Posted inPolitics

In this neighborhood, at least, no one says no to Joe Ganim

On a brick sidewalk along Park Street in Hartford, Henry Jemison was railing about the stupidity of corrupt politicians, potentially an awkward encounter for Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim. But no, Jemison was talking about Eddie A. Perez, who never went to prison. And not Ganim, who did. Now, Ganim was asking Henry Jemison to help him run for governor,to give him one of 15,458 signatures he needs to get on the ballot.

Posted inPolitics

Lamont wins, while Ganim fails to qualify for primary

Democrats endorsed Ned Lamont for governor Saturday, putting their stock in a wealthy Greenwich businessman who became a national figure in 2006 with his antiwar challenge of U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman. They rejected an 11th-hour plea by Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim to overlook his criminal record and place him on the primary ballot. But they offered only lukewarm support to Lamont’s running mate, Susan Bysiewicz.

Posted inPolitics

Eight years out of prison, Ganim says he’s ready to be governor

Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim’s formal entrance into the race for governor Wednesday presents Democratic officials with two unsettling scenarios: Either they make peace with the prospect of their ticket being led by a convicted extortionist, or they try to dissuade the mayor of Connecticut’s largest city from running in a Democratic primary.

Posted inPolitics

With Twitter account, Ganim is a candidate for governor

There are many ways to become a candidate for governor under state law. One of them is to do what Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim did Wednesday: Open a Twitter account under the name, “Joe Ganim for Governor.” (Update: the Twitter account went inactive Thursday, but Ganim’s texted reply to an effort to clarify his gubernatorial status was concise: “In.”)

Posted inPolitics

Bridgeport throws Joe Ganim an anniversary party

BRIDGEPORT — Mario Testa leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and counted the room. The last of the state’s old-school Democratic bosses saw 250 men and women at a couple of dozen tables, not a bad turnout for what Testa called a last-minute, multi-purpose affair: a Democratic fundraiser and pre-election pep rally on the first anniversary of Joseph P. Ganim’s election as mayor. “I’ll be honest with you,” Testa said. “There was no arm-twisting.”

Posted inJustice, Politics

Bridgeport shootings bring Malloy to Ganim’s side

BRIDGEPORT — The body language seemed strained while photographers were briefly allowed in a room crowded with local, state and federal law enforcement called to talk to about street shootings. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sat next to Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, never quite making eye contact with the mayor whose election he once opposed as an embarrassment to Connecticut.

Posted inPolitics

Ganim, Gomes and Moore keep things complicated in Bridgeport

Summer is coming to Bridgeport, where the living never is easy, not in even-number years, not for Sens. Edwin A. Gomes and Marilyn Moore. On the day after the Democratic machine denied Gomes and Moore its backing for another term, Mayor Joseph P. Ganim lavishly praised them at a public ceremony Tuesday – taking care to stop well short of an endorsement.