Maritza Bond Releases Video Ahead of Secretary of the State Primary

“Passing meaningful gun reforms and protecting women’s reproductive rights start with defending our right to vote,” proclaims Democratic candidate for Secretary of the State Maritza Bond in her first television ad of the campaign. Bond is one of two Democrats seeking the party’s nomination in the statewide Democratic primary on Tuesday, August 9.

The ad, which can now be seen online and on local television stations, highlights Bond’s “firsts” – the first in her family to graduate college, the first Latino health director in Connecticut history, and now running to be the first woman of color to serve as Secretary of the State in Connecticut.

Also highlighted are Bond’s numerous endorsements by leading labor unions in Connecticut, reflecting her commitment to working families – the backbone of the Democratic party and the state. Bond has also been endorsed by elected officials from across the state, including her hometown of New Haven, and numerous Democratic town committees.

“In these challenging times, you deserve a real Democrat who will show up and put you first,” Bond says in the ad, against the backdrop of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, as the words “Fight Election Misinformation” appear on-screen.

Throughout the campaign, Maritza Bond has highlighted clear and critical priorities:

• protecting the right to vote,
• expanding access to voting and increasing civic knowledge & participation,
• restoring fiscal autonomy in the Secretary of the State’s office, and
• making it easier for small, minority, veteran and women-owned businesses to launch, expand, and then flourish, all across Connecticut.

She has urged state residents to support the Early Voting Constitutional Amendment, which will appear on the ballot in November in Connecticut, and has indicated support for legislative passage next year of a Constitutional Amendment that would broaden the permissible uses for absentee ballots in Connecticut elections.

In addition, Bond has stressed her intention to strengthen the partnership between municipal election officials and the Secretary of the State’s office, and has called for investments in new technology to upgrade the state’s voter registration database to make sure it is impenetrable to all forms of hacking and manipulation.

In recent weeks, Bond has earned three consecutive major union endorsements – from the Connecticut AFL-CIO, Connecticut Employees Union Independent (CEUI), and UAW.

Throughout her career, Maritza Bond has been on the frontlines advocating for working people in Connecticut, currently serving as Director of Health for the City of New Haven, and previously as Director of Health and Social Services for the City of Bridgeport.

She began her career in the Naugatuck Valley Health District, where she coordinated several grant project initiatives, and as Executive Director of the Eastern Area Health Education Center, Inc. in Eastern Connecticut. Bond has worked with community leaders regionally and statewide to ensure health care access to the underserved and to enhance the workforce in Connecticut.

Bond is the only candidate in the Secretary of the State’s race with the executive experience to lead the office from day one, protect our right to vote and work with local officials to make it easier to cast ballots in Connecticut. And she is the only candidate who knows first-hand the importance of the Secretary of the State’s office supporting small businesses growth to create good-paying jobs, pointing to experience working with small businesses in her role as health director, particularly amidst the pandemic.

To find out more about Maritza's historic campaign for Secretary of the State, volunteer to help or host an event, please visit www.maritzabond.com. The Democratic primary for the Secretary of the State nomination will take place on Tuesday, August 9.