Marilyn Moore declares victory over Musto

In the apparent upset of the night – and it’s a pretty big one – challenger Marilyn Moore has claimed victory over state Sen. Anthony Musto in Tuesday’s Democratic primary in the 22nd District which covers Bridgeport, Trumbull and Monroe.

Happy hysteria erupted at Moore’s headquarters just a little while ago.

Moore was the one anti-establishment candidate to win the night, beating Musto, an ally of Mayor Bill Finch’s administration.

She is a former aide to ex-state Sen. Ed Gomes, D-Bridgeport, who the city’s Democrats, with the backing of the Finch administration, showed the door in 2012 in favor of electing Andres Ayala.

While other candidates were celebrating clear victories Tuesday in Connecticut’s largest city – a Democratic stronghold – the word from Musto’s headquarters was that he appeared to be going down.

Musto himself said it did not look good but he was not yet ready to give up.

Meanwhile Moore’s folks were scrambling to find out how she did in the two other towns in the district – Trumbull and Monroe.

“I am in my car right now getting ready to drive up to Trumbull,” said Bob Walsh with the Moore campaign. “We have her leading, but with only a quarter of Trumbull, you really don’t know anything.”

Now they do.

Moore ran a particularly aggressive campaign against Musto and did not pull punches on going after his voting record.

 

Brian Lockhart