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Judge Rules For Ritter, Against Green

Green Says He's Leaning Towards An Appeal

By Jeff Cohen

September 09, 2010

A judge has upheld Hartford City Councilman Matt Ritter’s two-vote victory over incumbent Ken Green in a Democratic primary for state house. WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports.

Unofficial results from the August 10 Democratic primary showed incumbent state Representative Ken Green with a two-vote lead over Hartford City Councilman Matt Ritter. But a mandatory recount left Ritter the winner by two votes. Green then filed suit, saying that the election was full of errors by poll workers in Bloomfield and Hartford.

But on Wednesday, state court Judge Susan Peck ruled from the bench in Ritter’s favor. Here’s Ritter’s take:

“She didn’t find any substantial violations of election law. And even if you were to infer technical irregularities, none of those irregularities put the election in doubt.”

Green said he’s strongly leaning toward an appeal. He says he believes that the irregularities in the election had an effect on the result.

“I was the winner, and not only until some irregularities in the recount, that they found out that he became the winner.”

Ritter is the son of Tom Ritter, a former speaker of the state house of representatives. Matt Ritter says the judge’s ruling is solid and he plans on getting ready for the general election.

“I fully expect to start campaigning again for November in the next couple of weeks.”

Two other candidates are vying for the seat. Independent Emanuel Lorenzo Blake and Republican Kenneth Lerman, who has apparently informed the state he would neither raise nor spend more than $1,000.