The election for Bridgeport mayor was held nearly a month ago and incumbent Democrat Bill Finch was elected by an overwhelming majority. The result was not particularly unexpected. Unfortunately, neither was the low voter turnout.
Finch easily outdistanced Republican challenger Rick Torres by garnering approximately 70 percent of the votes. Independent candidate Jeff Kohut finished in third place. Of the 12,316 votes cast, Finch received 8,435, Torres polled 3,344 and Kohut ended up with 439.
Torres and Kohut both ran vigorous campaigns, especially the Republican nominee. Torres advertised in several media outlets, bought a large red van that he used as his campaign bus and attended several events on the scooter-like Segway. For his efforts, he received about 75 percent of the city”™s registered Republican voters, but had little impact on the overwhelming majority of Bridgeport”™s registered Democrats. He especially targeted economic development coupled with transparency in government to attract new business to Bridgeport and lower the city”™s exorbitant mill rate.
This is in direct contrast to the approach taken by Finch. Bridgeport has not elected a Republican mayor since Mary Moran in 1989. Coupled with the vast majority of registered Democrats, a strong Democratic Town Committee headed by Chairman Mario Testa and his convincing win in the Democratic primary over challenger Mary-Jane Foster, Finch seemed destined for re-election.
Finch did plenty of campaigning and fundraising, but for the most part he let his incumbency do the talking. He went about his many duties as mayor and consistently touted the Park City”™s successes, particularly downtown revitalization and economic development. The strategy worked.
Kohut also proved to be a spirited campaigner. The petitioning candidate stayed on point and consistently spoke to the issues with clearly defined policy ideas. His primary issue was to rebuild Bridgeport as a green manufacturing center and circulated a petition to ask General Electric to relocate its solar-cell manufacturing operation to its Boston Avenue location ”“ a move  he argued as essential for economic development.
Kohut”™s ideas should be considered even if the man himself is not in office.
What was particularly troubling about this election is voter turnout, which has been bad in recent elections but hit an all-time low at 18 percent this year. Of the 67,525 registered voters in the Park City, only 67,525 showed up at the polls. That is disgraceful.
Of course there are some reasons for low turnout that do not necessarily reflect voter apathy. First, in a non-federal election year, voter turnout is traditionally low nationwide. Second, since many voters considered Finch a shoo-in they may not have felt it worth the effort to cast their ballots.
Still, voter apathy is an issue. We”™re too lazy, indifferent or jaded to bother with a local election, even though local officials affect our lives in a far greater manner than any other elected officials.
In any event, Finch is back for another four years. Voters believe the mayor has done a credible job. At every opportunity during both the primary season and the general election, Finch ticked off a laundry list of accomplishments.
He was especially proud of his BGreen 2020 program and he is striving to be the reason for Bridgeport becoming the cleanest and greenest city in the state. And he proudly pointed to the new businesses that have arrived here under his watch. Of course, he also received flak for his involvement in the state takeover of the Park City”™s elected school board and the quality of Bridgeport public schools has been an ongoing problem.
But at the end of the day, that issue wasn”™t enough to give any of this year”™s candidates enough legs to defeat the incumbent.
Rob Sullivan is the publisher and executive editor of the Bridgeport Banner daily website ”“ www.bridgeportbanner.typepad.com ”“ and monthly print edition. He is a special correspondent for the Business Journal.
