John Gomes has vowed to continue with his campaign for mayor of Bridgeport, where he will be on the ballot as an independent candidate in the do-over election scheduled for Feb. 27.
Ganim lost to incumbent Joe Ganim by a narrow margin last week in the do-over of the Democratic primary for mayor that was ordered by a judge after Gomes produced video evidence of Ganim campaign workers allegedly engaged in absentee ballot fraud. Speaking at a press conference, Gomes warned that Bridgeport could ill afford a continuation of the current political leadership.
“We are deeply committed to this campaign because, as residents of Bridgeport, there is a resounding concern that change is necessary,” he said. “The status quo has become unbearable, impacting all aspects of residents’ lives – from economic development to public safety and education. Our schools are failing our students, becoming a pipeline for incarceration. The lack of economic development has led to low wages and an overall poor quality of life. We still can’t get the Congress Street & Pleasure Beach bridges replaced after more than 25 years. In literal and figurative terms, the bridges of Bridgeport are broken.”
Without mentioning Ganim by name, Gomes stated the incumbent’s “narrow primary victory remains in question as all absentee ballots, applications and envelopes have been subpoenaed by the Court to my campaign for further review.”
He also cited “calls from the current administration, City Council leadership, the governor, columnists from Hearst Media, for me to end my campaign for mayor” and insisted he would not jettison his effort ahead of the upcoming election.
“For those calling for my withdrawal, I would like to remind them why there was a court ordered mayoral primary and general election in 2024,” he said. “When respected national and international media publications call into question the validity of election results in Bridgeport, and three Superior Court judges order new primaries for City Council in 2017, state representative in 2022, and the mayoral election in 2023, it’s time for state elected leaders to admit that there is a systemic election problem in Bridgeport.”
