by Maggie Grether The New Haven independent
First-time voter Tyrone Brown: Pittman is a good “role model.”
Tyrone Brown, 30, rode from Sandra’s to City Hall Saturday afternoon in the backseat of a lime green electric golf cart, on his way to cast his first vote ever.
Driving the cart was Miguel Pittman, a co-owner of the Hill soul food restaurant and a challenger in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for Ward 3 alder.
The ride represented just the latest in Pittman’s campaign’s work to ferry supporters to and from the early-voting polls in his bid to unseat first-term incumbent Democrat Angel Hubbard.
Pittman, 63, picked Brown up from Sandra’s Next Generation at 636 Congress Ave., which sits just over the border in the Hill’s Ward 4. During Saturday’s ride to City Hall, Pittman honked to greet familiar pedestrians from his four-wheeled perch.
Pittman has been using golf carts as a get-out-the vote tool in his campaign. His wife Sandra, in a second golf cart, was also ferrying voters Saturday morning from the Hill to City Hall to early vote ahead of Tuesday’s election.
The ride took around 10 minutes each way, with Pittman mainly driving on the street, but also cutting across the Green on his way back.
Pittman said he sees increasing voter turnout in Ward 3 as crucial to winning the primary. He said his campaign has engaged several voters, like Brown, who haven’t participated in elections before.
Brown said he chose to support Pittman because he thinks he is a good “role model.” He also said he was excited to cast his first vote.
“I wanted to get involved and know what’s going on,” he said.
Pittman is running against endorsed Democrat Angel Hubbard for the Democratic nomination for Ward 3 alder. Pittman and Hubbard faced off last September in a special election after then-Alder Ron Hurt resigned. Hubbard won the election by 16 votes.
Regardless of Tuesday’s Democratic primary results, Pittman will be on the ballot in the general election on Nov. 4. That’s because he’s been endorsed by the local Republican Party and by a new local chapter of the Independent Party, an arrangement Hubbard has criticized as “unfair” for Ward 3 voters who could find themselves picking between the same two candidates in both the Democratic primary and the November general election.
On Saturday, Pittman argued that Mayor Justin Elicker’s endorsement of Hubbard had tilted the playing field in the race, and that the Democratic endorsement doesn’t reflect the will of voters. Pittman, who hasn’t taken any campaign donations, billed himself as an independent candidate who won’t be beholden to the mayor.
“I’m willing to work across alliances for the best interest of the residents that I serve in the third ward,” he said.
During his campaign, Pittman has emphasized his three decades of experience running a restaurant and living in the Hill. On policy, Pittman has advocated for increasing affordable housing and for moving the APT Foundation’s methadone clinic, currently located on Congress Avenue, out of the neighborhood. Pittman said he’s concerned about open drug use around the clinic, especially because the clinic is located near a school and homes.
The Elicker administration had struck a deal with the APT Foundation that would see the addiction-treatment nonprofit move its methadone clinic from the Hill to a to-be-built new headquarters on Sargent Drive on Long Wharf. Hubbard had been a vocal proponent of that plan, which would have seen the clinic leave Ward 3.
The mayor ultimately put that plan on hold, however, in the face of a key “no” vote by the City Plan Commission as well as pushback by some City Point and Hill neighbors. Pittman was one of the featured speakers at a press conference opposing APT’s potential move to Long Wharf.
Pittman told the Independent he opposes the stalled plan to relocate the clinic to Long Wharf, arguing the move could negatively impact the economically strategic waterfront property. Instead, he argues that APT should expand their services in West Haven and North Haven.
Pittman said he sees the failed attempt to move the clinic as evidence of City Hall’s neglect of the neighborhood.
“[The clinic] has been a thorn in our flesh for 25 years,” Pittman said. “And the mayor is not effectively approaching it.”
Brown wasn’t the only Ward 3 resident Pittman drove the early-voting polls on Saturday.
He also ferried Jorge Telon from the Hill to City Hall. Telon said he voted for Pittman because he appreciates that Pittman supports hospitals and Latino communities in the city.
Telon added that he voted for President Donald Trump in 2024. He said he feels “betrayed” by Trump because federal immigration enforcement has targeted individuals without criminal records for deportation.
After driving Telon and Brown to the polls, Pittman and his campaign manager, Jason Bartlett, knocked on doors around the neighborhood.
Michael Rivera, a ward resident, answered his door on Saturday afternoon to Pittman and Bartlett. Rivera’s top concerns included more speed bumps for the neighborhood, relocating the APT Foundation clinic, and dealing with trees that had grown to obstruct cable lines.
An unaffiliated voter, Rivera won’t be voting in Tuesday’s primary, which is open only to registered Democrats. He said he hoped to see Pittman again closer to the general election.
Unaffiliated voter Michael Rivera: See you in November.
A Pittman campaign sign at Sandra’s.
Walking Jorge Telon to the early-voting polls.