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Finch, Foster Put Aside Past To Battle Ganim In Bridgeport Mayor's Race

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — High above the city of Bridgeport — 16 stories above Steel Point and the Webster Bank Arena — Mayor Bill Finch greeted a crowd of supporters and a bevy of television cameras Tuesday afternoon. 

Mayor Bill Finch

Mayor Bill Finch

Photo Credit: Jay Polansky
Mary-Jane Foster

Mary-Jane Foster

Photo Credit: Jay Polansky

“Bridgeport is truly getting better every day,” Finch said. “But I am concerned about tomorrow.”

The city has made much progress in his tenure as mayor, he said. But Finch said he doesn’t want to see the momentum end.

“That’s why today I want to announce that I am stepping out of the race for mayor,” Finch said. “And that’s why I am asking people across this city to join with me in supporting Mary-Jane Foster.”

Bridgeport is at a crossroads, Finch said, echoing a phrase he used during his campaign kick-off event at Captain’s Cove in July. It could take the “right road” or the “wrong road,” he said, ostensibly a choice between former Mayor Joe Ganim, who was convicted on 16 corruption charges, and anybody else.

It was that reason that supporters of both Foster and Finch were in the same room — backers of what were once very much rival campaigns before both lost in the Democratic primary to Ganim.

Now Finch and Foster said they’re willing to put their past behind and move forward.

“Bill and I have had our differences over the years,” Foster said to chuckles in the audience. “But we both love this city.”

When a reporter asked Foster whether she worries about taking on the “baggage” of Finch’s failed campaign, she said she doesn't. And when the reporter further pressed for a more detailed explanation, she stated emphatically, “because I don’t.”

Finch said he believes that Foster will run a strong campaign in advance of the November election.

Foster is running on that November ballot as an independent candidate along with Republican Enrique Torres and Charles Coviello of the New Movement Party as well as Ganim.

Finch's plan to join the ballot as the candidate for the Job Creation Party fell through. 

The party was widely believed to have been constructed as a way for Finch to join a party ticket should he lose the Democratic primary.

As a last resort, Finch had reportedly approached Torres and Coviello to persuade either to drop out of the race. Then Finch could run under the Republican or New Movement Party tickets, the CT Post reported.

But that attempt failed, leaving Finch no other choice but to quit the race. And Foster to take over.

So just days after announcing that she was dropping out of the race, Foster has come back in full strength — ready for battle.

“There’s progress in Bridgeport,” Foster said. “And I want to be the mayor that takes it to the next level.”

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