Sabin: “This campaign is about rejecting” the belief that nothing changes with politics.
David Foreman and David Forman meet after both signed their names.
David Forman signed a petition on Wednesday to help state rep challenger Eli Sabin make it onto the Democratic primary ballot in August. So did David Foreman.
That’s not a slight misspelling of the same man’s name; they’re two different people who live in the 92nd General Assembly District and who both hope to see a contested primary in this year’s race for a west-side state house seat.
Forman and Foreman didn’t know each other before stopping by the Edgewood Park gazebo for the launch of Sabin’s petition drive on Wednesday.
Sabin, a 26-year-old former downtown alder, is trying to secure his place on the ballot for the race’s Aug. 11 primary election, after the local Democratic Party endorsed 21-term incumbent State Rep. Pat Dillon, 77, the week before.
The race’s third Democratic candidate, local organizer and former Hamden councilperson Justin Farmer, has also vowed to petition onto the ballot.
The 92nd state house district covers parts of Amity, Westville, Edgewood, Dwight, West River, and the Hill.
Sabin and Farmer each need to collect 408 petition signatures from registered Democrats in the district by 4 p.m. on June 9 in order to make it onto the primary ballot. By the end of Wednesday’s launch, Sabin said he had received around 100. Volunteers took petition forms with them so that they could ask their neighbors to sign; around 30 took lawn signs, too.
“I believe in him, he’s a good guy,” said Foreman, who had first seen one of Sabin’s flyers before meeting him formally. A disabled veteran, Foreman said he had talked with Sabin about the need for more affordable housing for veterans, especially those with lower credit scores. “To this point, he’s a man I want to vote for.”
Forman, meanwhile, said that while he has supported Dillon for many years, “I really think we need younger leaders in the party.” (Read more about a Dillon supporter’s response to criticism about her age here.)
“It’s not just any young person,” Forman continued. “I like how he [Sabin] thinks about the relationship of the city to the state.” He said he also feels Sabin is competent and personable.
As a 92nd district resident, Forman is hoping for improved housing and education.
Community members — some who had known Sabin for nearly his entire life, some who had met him on the campaign trail — stopped by over the course of two hours, as around a dozen campaign volunteers helped them sign the petition and grab campaign literature.
Sabin at one point took a moment to address around 40 attendees. He said that he had knocked on about 1,500 doors so far, and he was hearing a resounding message. “A lot of people say they’re sick of politics,” he said. “‘There’s no way anyone’s going to make things better.’”
“This campaign is about rejecting that,” he said.
Sabin spoke of an affordability crisis and the increase in property taxes, the need to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of Connecticut, and the need to be “creative” — like a New York legislator who proposed a bill that would tax money received in President Donald Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund at 100 percent.
“I feel great,” Sabin said afterward. He plans to return to the Edgewood Park gazebo from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this upcoming weekend and next Tuesday, and to continue knocking on doors all over the district, including in Westville, Edgewood, and parts of the Hill along with a team of supporters and volunteers.
Ray and Jenny Santos came to support Sabin Wednesday after first meeting him when he knocked on their own door. The couple moved to the 92nd district from New York four years ago.
“It’s time for a change,” said Ray. “Some new blood is necessary.”
The couple, who also picked up a lawn sign, said that they would like to see increased community and city services — and improved conditions of the roads.
“There are some roads that look like the surface of the moon,” Ray said.
Debby Evans, a former co-chair of Ward 25’s Democratic ward committee, said that while she has supported Dillon all 42 years, “This time, I’m going with Eli.”
“He’s a coalition builder,” she said. “He’s had such an energetic campaign.”
Former Mayor John DeStefano was also in attendance to support Sabin, who was a student of his at Yale. DeStefano can’t sign his petition or vote for him, as he spends most of the year in Florida.
“New Haven has the best delegation,” DeStefano said. He thinks that Sabin has the skills to hold a leadership position in the General Assembly in a few years, in line with State Sen. Martin Looney, State Rep. Toni Walker, and former State Sen. Toni Harp and State Rep. Bill Dyson.
“I’m all for putting people on the path to leadership,” he said.
Jesse Daniels, who lives near Edgewood Park, had heard the launch was happening and stopped by to raise awareness of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He wanted to urge those present to ask U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal not to vote to extend it.
Daniels is an independent voter who is unaffiliated with the Republican and Democratic parties. “We throw each other into stupid buckets of red and blue,” he said. “Why do I have to be on one side?”
In this election, he said, “I’ll vote for anybody who’s not the old guard.”
While he didn’t want to “gatekeep somebody from being on the ballot,” he wasn’t actually able to sign Sabin’s primary petition, since he isn’t a registered Democrat. Sabin confirmed that fact for him.
“What’s really screwed up is not being able to sign a petition, as a citizen and homeowner,” Daniels said.
Ray and Jenny Santos, with a lawn sign supporting Sabin.
Jesse Daniels laments not being able to sign the petition for Sabin since he isn’t a registered Democrat.