A panel of Connecticut Democratic Party members listened to more than two hours of complaints from Bridgeport residents who say they’re fed up with the city’s Democratic Town Committee on Friday night.
The hearing was held in response to a complaint against the city’s Democratic Town Committee and its chair, Mario Testa.
Testimony from current and former members of the DTC described an organization that operates without input from the city’s Democrats — or its members.
Donna Curran, a former city councilwoman and DTC member, told the panel she and 9 other candidates ran for a seat on the DTC. All but one of them lost to party-endorsed candidates.
She blamed it on absentee ballot harvesting.
“It's a district which has federally funded housing and people who have maybe more social and economic needs than others,” Curran said. “And they are either cajoled, bribed or threatened to request an absentee ballot, and then they're told how to vote.”
At the meeting, testimony described meetings of the DTC lasting only 10 minutes and being held at Testa’s now-closed restaurant, Testo’s, without notifying the public that there was a public meeting.
Former DTC members said they were discouraged from participating in the meetings, with one comparing his role to that of a “warm body.”
Razul Branch was a member of the DTC from 2022 to 2024.
“There needs to be a major, if not complete overhaul of the way the DTC conducts business, and the party rules that it's following,” Branch said.
That sentiment was repeated multiple times throughout the meeting — including by Gemeem Davis, one of the residents who filed the complaint.
“I just feel like, we need a new Democratic Party. I don't know what you all can do, but it feels like we just need to start from scratch,” Davis told the panel.
“These people who are selling the name of Democrats in the name of absentee ballot abuse and fraud, need not to be involved in our Democratic Committee at all. Like, we cannot be the party that tolerates absentee ballot abuse in our name.”
The hearing was one-sided — Testa and other DTC leaders did not show.
“I'm very, very disappointed,” Curran said. “For the second time, Mr. Testa has not shown up at this hearing. Everybody's here. We're all tired. But this is very important. This is our vote.”
