Connecticut Court to Rule on Defamation Suit Against Ex-Bridgeport Mayoral Candidate

Mayoral candidate John Gomes at a watch party in Bridgeport, Conn., where he learned Joe Ganim was reelected on Feb. 27, 2024. Juliette Fairley/The Epoch Times

Former Bridgeport mayoral candidate John Gomes is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the City of Bridgeport Housing Authority for allegedly making defamatory comments regarding the housing authority’s practices during a contentious mayoral campaign.

The City of Bridgeport Housing Authority, also known as Park City Communities (PCC), accuses Gomes in their October 2023 complaint of falsely telling news outlets that they conspired with incumbent mayor Joe Ganim to exclude Gomes and his campaign workers from its properties while permitting access to Ganim campaign workers.

“The harm caused to the plaintiff’s reputation is exacerbated by the above described false implication that the plaintiff is an agency or department of the city of Bridgeport, and that the mayor used his supposed, but in fact non-existent, control over it to benefit his campaign at the expense of a competing campaign,” the complaint states.

A motion to dismiss filed by Gomes’ attorney William Bloss is currently pending in Connecticut Superior Court.

Bloss argues that the housing authority commissioners did not vote to authorize the legal action and that a public governmental entity cannot seek damages for defamation due to the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

“It is unprecedented in Connecticut for a governmental entity to attempt what the housing authority is trying to accomplish,” Bloss told The Epoch Times in an email.

The plaintiff’s petition for bill of discovery is limited to a request that Gomes answer questions and provide documents concerning his factual basis, if any, for the alleged statements he made about PCC.

“Mr. Gomes is fighting our request for information by claiming that, as a public entity, PCC has no right to sue for false and defamatory statements, even if they were known to be false and no matter how much PCC is harmed by them,” PCC attorney David Hoopes told The Epoch Times in an email. “We disagree.”

Gomes lost to Ganim in a court-ordered election in February. It was Bridgeport’s fourth election since Connecticut Superior Court Judge William Clark overturned the Democratic Party primary on Sept. 12, 2023, based on allegations of fraud, in which Gomes lost by 251 votes.

The Bridgeport mayoral primary election remains under investigation by the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC).

Since last August when the primary took place, the SEEC has received more than 30 complaints.

After Gomes lost the final court-ordered election, Alfredo Castillo, 52, who represents Bridgeport City Council’s 136th District, and Bridgeport Democratic Party Vice Chairwoman Wanda Geter-Pataky, 67, were arrested in June following allegations they mishandled absentee ballots in the 2019 Democratic Party mayoral primary.

“The future of democracy is at stake,” Connecticut election attorney Cameron Atkinson told The Epoch Times. “We can’t trust our elections or our government if they can be rigged. The State needs to prosecute these individuals to the fullest extent of the law to send a clear message to anyone else thinking about violating election law that it will not be tolerated and that it will be punished severely.”

Geter-Pataky, along with campaign workers Josephine Edmonds, 62, and Nilsa Heredia, 61, were arrested and charged with tampering with a witness, and Geter-Pataky, Castillo, and Heredia were charged with misrepresenting eligibility requirements for voting by absentee ballot.

Geter-Pataky is a city employee who works as a greeter at City Hall. A trial is set for Aug. 29.

Castillo is also facing a tax probe for multiple cars registered in Shelton where car taxes are lower than in Bridgeport.

“It was revealed he had a driver’s license in another town, which has called into question his residency in Bridgeport,” Dan Nelson, a former campaign worker for Gomes, told The Epoch Times.

Castillo did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.