Activists worried that GOP is rolling the dice in attempt to get Bridgeport into the Third Congressional District

 During a news conference in the Capitol complex this morning sponsored by MoveOn.org and Democracy for America, the Rev. Ina Anderson of Bridgeport’s Mt. Aery Baptist Church, said Bridgeport has a historic spot in the Fourth District, which dates back about 200 years. “You don’t change a process that’s not broken, unless it’s a process that’s broken for a reason,” Anderson said. “Don’t sneak something in. Talk to us. We’ll talk back to you. We want to stay in the Fourth Congressional District.”

Terry Masters of Stratford, a regional organizer for MoveOn.org, said that while her town is in the Third Congressional District, it’s plain that Bridgeport belongs in the Fourth.

 “To me what it would be is moving a group of Democratic-registered voters to a district that is safe and is well represented by (U.S. Rep) Rosa DeLauro,” Masters said. “At this point in time, is there a valid reason for taking Bridgeport out of the Fourth and putting it into the Third? To me, it’s more likely to suggest an attempt at voter suppression.”

 House Minority Leader Larry Cafero, R-Norwalk, said that if Republicans weren’t serious about negotiating a new map, they could have resisted Democrats when the Reapportionment Commission ended in stalemate on November 30 and push the congressional map into the lap of the Supreme Court. “We chose not to because we seriously believe we have a constitutional obligation to do the best we can,” Cafero said in the Capitol Press Room.