OFFICIAL COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST MARIO TESTA AND THE BRIDGEPORT DEMOCRATIC TOWN COMMITTEE FOR REPEATED VIOLATIONS OF STATE PARTY RULES

Based on repeated violations of Connecticut Democratic State Party rules and of their own local party rules, the complaint lays out how the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Mario Testa, is conducting “backroom” politics, running the party like a secret society. 

BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut, UPDATED February 26, 2024 | On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, two Bridgeport Democrats, Gemeem Davis and Callie Gale Heilmann, who are also the Co-Directors of Bridgeport Generation Now Votes, submitted a formal complaint against the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee (DTC) and its Chairman Mario Testa for repeated violations of state and local party rules. 

Ms. Davis and Ms. Heilmann submitted the complaint under Article V of the Connecticut Democratic State Party Rules, which allows any member of the Democratic Party to file a complaint about violations of the party rules, processes, and procedures. The 10-page document lays out how the Bridgeport DTC violates local and state party rules governing transparency, public noticing, public meetings, record keeping, and more, significantly impeding transparency and accountability to town committee members and Democrats throughout the state. 

“The issues are based on our observations and experience only in the last several years,” says Gemeem Davis, who served on the Bridgeport DTC from 2020-2022, “but it is well known in Bridgeport this is ‘the way it’s always been done’ for much, much longer. In fact, Bridgeport’s own local party rules have not been updated since 1983. Considering this, it is unsurprising that Bridgeport voters are dealing with their current election issues today. Bridgeport voters deserve so much better.”

Among the complaints listed in the 10-page document are the following: the Bridgeport DTC is not meeting in a public location, they do not provide publicly-available agendas, they are not meeting the required 4 times per year, they do not provide regular treasurer’s reports, they are conducting the business of the full committee at the district level without quorum, and only the District Leaders are invited to closed door monthly or bi-monthly meetings with Mario Testa – and no minutes nor reports about the discussions at those meetings are available to Town Committee Members or the public.

“Along with our Unrig Bridgeport coalition partners, we sent a letter to Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo on Aug. 12th, 2021 and a second letter to Chair DiNardo, Governor Lamont, and the entire State Central Committee on Sept. 19th, 2023, expressing our grave concerns about the ongoing and undeniable evidence of the electoral and political corruption that exists within the Democratic Party here Bridgeport,” says Callie Heilmann, Co-Director of Bridgeport Generation Now Votes. “No one in leadership has taken responsibility for rooting it out, so we remain very concerned about the lack of transparency in the Bridgeport DTC. It operates like a secret society, engaging in ‘backroom’ politics, despite representing a majority of the voters in Bridgeport.” 

Hearing Date Rescheduled for This Friday

A hearing on the complaint, originally scheduled for 2/19, has been rescheduled for Friday, March 1st at 6:00pm on Zoom. The hearing is open to the public. Zoom link is here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89713925584?pwd=6qObaaDfPFn9goWcaTy8JoLK5fp6QD.1

A panel, composed of State Central Committee members from outside Bridgeport’s congressional district, will hear from both sides. The panelists are Rosemarie Tate, Micheal Vogel, and Marc Garafalo. 

“What is happening with Bridgeport’s Democratic Town Committee, under the long leadership of Mario Testa, is a stain on our city and state as well as on the state Democratic Party,” the complaint states. The ongoing flagrant disregard for transparency, laws, rules, policies, and procedures cannot be allowed to stand – especially in the municipality with the largest number of registered Democrats in Connecticut. The Bridgeport DTC is, in a word, undemocratic.”

CONTACT: Gemeem Davis, 203-258-5261, press@bptgennowvotes.org

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BRIDGEPORT GENERATION NOW VOTES, founded in 2019, is on a mission to increase voter turnout in Bridgeport elections. Key to that work is strengthening democracy, fighting corruption, and expanding and protecting voting rights for the people of Bridgeport. We are a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)4 affiliate of Bridgeport Generation Now, working on legislation, litigation, and grassroots organizing. For more information, go to bptgennowvotes.org and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.