On Tuesday, just as the polls were opening, Mr. Ferrucci climbed into his white truck to begin the day's rounds. It was only after he had unloaded 450 cases of baked goods, hours later, that he was able to resume his quest for the city's top job.

Taking a break from his rounds on Thursday in nearby Hamden, the ponytailed Mr. Ferrucci, who was wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt, acknowledged having laced his campaign with humor. Visitors to the party's Web site learn, for instance, that "we've got nothing to hide — we just need some time to get our story straight." But he said his intentions could not be more serious.

--and this description of his platform:

If he were running New Haven, he said, he would pressure Yale to pay a chunk of the roughly $36 million it might owe were it not exempt from property taxes. "It's not going to break them," he said.

He would revitalize some of the more neglected parts of town, and he would forgo half the mayor's $104,000 salary to keep one of the city's homeless shelters open year-round. Another campaign promise was to run the city's school buses with vegetable-based bio-diesel, a fuel made from processed oil. "You go to a Chinese restaurant and fill up," Mr. Ferrucci said, puffing on a cigarette. "The great thing is, the exhaust smells like doughnuts."

Ferrucci was supported by "rock bands, a bicycle advocacy group and a soup kitchen" named Food Not Bombs. Add us to the mix. We hope he tries again. Oh, and here's his rap sheet.