New Haven's Mayor, John DeStefano Jr. reflects in this article on the changes he's making in his campaign style as part of his first participation in the public financing program now available in Connecticut. First up: a campaign kick-off in a local park, with staffers grilling up hotdogs for local supporters.


Connecticut passed Clean Elections-style public financing for statewide and legislative races in 2005, and New Haven, home of Yale's very active chapter of Democracy Matters, passed a citywide system which DeStefano has opted to run with. He hopes others will also use the system, and notes the differences he sees:

"This is a downshift of campaigning," the mayor said to a supporter. "This is a very different type of campaign kickoff than we've had." The event was informal, with guests lining up for burgers flipped by mayoral spokesman Jessica Mayorga, at left in this picture, and new campaign manager Adriana Arreola, at right.

New rules curtail the mayor from making the most use of his contractor buddies and his new network of statewide contacts developed through the governor's race.