Now, a local judge is forcing two Democratic operatives at the center of the case to plead guilty or risk facing a jury trial. Former local Democratic Party official Wanda Geter-Pataky and Democratic city Councilman Alfredo Castillo have until Aug. 25 to accept plea agreements, and they face more than 100 charges combined over Bridgeport’s 2019 and 2023 mayoral primaries.The case carries significance beyond one heavily blue city. For years, Democrats and election officials have bristled at Republican warnings about absentee voting and ballot drop boxes. Bridgeport, however, offers a documented example that is difficult to explain away. The evidence came from city-owned cameras and even persuaded a judge that the rightful winner could not be determined without a redo.
The controversy began in September 2023 after Mayor Joe Ganim (D) defeated his Democratic challenger John Gomes by 251 votes in the mayoral primary. Gomes won at polling places, but Ganim prevailed after building a 694-vote advantage among absentee ballots.Four days later, Gomes’s campaign posted excerpts on Facebook from security cameras outside the city government complex, according to CT Mirror. The footage allegedly showed Geter-Pataky making repeated early-morning visits to a drop box and depositing stacks of absentee ballots.Bridgeport police video showing city employee Wanda Geter-Pataky placing absentee ballots into an election drop box outside the Margaret Morton Government Center, where she worked, is shown during Bridgeport Democratic Primary Mayoral candidate John Gomes’ challenge of absentee ballots in Superior Court in Bridgeport, Conn., Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. (Brian A. Pounds/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool)
