Challenger claims primary election 'stolen' after Democratic mayor declares victory

A mayor in Connecticut is being accused by his defeated opponent of stealing votes in a primary election.

Joe Ganim, who had the Democratic Party's endorsement, claimed victory in Bridgeport after election results showed him up by around 200 votes in a race that came down to a few thousand mail-in ballots — but his challenger, Jim Gomes, claimed the process was rigged and has refused to concede, reported News from the States.

Ganim had trailed in the race before the absentee ballots came in — but he had assured his supporters he would win when the final results were tabulated. “The right vote is more important than the rushed vote,” he said. “Primaries are close. That’s just the way it is.”

In recent years, Republican lawmakers have often pushed claims of election rigging based entirely on the fact that they were up in the vote count before absentee ballots were fully counted, most famously former President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

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However, Gomes' allegations in Bridgeport come amid a number of other controversies involving Ganim, who was jailed two decades ago on federal corruption charges.

According to the report, State Elections Enforcement officials recommended criminal charges against three Ganim associates over how they handled absentee ballots in his 2019 election bid.

“I have to say that evidence has shown the track record and things that could be done to manipulate the system,” said Ganim, who has reserved a spot on the ballot line to run as an independent as a backup plan for the general election.

“So it’s an unfortunate situation. And it’s unfortunate to the voters of Bridgeport, where they need to really understand that their vote was counted fair and equally across the board.”