Ganim nabs nod

Eddie Moro, left, celebrates with former Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim at Testo's Restaurant in Bridgeport, Conn. after Ganim won the Democratic mayoral primary on Wednesday, September 16, 2015. Eddie Moro, left, celebrates with former Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim at Testo's Restaurant in Bridgeport, Conn. after Ganim won the Democratic mayoral primary on Wednesday, September 16, 2015. Photo: Brian A. Pounds, Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Brian A. Pounds, Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 171 Caption Close Ganim nabs nod 1 / 171 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT — Bridgeport Democrats narrowly voted Wednesday to give a fallen ex-mayor a second chance.

Joe Ganim’s uncanny popularity — despite seven years in federal prison on corruption charges — propelled him to victory over embattled Mayor Bill Finch in the party primary.

Final totals had Ganim at 6,264 votes and Finch with 5,859. The official tally includes 508 absentee ballots for Ganim and 722 for Finch, who will resort to a political maneuver to gain a spot on the November ballot.

Ganim claimed the win at about 9 p.m., riding an apparent wave of nostalgia —critics argue amnesia — for his 12 years as Bridgeport’s chief executive.

“As we stand together today, I have to reach out and say to so many here: thank you, thank you!” Ganim said at about 10 o’clock in Testo’s Restaurant on Madison Avenue, home turf for Town Committee Chairman Mario Testa, a Finch foe. Several hundred supporters had gathered there to cheer him on.

“Eye of the Tiger” played as Ganim was hugged and kissed while he made his way to a podium, where he wiped a few tears and received a kiss on the cheek by his father, George, who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican mayoral candidate here decades ago.

"It was only a dream that was inspired by suffering in neighborhoods in so many ways and by the disenfranchised in Bridgeport who only wanted a better quality of life," Ganim said.

Finch’s theater

At about the same time, over at the Bijou Theater on Fairfield Avenue, Finch, touted his “long-run” view for the city, and recalled “decades of broken promises and corruption” — a reference to Ganim’s pay-to-play conviction in 2003.

But for most of the evening the theater was quiet, as if a new play were about to flop.

Finch took the stage flanked by several dozen supporters and the crowd became more animated.

At the podium surrounded by family and supporters, an emotional Finch shouted hoarsely that he knew the primary would be close and he reminded people of a Ganim mayoralty that ended in indictments, denials, a spectacular corruption trial and prison.

“We’ve come too far to turn around,” Finch thundered, his voice rough as sandpaper. “We have taken our city back from the jaws of corruption. We’ve earned our city back. Whatever happens tonight doesn’t matter. We’re creating the jobs. We’ve been growing the businesses. We’ve been giving the people honest government for the last eight years.”

He pointed out the re-opening of Pleasure Beach and the attraction of new businesses and housing. “Do you think this would have happened if we were corrupt?”

Earlier in the afternoon, at Luis Munoz Marin School, Isarai Rivera, 53, walked in to cast a vote for Finch.

“He’s done a good job so far,” she said. “Ganim, he did a good job but messed up at the last. To me Bill has done more stuff than Ganim.”

Back at Testo’s, an ebullient Ganim, a former five-term mayor said he visited every neighborhood, church, bus stop, corner coffee shop in the past few months talking to people who long for better days for this city.

"We started something together and those great things we started need to be finished," Ganim said. "I know we can ... take Bridgeport to heights it has never seen, but we can only do it together."

“Now with your hard work, your help, your commitment and your spirit we can say we’re going to win this city come November. We’re in this together.”

He then led a cheer, predicting victory in November: “Let’s go Bridgeport. Let’s go Bridgeport. Let’s go Bridgeport.”

Job Creation party

If Finch indeed loses, to get on the November ballot he needs to be endorsed by the new Job Creation third party which, as Hearst Connecticut Media revealed a few weeks ago, was a construct to give the mayor a Plan B without his having to publicly acknowledge the possibility he could lose the Democratic primary.

Ganim vowed late Wednesday to challenge the legality of Finch’s third-party bid.

Wednesday’s apparent loss for Finch is certainly an embarrassing blow to the eight-year incumbent, who not only held a fundraising advantage, having raised over $500,000, but who also has the power of incumbency. The close cooperation between Finch’s campaign and City Hall has been evident, with a taxpayer-funded city promotion campaign and various mayoral press conferences and announcements used to boost the mayor’s image.

And some of Finch’s politically appointed City Hall advisers have been working for the campaign, supposedly in their free time.

Ganim appealed to voters’ perceived disenchantment with tax hikes and other quality-of-life issues under Finch, who will have a chance to retain office while running for re-election on an independent ballot line.

The ‘anti-vote’

Mary-Jane Foster, University of Bridgeport vice president, finished a distant third and conceded shortly before 9 p.m., with 1,177 votes, unofficially.

Foster said she doesn’t think she was a spoiler.

“I think Bill Finch is such a poor mayor he left the door open for a former mayor who raped this city,” she said, adding she will not support Ganim or Finch in the November race if she decides against waging an independent bid.

State Sen. Edwin A. Gomes, D-Bridgeport and a Foster supporter, doubted Finch can make up Ganim’s lead with absentee votes.

“It’s more of an anti-vote than a pro-Ganim vote,” Gomes said. “People are not satisfied with the mayor.”

Former City Council member Bob Wash, also a Foster backer, said voters remember the good times under Ganim, not the corruption that sent him to jail.

“People don’t like Finch,” Walsh said. “They see an arrogance. Part of the public sees a sham. Finally something happens with Bass Pro Shops and he’s making all these announcements. People remember the good times of the Ganim years.”

Charles D. Clemons Jr., a former state representative running on Finch’s ticket for city clerk, said he was not surprised by Ganim’s win.

“I’ve said for years that Bridgeport is a political litmus test for ‘Murphy’s Law,” Clemons said. “If you think you’ve seen it, we’ll show you things that are different. I’m not surprised. This is Bridgeport.”

Staff writers Daniel Tepfer and Bill Cummings contributed to this report.