March 11, 2024 – Tonight, at 5:30pm the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee will meet to hold its organizational meeting to elect its leadership at the Original Vazzy’s, 513 Broadbridge Road, Bridgeport, CT.

One big question for the evening is whether the Bridgeport DTC will discuss bringing itself into compliance with state and local party rules, after the State Democratic Party found last week that it was in violation of both.

Another outstanding question is whether Bridgeport Democrats will re-elect Wanda Geter-Pataky into party leadership.

From The Connecticut Post:

BRIDGEPORT — Although involved in three election-related investigations, Wanda Geter-Pataky could be re-elected first vice chair of the city’s Democratic Town Committee Monday.

On Monday the 90-member group representing Bridgeport’s 42,587 registered Democrats holds its biennial gathering to select local party leaders.

Veteran Chairman Mario Testa faces no opposition and is expected to be in charge for another two years. He has three vice chairs, including Geter-Pataky. She has been at the heart of an absentee ballot scandal that made national and international news and resulted in a new court-ordered mayoral primary Jan. 23 and a court-ordered Feb. 27 do-over general election.

Reached by phone Friday, Geter-Pataky declined comment on whether she desires to remain Testa’s second-in-command and referred questions to her attorney, John Gulash, who also declined comment. 

“She wants it (and) I believe she has the support,” state Rep. Christopher Rosario, a close friend of Geter-Pataky’s, said Friday. “She’s been a great Democrat. She’s been a great person in the community.”

State Representative Christopher Rosario and his wife both serve on the Democratic Town Committee in Wanda’s district, which is the 136th District.

Rep. Rosario also sits on the General Administration and Elections Committee at the state legislature, where bills related to absentee ballot reform are being hotly debated this session. Will Rep. Rosario vote for Wanda Geter-Pataky to be his District Leader again this year? Will he vote for her to be vice-chair?

Again from The Connecticut Post:

Last fall Superior Court Judge William Clark voided Mayor Joe Ganim’s slim re-election victories in the Sept. 12 Democratic primary and the Nov. 7 general election and ordered new elections in part because of leaked municipal security video footage made public in September by Ganim’s chief rival, John Gomes, who claimed they showed Ganim-backer Geter-Pataky ahead of the primary inappropriately placing multiple absentee ballots into a public drop-off box outside of the downtown government center where she works as the greeter.

Following a three day trial initiated by a lawsuit by Gomes, Clark concluded, “Wanda Geter-Pataky, directly or through another, made 10 separate drops. … They appear to be conscious acts with a partisan purpose that violates the mandatory requirements of how absentee ballots are supposed to be handled or delivered. The mishandling of absentee ballots by Ms. Geter-Pataky … in violation of (state law) renders those ballots so mishandled, incapable of being validly cast and thus incapable of being counted.”

Geter-Pataky while on the witness stand invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked whether she handled other people’s absentee ballots. And she has never commented publicly on the controversy or responded to requests for interviews.

The absentee ballot controversy is under investigation by the state Elections Enforcement Commission. Last June following a nearly four-year probe into similar allegations against Ganim’s 2019 re-election campaign, the SEEC referred unspecified “evidence of possible criminal violations undertaken” by three of the mayor’s supporters, Geter-Pataky included, to the office of Chief State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin. That case remains pending.

… Councilman Ernie Newton also is a town committee member. He noted that years ago, when he was a state senator he was convicted of corruption, spent time in jail, then waged a political comeback. He added the same happened with Ganim, who went to jail in 2003 after his first 12 years running Bridgeport and was re-elected mayor in 2015.

“Wanda is a good vice-chairperson,” Newton said. “Some people might get upset, but we’re a forgiving city. The mayor’s been to prison. I’ve been to prison. I don’t know what the state’s going to do (with her cases) but I think if Wanda wants to stay on there, she should stay. … I guarantee you, nobody’s perfect.”

Will Geter-Pataky remain Bridgeport Democrats’ vice chair? By Brian Lockhart, March 10, 2024, The Connecticut Post

What side will bridgeport democrats be on?

Given the state of the 2024 Presidential election, does the Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee really want to go on record – which will surely make national news – supporting well-documented election interference?

Or perhaps, some Bridgeport Democrats really just want the local party to be like the Republican Party under Donald Trump: a political party that encourages criminality, breaks rules and laws, and corrupts democracy for their own personal gain. Tonight, we will certainly see what side folks are on.