Gosar steps down with support from city

COURTESY ASIT GOSAR Asit Gosar, PC'00 withdrew as candidate for alderman...

It was a rough week for Gosar, who was fighting allegations of voter fraud after his narrow victory in the Democratic primary elections. His opponent, Armmand, announced on Fri., Sept. 17, that she was planning to file a suit with the New Haven Superior Court on Fri., Sept. 24, challenging the election. After conversations with Alexander and DeStefano "to decide on the best path," Gosar decided he had had enough. "Since the election there have been accusations my campaign was responsible for voting irregularities, and it's begun to destroy a lot of what my campaign was about—bringing New Haven residents and students together," Gosar said. "I was prepared to go to court, but I realized that by going to court I would cause further division. I am withdrawing my nomination for the Ward Seven aldermanic seat."

Accompanying Gosar's statement was DeStefano's own announcement that to resolve the issues arising out of the primary, he was creating a 13-person ad hoc committee to help set guidelines and clarify residency issues for student voters at Yale, Albertus Magnus College, and Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). The committee will consist of one administrator, one student appointed by the Mayor from each of the three colleges, and three aldermanic representatives appointed by Aldermanic President Tomas Reyes, Jr., with New Haven Corporation Counsel Thayer Baldwin, Jr. serving as chair.

FILE PHOTO ...at a press conference yesterday called by Mayor John DeStefano, Jr.

Baldwin said the idea for the committee came up during conversations at the beginning of the week between Alexander, DeStefano, and other city officials. "This issue [of student voter confusion] is not a Yale issue," DeStefano said. "Two years ago, in Ward 29, a lot of kids at another university registered to vote at the Registrar's Office and some of them lived in Hamden. So this committee is a useful thing." Baldwin admitted that officials from SCSU and Albert Magnus have not been contacted yet about this plan, but he said he is pushing for the necessary appointments to be made soon. Though officials would not confirm whether Gosar would serve on the committee, Gosar himself stated,"I would like to continue to serve in city government and I would like to be on the ad hoc committee."

Though she was prepared to file a suit today, Armmand is relieved that the "right decision was made" so she won't have to face the prospect of a court hearing. "Taking this case to court would have been personally unpleasant for me," she said. "The prospect of calling students, and especially freshmen, into it was not something I would have relished doing. But the principle was bigger than all of us." Armmand has abandoned her plans both to file a suit and to file a complaint with the Election Enforcement Commission, so Gosar will not be fined.

According to Aldermanic Liaison Darnell Goldson, Armmand finally has some smooth sailing ahead of her. "The Democratic Ward committee will meet next week to nominate a candidate to fill the vacancy, which will more than likely be [Armmand]," Goldson said.

Members of the New Haven political scene are also glad Gosar withdrew before the city was dragged through a court case. During the past week, many key political players had pushed Gosar to withdraw. "Gosar likely felt strong pressure from city-wide forces to step down," an anonymous source associated with the Democratic party said. "The Town Democratic Committee publicly supported Armmand before the primary, and allegations concerning voter fraud by Gosar's campaign likely increased their support for her in the days since the primary."

Reyes said there was a statement circulated among the Democratic alders and Ward Seven residents that strongly supported Armmand's decision to challenge the election. He said about 15 alders signed it, including Ward 24 Alder Elizabeth McCormick and Ward Three Alder Anthony Dawson. Armmand also noted the outpouring of support that she received. "There was a student who left a message on my answering machine who offered to help me raise money for the suit," she said. "There was a groundswell of people who thought this was important."

Joshua Kagan, SM '00, former president of the Yale College Democrats, observed that in the face of all the support Armmand had received, Gosar probably realized that he had little chance of succeeding in his pursuit of the Ward Seven seat. "This scandal has dashed Gosar's credibility; he'd barely get any votes if another primary were held," Kagan said. Ward 25 Alder Nancy Ahern also noted,"I think [Gosar] would have had a hard time on the [Board of Alders] even if there had been a second election and he had won."

Still, Reyes was "a little surprised" that Gosar backed down. "I was under the impression it was heading to the courts," he said. "I thought [Gosar] felt strongly he was right, and that [Armmand] felt just as strongly that she had a case. Probably the Mayor's involvement convinced Gosar to step down."

Yale also had a large stake in resolving the controversy surrounding the primary. With a Yale student at the center of major political scandal, Alexander admitted he had been worried that New Haven residents would have a negative view of the University's involvement in city politics. "This confusion [concerning the Ward Seven alder race] was clearly a point of tension," he said. "[The Administration] is delighted that the Mayor has formed a committee to sort out these issues." However, he doesn't believe there will be any long-term effects resulting from this scandal. "I think the community understands that the Administration did not create this situation and I think that [Gosar] showed that he rose above any personal feelings and did what was best for the community," Alexander said.

Goldson noted that he had seen town-gown tensions increase significantly over the past two weeks. "There was a lot of discussion throughout the city, [about this scandal], it polarized a lot of differences," he said. "The last thing we needed while trying to improve town-gown relations was something like this to distract us."

In the end, Gosar insists that his withdrawal does not signal the end of his venture into New Haven politics. He still plans to find his own place in the city government, even if it isn't the Ward Seven alder seat. "I'm still here and I look forward to working with Mayor DeStefano, Esther Armmand, and the members of Ward Seven," he said.

Julia Paolitto and Zoë Konovalov contributed to this article.

Back to News...