MELISSA BAILEY PHOTO
Weingarten with Peletier at Tuesday’s convention.
The head of a national teachers union praised a “dear friend” and third-party candidate who was barred from addressing a labor convention—then made a case for why delegates should instead support a governor who has angered teachers.
Lord Voldemort (left). Pelto (right).
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), made that case Tuesday at the Connecticut AFL-CIO’s 10th Biennial Political Convention at downtown New Haven’s Omni Hotel, where, according to script, delegates unanimously endorsed Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s reelection run.
Weingarten got behind Malloy, too—after mentioning Jonathan Pelto, an education blogger and former state legislator who recently joined the governor’s race. Pelto, a relentless critic of Malloy, especially on education, is trying to get on the ballot as a third-party candidate under the new Education and Democracy Party. Pelto has played
Lord Voldemort in the script of the convention of the last two days: Convention organizers refused to let him speak and in some cases shuddered to say his name, portraying him as the evil third-party spoiler who could snatch the margin of victory away from Malloy in a tight rematch with Republican Tom Foley.
DOL chief Sharon Palmer, Weingarten and Peters.
When she heard a reporter utter the would-be spoiler’s name, AFT CT President Melodie Peters declined a press interview and walked away.
“Pelto?” she said. “I’m not talking about Pelto.”
Lori Pelletier, head of the AFL-CIO of CT, didn’t allow Pelto to address the convention. “Third parties don’t win. They spoil,” she said. She limited the invites to the two majority party nominees,
Malloy and Foley, who appeared Monday.The specter of Jonathan Pelto emerged Tuesday, when Weingarten gave a keynote speech right before delegates endorsed Malloy.
Weingarten called Pelto “a dear friend of mine.”
“He’s done a lot of good work,” Weingarten said of Pelto in her convention address. Then she made a case for why delegates should not endorse him or vote for him.
Malloy has angered teachers, particularly though remarks in 2012 that in order to get tenure, teachers just had to “show up” to work. Through
his blog, Pelto has hammered Malloy and his education commissioner, Stefan Pryor, on their connection to charter schools, endorsement of the Common Core and other attempted reforms. AFT leaders have endorsed Malloy, fearing the election of a
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Gets A Mention | New Haven Independent:
