by Laura Glesby The New Haven independent
As Zelema Harris handed two pages of ballot petition signatures to the Democratic Registrar of Voters Wednesday afternoon, she realized she’d forgotten something: her own signature.
Harris, who is running for alder of Ward 18, had five minutes to spare before the 4 p.m. deadline to qualify for the Sept. 9 Democratic primary ballot.
So she ran down the hall to the City Clerk’s office to get her own last-minute signature notarized, then sprinted back to the Registrar’s office, handing in the final page of her petition just in time.
If at least 68 of the signatures that Harris has obtained are confirmed to have come from registered Democrats in Ward 18, then the ward will officially have a Democratic primary election for its open alder seat — along with Ward 1, Ward 3, and Ward 16.
Wednesday at 4 p.m. was the deadline for local candidates who did not receive formal endorsements from their political party’s establishment to make it onto a primary election ballot this year. The primary will take place on Sept. 9, with early voting from Sept. 2 through 7.
In New Haven, six alders candidates petitioned for a spot on the Democratic Primary ballot across four different wards. They each had to obtain valid signatures from 5 percent of the registered Democrats living in their respective wards.
For Ward 1, which covers part of Yale and Downtown, the local Democratic Party decided not to endorse any particular alder hopefuls this year — meaning that every candidate had to gather at least 43 valid signatures in order to secure a spot on the primary ballot in their bid to replace one-term incumbent Democrat Kiana Flores, who is not seeking reelection.
By Wednesday, three Ward 1 alder candidates had succeeded: Elias Theodore (with 44 signatures), Norah Laughter (with 48 signatures), and Rhea McTiernan-Huge (with 50 signatures). Theodore has also filed to run as an unaffiliated candidate in November.
In the Hill’s Ward 3, Miguel Pittman made it onto the Democratic primary ballot — in addition to securing spots on the November ballot on both the Republican and Independent Party lines.
Pittman is challenging incumbent Democrat Angel Hubbard in a rematch of the ward’s special election for alder last year. Hubbard secured her place on the Democratic primary ballot by receiving the Democratic Party’s formal endorsement in July. Meanwhile, after accepting an endorsement from the Republican Party for November, Pittman succeeded in obtaining 60 confirmed signatures (more than the 52 signatures required) to challenge Hubbard in the September primary. He also submitted a petition to appear on the November ballot as the Independent Party candidate.
In Fair Haven’s Ward 16, Magda Natal gathered 48 validated signatures (more than the 35 required) to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot. She is challenging incumbent alder Jose Crespo, who made it to the ballot by garnering the party’s endorsement in July.
Finally, in Morris Cove’s Ward 18, Zelema Harris gathered just over the 68 signatures required in order to make it to the primary ballot. Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans told Harris that her office will confirm whether every signature qualifies over the course of the next day or so.
If the signatures are validated, Harris will then qualify for the primary race against Leland Moore, who had received the Democratic Party’s endorsement in July.
Harris had submitted the signatures to the Registrar of Voters’ office in three batches over the course of the last two weeks.
On Wednesday afternoon, she still needed to submit 18 more signatures.
She arrived at the Registrar of Voters’ office on the second floor of 200 Orange St. at around 10 minutes to 4 p.m.
“I’m back, beautifuls!” Harris greeted the office with a smile. “Y’all are the best.”
As Evans accepted Harris’ last two pages of signatures, Harris realized, “I forgot to sign myself!”
Evans told her that she still had time to add her own signature to the mix — specifically, about five minutes. She would have to fill out the form, get it notarized by the City Clerk’s office down the hall, and then return it to the Registrar’s office within those last few minutes.
It took some running, but Harris made it in time.
She reflected that the petition process as a whole “was a great opportunity to meet people, hear what they have to say, and tell them about yourself.”
She heard complaints from neighbors about traffic and parking congestion, trash pickup, and an overall sense that neighbors’ voices haven’t been adequately listened to. “A lot of people didn’t even know that [incumbent alder] Sal DeCola wasn’t running,” Harris observed, noting a need for people to “be informed and know what’s going on.”
Harris’ petition for the Democratic ballot still needs to be certified, but she has been confirmed as an unaffiliated candidate for the November election on Nov. 4.
The winner of each Democratic primary will make it onto the November ballot on the Democratic Party line.
Since there are no other party primaries unfolding this year, the following party-endorsed candidates have automatically made it to the Nov. 4 ballot to challenge Democratic Party nominees:
- Ward 3 alder (the Hill): Miguel Pittman, Republican Party and Independent Party
- Ward 8 alder (Wooster Square): Andrea Zola, Republican Party, challenging Democrat Amanda Martinelli
- Ward 10 alder (East Rock/Cedar Hill): James Whitfield, Republican Party, challenging Democrat incumbent Anna Festa
- Ward 12 alder (Quinnipiac Meadows): Richard Vitello, Independent Party, challenging Democrat incumbent Theresa Morant
- Ward 13 alder (Fair Haven Heights): Paul Garlinghouse, challenging Democrat Mildred Melendez
- Ward 16 alder (Fair Haven): Rafael Fuentes St., Independent Party
- Ward 18 alder (Morris Cove): Anthony Acri, Republican Party and Independent Party
- City Clerk: Deborah Quinones, Republican Party, challenging incumbent Democrat Michael Smart
- Mayor: Steven Orosco, Republican Party, challenging incumbent Democrat Justin Elicker
Additionally, four alder candidates formed Candidate Committees, enabling them to solicit donations from supporters:
- A committee for Ward 1’s Elias Theodore has received $2,650 in in-kind contributions and has spent just over $40 as of July 10.
- A committee for Caroline Tanbee Smith, the incumbent Democratic alder of East Rock’s Ward 9 who is running for re-election uncontested, has raised $7,220 and spent about $992 as of July 10.
- A committee for Ward 16’s Magda Natal has raised over $6,450 and spent about $1,207 as of July 10.
- A committee for Ward 18’s Leland Moore has raised a total of $600, including $100 from small contributors. The committee has spent just over $200 as of July 10.
A final signature inside the City Clerk’s office…