Bridgeport City Councilman Marcus Brown beat out incumbent state Rep. Jack Hennessy Tuesday in an unusual court-ordered repeat of a contested Democratic primary for the 127th state House district.
Brown won 635 votes to Hennessy’s 499, according to results filed with the secretary of the state’s office. The results provide a more definitive outcome than that of the original Aug. 9 primary, which began with a five-vote victory for Brown that was overturned twice by recounts amid a court battle.
Brown, who did not respond to requests for comment, declared victory late Tuesday in a post to his Facebook page.
“We won the election OVERWHELMINGLY! Thank you to the voters for coming out AGAIN and doubling down on the decision to bring change to the 127th District,” he wrote.
The second election finally provides the district’s Democrats with a nominee about three weeks before the general election and puts an end to a messy primary campaign which saw Hennessy’s team accusing Brown’s campaign of absentee ballot fraud as a result of ballots from four voters whose applications were signed by someone else.
However, Brown’s primary win will not be the last time Bridgeport voters choose between the two candidates. Hennessy, a legislative veteran first elected in 2005, has been nominated by the Working Families Party, meaning his name will still appear on Nov. 8 ballots along with Brown and Republican Anthony Puccio.
Hennessy did not return a call for comment Wednesday morning but earlier this week he stressed the importance of securing the Democratic nomination.
“The whole ball of wax is tomorrow’s primary,” Hennessy said on Monday. “In Bridgeport, the primary decides the outcome. General elections are more of a formality in Bridgeport because of the outstanding number of Democrats in the city.”
