BRIDGEPORT — Along a wall inside the Bridgeport Probate Court, a line of photos honoring past judges ends with Jonas Meyer, who served from 1994 to 1999.
It is not that Meyer’s successors have ignored or done away with the tradition of displaying predecessors’ framed head shots. But he was followed by Paul Ganim, who nearly three decades later still has the job and is seeking yet another consecutive four-year term.
Probate judge campaign signs for Mark Bradley outside of his family’s Fairfield Avenue law office on July 30, 2026.
“I actually enjoy it,” the 61-year-old said recently of the probate judgeship, which deals with often sensitive and emotional matters like wills, estates, conservators and guardianships. “I think I help people. I feel like I help people. I have people telling me I help people.”
Those claims have rarely been truly tested at the ballot box. Ganim acknowledged that, save for a handful of Democratic primaries at the start of his 27-year career presiding over the local court, he has avoided tough intra-party battles. As for any Republican challengers, it is generally difficult for GOP candidates to win in dark blue Bridgeport.
But now, newcomer Mark Bradley is looking to force Ganim’s retirement.
“I just felt there was a need,” the 41-year-old Bradley said of his decision this past March to declare his candidacy against the incumbent judge and fellow Democrat. They will face off in the Aug. 11 primary.
Bradley said he feels Ganim displays an insensitive “tone and attitude” when immigrant children in particular appear in probate court and felt motivated to take him on.
Their contest has turned the typically non-eventful election of a Bridgeport probate judge into a bitter summer political battle between the Democratic factions in Connecticut’s largest municipality. Ganim has raised $87,955 in contributions to keep the $162,831-a-year position — by far the largest war chest he has accumulated in years, based on available online state records. Meanwhile Bradley has $35,175, $10,000 of that from himself.
Both are known in the community for their work as private attorneys. Ganim’s face is plastered around the city on billboards and other advertising spaces as “Park Avenue Paul,” specializing in personal injury. Bradley is employed with the family’s Bradley Law Group, the self-described “People’s Lawyers” handling criminal cases, accidents and citizenship matters here and in Massachusetts.
The two probate judge contenders are also related to higher-profile politicos. Judge Ganim is a brother of long-serving and storied Mayor Joe Ganim, while Bradley is ex-state Sen. Dennis Bradley’s sibling.
Joe Ganim ran Bridgeport from 1991 until 2003, was convicted of operating a pay-for-play scheme out of City Hall, served time in prison, waged a successful comeback in 2015 for his former job and has since won a pair of tough reelection bids. The mayor aims to secure another four years in office in 2027, which would make him Bridgeport’s longest-serving chief elected official.
Dennis Bradley, himself once viewed as a rising Bridgeport political star and mayoral contender, was convicted in March by a federal jury on five counts of wire fraud and a single count of conspiracy in connection with his successful 2018 legislative campaign. He faces up to 20 years in prison and, as a result, recently had his law license temporarily suspended. Bradley served in the state Senate until losing the 2022 Democratic primary to Herron Gaston.
And now Mark Bradley has his own potential legal problems as a result of his political aspirations.
In the spring, supporters of Paul Ganim began circulating what they claimed was evidence that Bradley mainly calls Massachusetts home and at least in one election — his brother’s 2018 race — illegally voted both in that neighboring state and Connecticut. Ganim family ally and municipal employee Thomas Gecewicz filed a complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission, whose members earlier in July forwarded unspecified evidence to the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney for a possible criminal probe.
“We’re confident when they do their investigation, nothing is going to come out of it,” Bradley said.
He claimed he moved to Bridgeport in 2018 to assist his brother at the law firm during the latter’s state Senate run. He said he then spent significant amounts of time back in Massachusetts weighing a career in law enforcement and for family reasons. He is divorced with two children from that union and a third with an ex-girlfriend.
“Once I see the issue’s subdued, whatever it may be, I move back to Connecticut,” Bradley said of the time he spent between Bridgeport and Massachusetts. “In my understanding, it’s not a crime to move.”
And he insisted he has never voted in the same election in both states and any evidence to the contrary is an administrative error on Massachusetts’ part.
While Paul Ganim was not publicly involved in the SEEC filing against Bradley, he wrote to Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas’ office in June asking the agency deem his opponent “ineligible for the August primary ballot” and to remove him from the Bridgeport voter roll. Ganim claimed he had information from Bradley’s voting history, child custody court records, a driver’s license application, business dealings, health insurance data and social media posts, that proves his rival calls Massachusetts home.
On July 8, Bernard Liu, a staff attorney for Thomas, responded to Ganim that the office “does not have the statutory authority to judge the qualifications of candidates” or to remove Bradley from the race.
“At this point, the only place where you may find the relief you seek is in Superior Court,” Liu concluded.
Asked why he had not taken that step, Ganim said he decided it was best to “proceed on my record, and he can proceed on whatever he has.”
“I don’t really think it’s worth the effort,” Ganim continued of trying to prove his residency case against Bradley in court. “I just think it gobbles up your time. … It’s probably easier just to run the election and be done with it rather than let this stuff consume you.”
Meanwhile, Bradley argues what he is experiencing as a candidate is why Paul Ganim has held office for so long.
“The vitriol, attacks and smear campaigns,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a way to scare people. … They clearly do this to decentivize people from seeking that position.”
Whether or not he is ultimately found to have broken any election laws, the fact is Bradley does maintain very close ties to Massachusetts.
He said he recognizes that should he become probate judge, he will not enjoy the same flexibility to move around. If a “dire” family situation arises requiring his full attention, then Bradley said he would have to resign.
Also among the information Ganim offered Thomas’ office was Bradley’s involvement last fall in forming a new business in Massachusetts called Aromas Latin Corp. Bradley confirmed he is working to launch a Latin fusion restaurant in a couple of months but insisted it is not an endeavor requiring his presence.
“Just because you invest into a business doesn’t mean you’re the one who has to be there full force,” he said. “I have a team in place, a restaurant manager. I have an accountant. My job really is just to oversee. I don’t have to be day to day at the restaurant to do that.”
While Ganim’s allies want primary voters to focus on Bradley’s living situation and honesty, Bradley is playing up Judge Ganim’s connection to Bridgeport’s Democratic powers that be, his mayoral brother included.
A controversial campaign video released by Bradley even appears to use artificial intelligence to create synthetic versions of both Ganims, complete with fake voices delivering dialogue neither man actually spoke about raising taxes and stealing money.
And a campaign social media post reads, “The Ganims: In Power Too Long.”
“Yes, we’re going against Paul but we’re also going against the political machine. … Mayor Joe Ganim, he’s a big part of that,” Bradley said, referring to himself as “the candidate of change.”
His brother tried a similar tactic during his failed 2022 legislative primary.
“I’m not beholden to any political party, the structures of Hartford politics, Bridgeport’s political structure,” Dennis Bradley had insisted at that time.
Paul Ganim argues there is no need for change at the top in probate court because he is a good manager who treats everyone appearing before him with respect and compassion.
“You’re coming into a court to be heard about something that’s generally very personal and sensitive,” Ganim said. “Let people be heard. You may not decide in their way, but let them at least voice their thoughts and feelings.”
Complaints against probate judges are handled by the Connecticut Council on Probate Judicial Conduct. Such matters are often confidential, but they do come to light when a public hearing on a complaint is convened or the conduct office issues a public admonishment of a particular judge. There are no available records involving Paul Ganim since he took office 27 years ago.
Ganim also said that while it is an elected position, probate judge is “really not a political job.”
On that point, Bradley agrees.
“You want to serve the community in a legal capacity, not so much as a politician,” he said. “But since it’s an elected position, you have to go through the rigamarole of politics.”
Despite his lengthy tenure in office, Ganim is not the city’s longest-serving probate judge. That would be John Flanagan who, according to his photo displayed in the court, held the position from 1941 to 1971.
But if he wins and serves another four years, Ganim will surpass Flanagan’s three decades. And he was unwilling to say if he would stop there and make this reelection his last.
“I’m not ready to make that commitment,” Ganim said. “I really like what I’m doing. I enjoy the people, families, the kids that walk in the door. (And) I’ve got a great staff here.”
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