 2018 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

Sean Connolly, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and a former commissioner of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, stuck to his script, opening with his usual, “My name is Sean Connolly and I love Connecticut.”

Jonathan Harris, a former West Hartford mayor and state senator, called himself a progressive problem solver and said the Republicans are wrong about the future of the state.

“We need someone that can hit the ground running,” Harris said. “The Republicans are wrong. The sky is not falling, but it is cracked.”

Greenwich executive Guy Smith cited his experience as a former leader at Stamford-based Americares as reason to trust him in the midst of a financial crisis.

“I’ve been to every disaster, natural and man-made, on the planet,” he said. “I know what it’s like to make real-time decisions in crisis.”

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim addressed the elephant in the room — aside from the person escorted out by police — right off the bat. Ganim, who was first elected in the 1990s, was re-elected mayor of Bridgeport in 2015 after serving a seven-year federal prison sentence for public corruption.

“I’m known as a comeback or second chance mayor,” he said, referencing his felony conviction. “I led the city through some good times, and I made some terrible mistakes. But I learned from them.”