BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — For the third time in five months, voters in Bridgeport cast their ballots in the race for the city's mayor.
And for the third time, it looks like Mayor Joe Ganim defeated fellow Democrat challenger John Gomes.
Fewer than two hours after the polls closed on Tuesday night, Ganim had declared victory. Soon after, Gomes' campaign told FOX61 News that it had lost by at least 200 votes in the in-person machines - Gomes had won the in-person vote twice before.
"We’ve always come out on top, but to come out on top, you know when people have criticized the absentee ballot process and to see us win by a convincing number on the machines with the expectation that we're going to win by even a larger number," Ganim told his supporters Tuesday night.
He also said: "This is a moment for all of us who've worked so hard... I'm a mayor for everyone in this city."
The official vote tally was not immediately available.
Gomes told supporters after Ganim declared victory that the fight was not over.
"This is not a concession speech because we will not give up. We will continue to fight for Democracy," he said. "We have a lot of work to do."
He said he hoped he made the city of Bridgeport proud with the movement that was created through his campaign. He said his team will evaluate the official vote tally and determine what will next steps will be ahead of the general election next month.
"We are not defeated because Bridgeport is stronger than ever," he said.
If Ganim is the official winner, he will advance to a second general election next month.
RELATED: Allegations, investigations, continuations: Bridgeport's mayoral race heads back to the ballot box
The new Democratic primary was needed because the results of the first one back in September were tossed out by a judge. The extraordinary invalidation came after surveillance video showed Ganim supporters – including city employee Wanda Geter – dropping stacks of what appeared to be absentee ballots into outdoor drop boxes.
Because the court decision throwing out the primary results came less than a week before the general election was scheduled, the general election went ahead as planned in November. But the results didn’t count.
All three races – the first primary, the general election, and Tuesday’s redo primary – have all pitted Ganim against Gomes. By narrow margins, Ganim got more votes in last year's two invalidated contests.
Those races are currently the subject of multiple investigations and Tuesday’s primary may not be the final word on who becomes Bridgeport's next mayor. Superior Court Judge William Clark also ordered a new general election to be held on Feb. 27.
Unless one of them drops out, Ganim and Gomes both would be on the ballot again as minor party candidates. They would face Republican David Herz and independent candidate Lamond Daniels.
Ganim denied any wrongdoing personally and accused Gomes of committing the same fraud. Gomes has denied the allegations.
Ahead of Tuesday’s primary rerun, the Secretary of the State’s office took various steps to restore voter confidence and secure this new primary, including printing serial numbers on both absentee ballot applications and ballots.
Two interim election monitors were assigned by the state to spot-check absentee ballot applications for Tuesday's election in parts of Bridgeport to confirm they were legitimate. They also worked to educate the public and city election workers about election rules.
The Secretary of the State’s office deployed more than a dozen nonpartisan volunteers to polling places in Bridgeport to record any voting issues that might arise and help file any complaints, if necessary.
Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas said late Tuesday afternoon that voter turnout was just under 10%, a number she called low, but she hoped it would increase with late voting. She said no major problems were reported, only a few vote tabulators that malfunctioned and were quickly replaced, and someone yelling outside a polling place who left when asked.
Bridgeport, a heavily Democratic working-class city of 148,000 located about 62 miles east of New York City, for decades has been under state and federal scrutiny for alleged irregularities involving absentee ballots. New primaries have been called over the years in state legislative and local city council races because of absentee ballot problems.
Many of the issues relate to a practice known as ballot harvesting, where campaign workers go to people's homes, help them fill out absentee ballots, and then either mail those ballots in or deposit them in drop boxes.
Connecticut requires people to drop off their absentee ballots themselves, though in some circumstances they can be deposited by family members, police, local election officials, or a caregiver.
Last week, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas announced her office filed a complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission concerning new allegations involving absentee ballot applications.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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