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Though official vote numbers had not been counted up Wednesday night, former Mayor Ganim had claimed victory in the three-way primary race among him, Finch and businesswoman Mary-Jane Foster shortly after 9 p.m.
Surrounded by cheering admirers at the Bijou Theatre, Finch pumped his fists in the air as he vowed to continue in the race.
“We’ve come too far to give up now. We’ve taken out city back from the jaws of corruption,” Finch said, referring to Ganim’s conviction on 16 federal corruption charges in 2003.
Finch thanked his supporters and his family, including his wife, Sonya, whose birthday was Wednesday. He said in his speech he anticipated that the race against Ganim would continue after the Wednesday primary.
“We knew it was going to be close, and we knew it could go either way,” Finch said. “We knew that if the corrupt forces came close, they’d continue to run anyway. So we would have to run against them anyway, so what’s the difference?”
The mayor praised the accomplishments of his administration since he assumed office in 2007. He lauded the development of Steelpointe, the opening of Pleasure Beach, education initiatives and job creation, and said that none of those feats would have been possible if the city was living under a corrupt mayor.
Finch said that following Wednesday’s defeat, his supporters would have the opportunity to rally unaffiliated and Republican allies to keep him in office.
“Bridgeport is moving to the future, and Bridgeport will not be defined by brokenness, greed, corruption and lies,” he said. “We will prevail, we will continue to build a beautiful new city.”
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