It’s been nearly a year since Bridgeport voters made their way to the polls to vote in a court ordered Primary election do-over for mayor.
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January 16, 2025 — This coming Monday, President-elect Trump, who is now a convicted felon on charges related to corruption, will be sworn back into the highest office in our land. If you are wondering how we as a nation got here and where the roots of our broken democracy lie, look no further than Bridgeport and you’ll gain some much needed insight.
It’s been nearly a year since Bridgeport voters made their way to the polls to vote in a court ordered Primary election do-over for mayor on January 23, 2024. The previous November, the Democratic Primary results had been overturned. The decision by Superior Court Judge William Clark came after mayoral candidate John Gomes’ attorney Bill Bloss presented video evidence showing several political operatives connected to Mayor Joe Ganim’s campaign allegedly stuffing absentee ballots into dropboxes located around the city. In his ruling Clark said, “The videos are shocking to the court and should be shocking to all parties.”
It’s no secret in Bridgeport that the Democratic Party led by chairman Mario Testa and Mayor Joe Ganim rely on political operatives to manipulate election results through the absentee voting process. Everyone who’s been referred for possible criminal prosecution is connected in one way or another to Bridgeport’s DTC. The problem is a cultural one – “this is the way we’ve always done it” – one that Mario Testa and the Bridgeport DTC leadership are responsible for: they’re responsible for creating it, allowing it, and ultimately, until the DTC gets new leadership they’re responsible for fixing it.
If we’ve said it once we’ve said it a thousand times, Bridgeport’s elections and the Ganim administration is shrouded in a culture of corruption. So much so that election fraud, patronage, pay-to-play, abuse and exploitation of our institutions and the people employed by them have become normalized. All of this undermines democratic norms and upholds white supremacy. The seat of which is occupied by Mayor Joseph Ganim and local Democratic Party Chair, Mario Testa. Rules and the law don’t matter to them.
So far, Ganim and Testa have avoided any measure of accountability for the actions their operatives have played in propping them up and protecting the system and power they covet. And while we don’t revel in any individual’s downfall, Bridgeporters should feel encouraged that there have been arrests in connection to the 2019 election scandal and a bevy of referrals from the State Elections Enforcement Committee (SEEC) to the Connecticut Chief States Attorney office for possible criminal investigations related to the 2023 mayoral election.
Here’s what we know so far.
Alfredo Castillo: City Council member 136th District, Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee member, Bridgeport Labs board member. Councilman Castillo has been referred to the Chief State’s Attorney 4 times in connection with the 2019 and 2023 mayoral elections. His alleged criminal activity was on behalf of himself and Mayor Joe Ganim.
Wanda Geter-Pataky: 1st Vice Chairperson Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee 136th District, former City of Bridgeport employee, Justice of the Peace (appointed by Chairman, Mario Testa.) Wanda Geter-Pataky has been referred to the Chief State’s Attorney for possible criminal investigations 3 times in connection with the 2019 and 2023 mayoral elections. Her alleged activity was on behalf of Mayor Joe Ganim. Separately, there’s been calls for an investigation into Ms. Geter-Pataky’s role in performing illegal marriages in Bridgeport and New Haven.
Aidee Nieves: Bridgeport City Council President 137th District, Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee member. Nieves, who was endorsed by our Unrig Bridgeport coalition in 2021 and 2023, has been referred to the Chief State’s Attorney for possible criminal investigation in connection with the 2023 mayoral election. In November, the coalition voted to rescind her endorsement. Her alleged activity was on behalf of herself and Mayor Joe Ganim.
Eneida Martinez: Bridgeport City Council member 139th District, Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee member. Martinez has been referred to the Chief State’s Attorney for possible criminal investigation in connection to the 2023 mayoral election. Her alleged activity was on behalf of herself and Mayor Joe Ganim.
Maria Pereira: Bridgeport City Council member 138th District, former Board of Education member. Pereira has been referred to the Chief State’s Attorney for possible criminal investigation in connection with the 2023 mayoral election. Her alleged activity was on behalf of herself.
Maria Agueda: Seasonal campaign worker. Agueda worked on Ganim’s campaign in 2019 and John Gomes’ campaign in 2023. Agueda has been referred to the Chief State’s Attorney for possible criminal investigation in connection with the 2023 mayoral election. Her alleged activity was on behalf of John Gomes.
Maria Hernandez: Seasonal campaign worker. Hernandez worked on Ganim’s campaign in 2019 and John Gomes’ campaign in 2023. Hernandez has been referred to the Chief State’s Attorney for possible criminal investigation in connection with the 2023 mayoral election. Her alleged activity was on behalf of John Gomes.
Josue Jorge: Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee member 137th District. 2023 Candidate for City Council. Jorge has been referred to the Chief State’s Attorney for possible criminal investigation in connection with the 2023 mayoral election. His alleged activity was on behalf of himself and John Gomes.
By sharing this list of criminal referrals from SEEC to Connecticut’s Chief States Attorney, we are in no way saying these people are guilty. However, the heat of their alleged activity is too hot to ignore and the people of this great city deserve transparency and justice. The fact that all but 2 people on this list are elected officials speaks volumes about the culture of corruption that has permeated Bridgeport city politics and our local government.
In November 2024, the American electorate voted to return an election denier, insurrectionist, racist, fraudulent, liar, sexual deviant, convicted felon to the Presidency. The rule of law be damned. It’s as if our collective ability to tell the truth and know right from wrong no longer exists. But how can this be?
Trump and his ilk wouldn’t be possible if Ganim, Testa and their enablers didn’t groom folks on the local level to accept the unacceptable. To ignore red flags, justify illegal and criminal behavior, and deny and defraud Bridgeport voters of the democracy we deserve.
Joe Ganim and Mario Testa are predators. They prey upon people’s need for acceptance and attention and get them to do their dirty work. They pay lip service to doing the right thing but never actually come through. Everything they do is to preserve their power and line their pockets.
Donald Trump and the people he surrounds himself with are also predators. They prey upon people’s fear and pain, breadcrumb people with attention, and then promise about how good it will be when you give all your power over to them because only they can fix your problems.
It’s classic abuser behavior – and it’s in our local government and federal government.
