Bridgeport First Coverage in the Post-Better Late Than Never...

Bridgeport First approved by state
MARIAN GAIL BROWN mgbrown@ctpost.com
Article Last Updated: 10/16/2007 12:06:41 AM EDT

BRIDGEPORT — The secretary of the state has certified the Bridgeport First party and its slate of candidates for the November municipal election.
The new political party represents the first third party in decades to challenge city Democrats and Republicans.
The slate of candidates includes incumbent City Councilman Keith Rodgerson, 32, an unaffiliated voter, who is running as Bridgeport First's mayoral candidate and for one of the four slots on the city's Board of Education.
The other Bridgeport First candidates are: Scott Neil, who is running for city clerk. Neil, a 29-year-old veteran of the Iraqi War, served in the Marines.
Sarah Comboni, a visual artist with Nest Arts Factory, a registered Democrat, is running for the Board of Education.
Her husband, Daniel Comboni, an artist who is running for a council seat, is registered as an unaffiliated voter. The Combonis have two children who are enrolled in the Bridgeport public school system. For sheriff, the party is fielding three candidates: Carlos Ferreira, 27, a Democrat, who is an experimental musician; Robert Beam, 31, a graphic artist with Thirsty Ear Records; and Liston Brown Jr., 30, a bounty hunter.
To secure a spot on the ballot in November's election, Bridgeport First had to form a central committee, elect a chairman and vice chairman and endorse candidates, Rodgerson said. The party's candidates in turn had to submit petitions signed by one percent of the electorate who cast ballots in the last election.
"It took a lot of time to court some of the candidates," Rodgerson, a Harvard graduate and urban planning student at Southern Connecticut State University, said. In picking its candidates, he said, Bridgeport First "looked for people who are frustrated and want to get involved in government and who are finding their efforts usually are contradicted by people who usually take control of the process."
In choosing its slate of candidates, Rodgerson said, "You want smart, independent people to run for office, not because they want power, but because they want the authority and the ability to make things happen."