Bridgeport Mayoral Candidate Daniels Issues Statement On New Primary

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Petitioning mayoral candidate Lamond Daniels has issued a statement concerning Wednesday's court ruling calling for a new mayoral primary, following a scandal involving the mishandling of absentee ballots.

"How many times will Bridgeport have to be embarrassed by its elected officials and insiders as they continue to abuse the voters’ trust and the taxpayers’ dollars before we finally get the chance to elect a Mayor who will truly fight for all of us?" Daniels said.

Superior Court Judge William Clark sided with mayoral candidate John Gomes, who sued to be declared the winner of this summer's primary; Gomes reportedly won the machine count, but lost to incumbent Mayor Joseph Ganim by 251 votes after absentee ballots were counted.

"While this ruling is a victory for democracy and election integrity, it not only upends the Mayoral race, but it also further tarnishes our reputation, and once more disenfranchises the voters with a low turnout off-cycle primary and subsequent general election," Daniels said.

He added, "I am appalled at the actions of our Mayor and his campaign which have caused this wasteful disruption and undermined the integrity of our elections, but I will continue to talk to voters in anticipation of a rescheduled general election, and I am hopeful that this will truly bring the change we need so our city can thrive once more."