CT Mirror8%
Bridgeport residents seek answers at FaithActs gubernatorial forum 17%
By Reginald David14%
7/15/2026, 5:10:19 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 32 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Optimism Bias, and Framing Effect, with Indoctrination as the most egregious example at 24.5% saturation with 325 hits. Analysis detected 1,927 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,328 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 32.4% and a BS Rank of 17% (13,404 of 16,008 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 83.70% of the article peer group.
More than campaign promises were on the table Tuesday night as hundreds of Bridgeport residents gathered inside at Cathedral of Faith church to question the three major candidates for Connecticut governor about the issues shaping their daily lives.
Education.
Housing.
Jobs.
Affordability.
Public safety.
The economic realities facing Black women.
Rather than hearing prepared campaign speeches, residents heard Gov.
Ned Lamont, Democratic challenger Josh Elliott and Republican candidate Ryan Fazio respond directly to questions that organizers say came from years of conversations with the community.
For many in attendance, that distinction mattered.
“Bridgeport is the biggest city in our state, but it’s also one of the places that doesn’t get the things that they need,” said Bria Brown, a Bridgeport Public Schools teacher and FaithActs member.
“It’s good for the candidates to come here to be able to tell us what it is that they are going to do… because we need to see what they want to do and also hold them accountable to make sure that they deliver those promises.”
The forum, hosted by FaithActs for Education and moderated by journalist Natasha S.
Alford, brought together Lamont, Elliott and Fazio for what organizers described as one of the first gubernatorial forums of its kind in Connecticut in decades.
But organizers said the evening wasn’t about creating a political spectacle.
It was about creating accountability.
Duanecia Evans Clark, communications officer for FaithActs, said the questions asked Tuesday night were shaped by years of organizing.
She said FaithActs refined those concerns at member meetings during this year’s state legislative session before bringing them directly to the candidates.
“FaithActs goes through a rigorous process with our membership of understanding the issues that are important to them,” Clark said.
“Two years ago, we engaged in a listening tour where we listened to one-on-one perspectives of 322 of our members.
That data has been informing our strategy for about the past two years.”
For Willie C.
Smith Jr., a longtime Bridgeport resident active with FaithActs, the opportunity to ask one of the evening’s featured questions represented exactly what the organization was built to do.
“I have been organizing in Bridgeport long enough to see governors make big promises at election time and disappear after,” Smith told the candidates before asking Lamont what promise he had kept, what he got wrong and what he would do differently if given another term.
The question prompted one of the night’s most candid exchanges.
Lamont defended his administration’s record, pointing to increased education funding, free school meals, paid family leave, debt-free community college and universal early childhood education.
“I think the proudest thing I can be proud of is universal early childhood education,” Lamont said.
“You want to make sure every kid gets the very best head start in life.”
He also acknowledged a regret.
“What do I regret a little bit?”
Lamont said.
“I think we should have got involved more aggressively in the Bridgeport schools.”
The governor said the state eventually stepped in alongside city leaders after years of leadership turnover, budget deficits and rising absenteeism.
“We stepped in in association with the mayor.
We stepped in in association with the superintendent… and I think we tried to make a difference.”
Speaking after the forum, Smith said he appreciated the opportunity to ask the question but wanted more specifics.
“I don’t think Gov.
Lamont really elaborated on all the promises that he made,” Smith said.
“He didn’t elaborate on the most important things, like education… housing.”
Still, Smith said the forum reflected FaithActs’ larger mission.
Education emerged as one of the evening’s dominant themes.
Elliott argued Connecticut’s heavy reliance on property taxes continues to deepen inequities between communities.
“We in Connecticut are the second most reliant state in the country on the property tax,” Elliott said.
“The property tax is a middle-class wealth tax.”
He called for greater investments in education, housing and infrastructure while arguing that Bridgeport represents opportunity if those investments are made equitably.
“When I think of Bridgeport, I think of opportunity,” Elliott said.
“The last thing you want to do is just gentrify.
You want it to be truly inclusive.”
Fazio focused much of his message on educational equity and affordability.
“Zip code should never determine educational destiny,” he said.
“We are not going to settle for anything but the best in every single zip code in our state.”
He also pointed to rising living costs.
“We have a deep affordability crisis in this state that has only gotten worse,” Fazio said.
“People at the end of every month cannot afford to pay for their prescription drugs, their mortgage, their electric bill.”
In an interview after the forum, Fazio said Bridgeport families deserve a different approach.
“We need to cut those sky-high electric bills, cap the property taxes, and bring jobs and opportunity and investment back to our cities,” he said.
For many residents, the forum wasn’t a competition among the candidates.
It was about finally having them answer questions rooted in Bridgeport’s lived experience.
Brown said those answers will influence how she approaches the election as both a voter and educator.
“I’m not sure if it changed, but it definitely gave me a lot to think about in terms of who I’m going to vote for,” she said.
She also pointed to what she sees every day inside her classroom.
“I have kids… in my AP class and they can’t read,” Brown said.
“We don’t have the resources that we need to get them on grade level.”
Community leader Sandra Carmichael left the forum wanting more.
“I had great expectations,” she said.
“I don’t think that was met today by all three candidates.”
She said she was especially disappointed by how the candidates addressed questions about Black women.
“I’m a Black woman who is feeling what’s going on right now,” Carmichael said.
“I want to know… how important is that to them in their communities?”
Shatima Moore, founder of Bridgeport-based venture studio Azic Co., said education remains deeply personal for her.
“I grew up in these Bridgeport city schools,” Moore said.
“I’ve watched funding be slashed… making sure that we have a candidate that cares about that enough to make it a part of their entire campaign is really important to me.”
She also challenged a narrative she said Bridgeport residents hear too often.
“We are the largest city in Connecticut, and oftentimes we are the most forgotten city,” Moore said.
Later, she added, “You don’t have to leave here.
Things can happen here.
We can make success happen here if we just try.”
Former Bridgeport mayoral candidate John Gomes said the evening demonstrated something larger than politics.
“It was important… to see the unification among the people,” Gomes said.
“It’s time that Bridgeport — and Connecticut itself — lead in the direction it needs to be.”
He urged residents to stay engaged beyond Tuesday night’s discussion.
“I urge the voters of Bridgeport to step up, show up, and vote,” Gomes said.
“We cannot complain about the past.
We can only control the present today, but the future is ours if we show up.”
For Clark, that was always the goal.
She said FaithActs hopes residents leave understanding that voting is only one step in a much larger process.
“Elections are a responsibility not only of us, but of the elected officials that we pay for through our tax dollars,” Clark said.
“Taking part in that process is not just a civic responsibility.
It’s how you ensure that you’re getting your taxes worth.”
She encouraged residents to stay involved long after Election Day by attending Board of Education meetings, City Council meetings and legislative hearings.
“We want to make sure that our people are invested, that they show up to the polls,” Clark said.
“But that they only see elections as one small part of a larger cycle… The election is just the beginning.
It is not nearly an end.”
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