"I think that there was a lot of pressure placed on the town committee to 'do the right thing' here."
Brian Lockhart
The mayor of Bridgeport was narrowly endorsed by local Democrats in his second re-election campaign.
Mayor Bill Finch faces a strong challenge from a former mayor, Joseph Ganim, who is making a comeback bid after serving seven years in prison for corruption while mayor of Bridgeport.
The Connecticut Post reports the Democratic Town Committee gave Finch 49 votes Tuesday night. Ganim received 41.
"I think that there was a lot of pressure placed on the town committee to 'do the right thing' here, to show that they had moved beyond the Ganim years and to back Bill Finch," said Brian Lockhart, reporter for The Connecticut Post.
Speaking on WNPR's Where We Live, Lockhart said over the course of his tenure, Finch has alienated a lot of constituents. "There's a lot of people that have issues with what they've done. There's a lot of people that frankly think it has taken too long, that after eight years there should be more progress than there has been," he said.
Finch, a two-term incumbent, has touted his record on reducing crime and improving schools. His campaign has frequently reminded voters of Ganim's criminal convictions and just launched a website dedicated to Ganim's misdeeds at TheTruthAboutJoeGanim.com.
Ganim and three other Democrats are expected to launch petition drives for the September primary. Each candidate needs 2,000 signatures to get on the ballot.
