Edwin Gomes

In November 1963, Ed began working as a laborer then as an annealer at Carpenter Steel in Bridgeport. He immediately got active in his local union (United Steelworkers of America Local 2215) and was named shop steward within six months and grievance person within one year. He eventually ran for office in Local 2215, elected recording secretary and then president.

In July 1977, Ed left Carpenter Steel to become an International Representative for District 1 of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), comprised of all the New England states. He was also named the USWA District 1 civil rights coordinator. Soon after, he worked closely with A. Philip Randolph, Bayard Rustin and Norman Hill, executive director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute. Ed also became involved with the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.

Ed was elected to serve on the Bridgeport City Council in 1983 where he served until 1989. He fought for well-paying jobs, good schools, strong neighborhoods, and seniors, just as he does today. Ed revived the Bridgeport Black Democratic Club and had that club join the Connecticut Federation of Black Democratic Clubs. He was elected as a vice president and member of the Connecticut AFL-CIO Executive Board.

In 1991, Ed was part of a group of Bridgeport civil rights activists who filed a federal lawsuit challenging the racial inequity of Bridgeport’s City Council districts. The legal team was headed by John Brittain, a UConn law professor and lead counsel on the Hartford school desegregation case Sheff v. O’Neill. Ed testified before Federal District Judge Peter Dorsey, and the case was won in 1993.

Ed retired from the United Steelworkers of America in February 1998. He was elected once more to the Bridgeport City Council in 1999 and served until 2005. Recently Ed has served as chair of the School Building Committee, starting the construction of the first new schools (five in total) Bridgeport has seen in the last quarter-century. Ed is also a founding member of Education First and Bridgeport First.

In May 2002, Ed Joined forces with Brennan Center for Justice, the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, and Common Cause Connecticut to successfully challenge Connecticut’s discriminatory delegate primary system. Once again, Ed testified before Judge Dorsey and proved to be a most compelling witness in shaping Judge Dorsey’s decision to overturn the delegate primary system and pave the way for our open primary system. Ed later joined the Board of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group.

Ed was first elected to serve as state Senator from the 23rd Senatorial District in a special election on November 14, 2005, and was overwhelmingly re-elected in November 2010. In Hartford, Ed will continue his lifelong fight for social and economic justice for all.

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