"Some have called this a comeback story but for me this is a city I feel I never left."
Joe Ganim
A little after 9 p.m., Joe Ganim took to the stage at Testo's Restaurant in Bridgeport to declare victory.
The former mayor and convicted felon was re-elected Tuesday night. The election was the culmination of a colorful season of campaigning in Connecticut's largest city.
Ganim was elected Bridgeport's mayor in the early '90s, but his career suddenly ground to a halt in 2003. He spent seven years in federal prison for awarding city contracts in exchange for things like expensive clothes, wine, and cash. Now, he's back in charge.
Ganim gave a short victory speech saying, “Tonight we not only made history, but we've defined a new course for this great city.”
He said Bridgeport is a city that has stayed with him through the years.
“Some have called this a comeback story but for me this is a city I feel I never left. I never stopped caring about the challenges that people face in every neighborhood. I never stopped thinking that maybe one day we could begin the work that we're going to begin today of moving this city forward again," Ganim said.
He hit the usual campaign promises, saying taxes were too high, crime out of control, education system needs improvement and people need jobs.
“And of course there is an element of redemption in all of this. In the truest sense of the word. And it's not a distant or philosophical or religious redemption. It's real and it's human, and it applies to every one of us," Ganim said.
Ganim's campaign says he won by a nearly 2-to-1 margin over Independent Democrat, Mary-Jane Foster.
The Connecticut Democratic Party sent out a statement on behalf of Governor Dannel Malloy. Malloy said, "The voters have spoken, and I want to congratulate Joe Ganim on his victory. I am committed to moving Bridgeport forward and, as I have said, I will continue to put the best interests of the community first."
Malloy added, “I am hopeful that Mayor-elect Ganim will live up to the huge responsibility that comes with leading our state’s biggest city by building trust, not just with those within the city he will soon lead, but with leaders statewide. We must continue to make progress in Bridgeport."
It's one of the strangest political campaigns in recent memory as the former mayor and convicted felon squared off against Foster, a businesswoman and petitioning Democrat.
Ishmail Muhammad: I was in the same prison as Ganim. And b/c of his time, Ganim knows what needs fixing #Bridgeport pic.twitter.com/hx8fDQmg8R
— Ryan Caron King (@ryancaronking) November 4, 2015
"I never imagined going to the polls. Then I saw Ganim." - Charles Fuller Jr., waiting for #Bridgeport results pic.twitter.com/pZld4bZQ4q
— Ryan Caron King (@ryancaronking) November 4, 2015
Ganim's campaign celebrated their victory with supporters at Testo's Restaurant, which has served as the business, kitchen, and office of long-time Democratic Town Chair Mario Testa.
Testa, previously a supporter of two-term incumbent mayor Bill Finch, threw his support behind Ganim this summer. Ganim leveraged that momentum, combining it with an aggressive boots-on-the-ground campaign detailed by "Only in Bridgeport's" Lennie Grimaldi, to go on and win the city's Democratic mayoral primary. He narrowly defeated Finch by about 400 votes.
When Finch's effort to get on the ballot under the moniker of the "Job Creation Party" imploded, he dropped out of the race, throwing his support behind Mary-Jane Foster, a Democrat who finished a distant third in the city's primary.
Foster's campaign has had its own colorful trajectory. She ended her campaign after her loss in the primary, only to get back into the race and ally herself with Bill Finch.
Foster conceded the race before supporters at Bijou on Fairfield Avenue.
Lucy Nalpathanchil contributed to this post.
