PRIMARY QUEST HITS WHALLEY

April 16, 2016, by Markeshia Ricks -"The long political trek towards Connecticut’s April 26 presidential primary hit Westville Saturday as both Democratic camps landed on the same block. Earlier this week, campaigns for Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both opened formal headquarters on Whalley Avenue. Hillary for America volunteers and organizers are operating out of the second floor of 300 Whalley Ave., a building owned by Mayor Toni Harp’s son’s real estate company; while Sanderistas, representatives of CT Progressives and Bernie 2016 field organizers work out of 845 Whalley Ave. in Westville Village. Saturday, the two camps ended up not a mile, but just a couple of doors, apart. A little after 4 p.m., the Clinton campaign brought out Connecticut’s party elite to a launch event in Westville Village, a political turf war turning personal as they tried to lay claim to a two-block radius of Westville, and then to the city itself. At Kehler Liddell Gallery, close to 200 Clinton fans packed the space, gathering to hear notables like Mayor Toni Harp, Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman, Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut State Senator Edward Kennedy, Jr., former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd and others speak as surrogates of the former secretary of state. Arranged by Ward 29 Democratic co-chair Audrey Tyson, the event focused on recruiting new volunteers and energizing seasoned ones as the primary race hits its final stretch. “All of us worked so hard in the ‘60s and the ‘70s to create the world that we have today,” Harp said of the reason she is supporting Clinton. “A world that actually allows women to rise to the highest office in our nation. A world in which African-Americans and Hispanics and people of color can be assured that they can go to school, that they can get good jobs, and that they don’t have to deal with discrimination — and if they do, that there’s a way to deal with that. Our young people have forgotten about what it took to get us here today. One of the things that we have got to do is help our young people understand — help women understand, frankly — that this race is about taking us farther and about recognizing from whence we came. On April 26, New Haven has got to do what it has always done..."

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