No, this is NOT a comment about how politics is local.
New Jersey and New York City are foregone conclusions.
Virginia is a contest that is really about the GOP's voter suppression efforts.
Bridgeport is about whether or not we can protect our children from the looters in the educational industrial complex.
You see, the pro-privatization slate for the school board was defeated in the Democratic Primary by the Connecticut Working Families Party candidates, and so in the general election will be face Republicans, who are being tacitly, and in some cases explicitly, supported by the Democratic Party establishment (including governor Malloy).
So this election is a big deal:
At stake in this race is control of one the most troubled school districts in the state and the chance to be part of a school board that often spends more time arguing than dealing with poor student performance and ways to improve it.
A nine-member board with guaranteed minority party representation, there are five seats up for grab. There are eight candidates and voters can select any three. The three candidates running on the Democratic slate -- Howard Gardner, Dave Hennessey and Andre Baker -- all found their way onto the ballot via successful primaries earlier this year
The Republicans are Joe Larcheveque, Steve Best and John Weldon and Working Families candidates are Eric Stewart-Alicia, Sauda Baraka -- the only incumbent -- and Baker, who is cross endorsed.
His name will appear on two lines.
During the primary, the Democrats who won made it clear they are not fond of Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas.
The Connecticut Working Families Party has worked to remove Vallas, who was brought into the district when the elected board was replaced for a year by a state-appointed board.
Others question the nationally known superintendent's qualifications and the law that allowed him to waive state certification requirements.
About that last big: In Connecticut, superintendents are required to have some training in education, and he has no independently verifiable educational experience, so they created a no show course for him to pretend to attend, and a
judge called bullshit on it (Rather blunter article
here).
I would also add that during his (mis) management of the Chicago schools, his protege, and later successor, was one Arne Duncan.
Hopefully, the good guys will win, and the education for the benefit of the hedge fund managers crowd lose this election.
On edit: Salon has a good summary of this too.