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His campaign made that statement Tuesday after reports Monday that the Secretary of the State's office ruled that the Job Creation Party will not appear on the November ballot in Bridgeport.
"We're confident that the Job Creation Party line will appear on the November ballot," said a statement from Mayor Bill Finch's Re-Election Campaign Manager Maryli Secrest. "This election is too important for Bridgeport and its future to be decided by red tape in the Secretary of State's Office.
"We're taking this issue to court, and we're confident that this matter will receive a fair and just hearing."
Finch lost the Democratic Party primary last week to former Mayor Joe Ganim. He needs to find another way to run if he wants to continue his campaign for re-election.
He was seeking to run as the candidate of the Job Creation Party, but that group missed a filing deadline, the Connecticut Mirror reported.
It is widely reported that the party was created by Finch or his supporters as a backup plan for Finch in the event he lost the primary.
With the deadline past for Finch to turn in signatures to run as a petitioning candidate, his only options are to run as a write-in candidate or gain the endorsement of another third party.
Minutes before the announcement, the Daily Voice spoke with Gary Rose, a professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield and head of the Department of Government, Politics and Global Studies, who said that Finch needs to step up his campaign.
“He’s got to hold on to his Democratic base,” Rose said. “It’s critical for him to expand his network and build a coalition.”
Rose said Finch especially has to gain the support of unaffiliated voters, who, by law, could not vote in the Democratic primary.
“He has to reach out to them now in a pretty big way,” Rose said.
The party-endorsed candidates, other than Ganim, are Republican Enrique Torres, and Charles Coviello of the New Movement Party.
According to the Connecticut Post, the Republican Party turned down a bid Tuesday from Finch to take over the GOP line on the ballot.
The race is particularly heated after the primary victory by Ganim, who served seven years in prison on federal corruption charges.
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