NAACP effort to block Bridgeport redistricting hasn’t moved frwrd

When state Senator-turned-felon-turned-state Senate candidate Ernest Newton won the Bridgeport Democratic Party’s endorsement this week, political observers around Connecticut began paying attention to that race.

Newton is challenging incumbent Sen. Ed Gomes, who succeeded Newton when he resigned from office in 2005 while under investigation for federal corruption charges.

State Rep. Andres Ayala also wants the seat, and he and Gomes have pledged to face Newton in a Democratic primary in August.

Potentially adding more drama to the race is a lingering threat by the local and state NAACPs to file a lawsuit over a redistricting plan the civil rights groups argue was crafted by white legislative leaders at the Capitol in Hartford at the expense of minority voters in Gomes’ district.

I wrote “potentially” because – based on the NAACPs’ own statements – the organizations may have already run out of time to block the redistricting.

The initial goal when the action was announced in mid-April was to file the lawsuit by May 1. Attorneys advising the NAACPs warned that the further into election season they sought to stop the redistricting, the less inclined a court would be to muck around with the process.

When May 1 came and went, state NAACP head Scot X. Esdaile told me the new goal was to move forward prior to Monday’s nominating meeting for Gomes’ seat, which resulted in the controversial endorsement of Newton.

Carolyn Vermont, president of the Bridgeport NAACP, a few minutes ago told me a telephone conference has been scheduled for tonight to discuss the lawsuit and she will have more information tomorrow.

“Right now the intent is still to move forward. Basically we wanted to make sure we just have all the documentation in place,” Vermont said.

Brian Lockhart