SPRING UPDATES 💥 🌱 from 130th Democrats For The People

The snow and freezing temperatures didn't stop our campaign. So it's no surprise that now that the weather is nice, we have been out and about all over town! Since winning our election it's been full steam ahead.

We made history with the first public in-district 130th DTC meeting!

We are proud to put our campaign platform into ACTION! Here's what we've been up to over the past two months:

Quarterly "Meet The Democrats" Community Meetings: On Tuesday, March 31st, we made history by hosting the first ever public meeting for 130th Democrats! Held at the Burroughs Community Center, we discussed our campaign platform, district issues and priorities, and our candidate endorsement process. The next one will be at the end of June so stay tuned!

Strong Challenges to Abuses of Power at the Citywide DTC Meetings: On March 12th and March 30th, the DTC held its first meetings for the year. At the first meeting, we successfully blocked longtime Chair Mario Testa from reappointing his out-of-town Treasurer, who hadn't lived in Bridgeport for over 10 years. At the second meeting, we stood up to Mario's abuses of power by pushing for Josh Elliott, a Democratic candidate for Governor, to be allowed to speak before the committee. Our actions also led to the successful election of a new DTC Treasurer, Gabrielle Parisi, who thankfully is a Bridgeport resident.

Strong Representation at the Citywide DTC Meetings. The Bridgeport DTC operates in secret. There's no open debate. There's no ongoing discussion. We want to change that! This fight won't be won overnight but we're not giving up! We will continue to push for the following:
- A meeting schedule of at least 4 regular meetings per year
- The ability for DTC members to either add items to the agenda or introduce "new business" at the meetings
- Treasurer's Reports shared and discussed at every meeting
- A real budgeting process and a fundraising plan
- A real Bridgeport DTC website
- A complete list of all DTC members, with their phone numbers and emails

A Transparent Endorsement Process: This is probably the most important (and the most time consuming!) activity we've been engaged in. 2026 is a state election year. And we are committed to interviewing all candidates who are seeking our endorsement so we can communicate directly with YOU - our voters and supporters - about how and why we made our endorsements. Our process is outlined below:
- April 17th: We released our Candidate Endorsement Application
- April 23rd: The application closed and we scheduled interviews with all candidates who applied
- April 22nd - May 2nd: We interviewed candidates
- May 3rd: We voted on our endorsed candidates
- Friday, May 8th: We will announce our endorsed candidates tomorrow and work throughout the summer and fall to help get them elected!

Ongoing Activities that Grow the Party: We've spent the last 2 months going all around town. See some photos of our activities here! And here's a snapshot of what we've been up to:
- Attended multiple community forums on education funding for our public schools
- Advocated for absentee ballot reform with our state delegation
- Attended Bridgeport Day at the Connecticut State Capitol
- Testified before City Council on increasing money for our public schools
- Went to see the Bridgeport Islanders on home ice one last time
- Kicked off the spring season with Black Rock Little League
- Attended the fundraiser for the Black Rock Community Council
- Danced our way through Salsa Sundays at Park City Music Hall
- Participated in Bridgeport Generation Now's 9th Annual Undoing Racism Workshop
- ... And made GOOD TROUBLE at Ganim's fundraiser!

Finally, the Democratic Party conventions for many of this year's elections are coming up over the next two weeks. Elected Democratic Town Committee members are delegates to these conventions and will vote on party endorsements. The Bridgeport DTC delegate list is attached. You'll note that Mario Testa shut us out from being delegates to the State Convention - another example of his anti-democratic abuse of power.

These conventions are open to the public so you are welcome to join us! Mark your calendar for the following Democratic Party Conventions:

4th Congressional District: Monday, May 11th at 6:00pm at Norwalk City Hall.
State Convention for Governor: Saturday, May 16th at Hartford's Bushnell Theater. Registration opens at 9:30am and the convention will start at 11:00am.
22nd State Senate District: Monday, May 18th, times and location TBD
Bridgeport Probate Judge: Thursday, May 21st, time and location TBD
Bridgeport State Representative: Tuesday, May 26th, time and location TBD