CQ Politics

The 4th extends from the outskirts of New York City and runs along the spectacularly wealthy “Gold Coast” towns on Long Island Sound. It also takes in the industrial city of Norwalk and white-collar Stamford, and, in stark contrast to the coastal affluence, Bridgeport, the state’s largest city. The district’s extremes create difficult terrain for politicians to navigate, as polo clubs rub elbows with the decayed city.

Financial workers riding commuter trains and Interstate 95 long brought wealth from Wall Street to the district’s tony suburbs, but with the burgeoning hedge fund industry centered in Greenwich, the trains and roads are experiencing rising occupancy in both directions. As some New York City residents commute to the 4th for work, traffic issues already permeating the public debate have been exacerbated. Some relief may come once a high-speed ferry service from Bridgeport to LaGuardia Airport and Lower Manhattanis established.

Bridgeport has suffered the fate of many post-industrial cities and registers a poverty rate far above the national average. Crime and drugs plague the city and development efforts have achieved mixed success. The South End, however, has seen marked progress, as apartments and businesses take over abandoned factories.

The suburban elite drive the political landscape here. Darien, New Canaan and Oxford were three of the seven jurisdictions in the state to give George W. Bush more than 60 percent of the vote in 2004. Still, the 4th preferred the last three Democratic presidential candidates overall, and most of the urban poor votes Democratic — John Kerry’s 71 percent showing in Bridgeport was his fifth-highest percentage in the state in 2004. GOP mayors continue to dominate local politics in the affluent suburbs, while Stamford and Bridgeport have Democratic mayors.

Major Industry

Banking, manufacturing, health care

Cities

Bridgeport, 139,529; Stamford, 117,083; Norwalk, 82,951; Trumbull (unincorporated), 34,243; Shelton (pt.), 28,192

notable

General Electric’s corporate headquarters are in Fairfield; The World Wrestling Entertainment corporate headquarters is in Stamford; The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport houses many of the showman’s exhibits.