BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Bridgeport residents head back to the ballot box for the fourth time in five months to finally determine who will be their mayor.
The special election comes after months of contention and challenges regarding the September 2023 election primary that initially showed Democrat incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim as the winner. But the challenger, John Gomes, alleged that voting fraud bumped Ganim up to win.
Those allegations threw both campaigns into court to determine whether or not the primary election results should be thrown out and a new one called.
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During the court proceedings, evidence showed that Ganim supporters had stuffed multiple absentee ballots into outdoor ballot collection boxes. Ganim said the supporters broke the law but denied having any knowledge or involvement.
The originally scheduled general election was still held in November, but the judge’s order for new elections rendered the results meaningless.
Ganim also prevailed over Gomes in last month’s do-over primary, this time by a more comfortable 13-point margin. Since then, Ganim has won the endorsements of two former rivals: Gov. Ned Lamont, who handily defeated him in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary, and Lamond Daniels, a Democrat who ran as an independent last November.
What to expect:
- Polls open at 6 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m. Any voter registered in Bridgeport may participate in the mayoral general election. You can find your polling place here.
- The candidates on the ballot are Ganim (Democrat), Gomes (Independent), and David Herz, who is the Republican candidate.
- In past races, Bridgeport has first released the results of votes cast on Election Day, followed by the results of mail-in ballots at the end of the night.
- Connecticut law requires an automatic recount if the margin is less than 0.5% of the total votes cast or fewer than 20 votes but not more than 1,000 votes.
- The Associated Press may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
Any problems encountered at the polls can be emailed to elections@ct.gov.
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The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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