De Barros carries the Douglass banner

By Scott Benjamin

SOUTHBUIRY – Jonathan De Barros holds up a brown-colored brief case embossed with the words, “Frederick Douglass Republican.”

Over the last 45 years there have been Republicans who were “Ronald Reagan Supply-side freaks,” “George W. Bush Compassionate Conservative freaks” and “Donald Trump Make America Great Again freaks.”

But a “Frederick Douglass freak”?

Sure, there is a Frederick Douglass Academy in New York City.

Yes, Yale History Professor David W. Blight wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography on Douglass in 2018.

But isn’t this like being a “Spencer Davis freak” when you should be a “Rolling Stones freak”?

De Barros, who is seeking the Republican nomination in the Fifth Congressional District, said, “I believe the true history of Frederick Douglass was and still is one of the most influential stories ever written about African-American history.”

De Barros, an African-American, remarked that Douglass, who lived in the 19th century, was “a Black man and a proud Republican who was a former slave for 20 years, achieved so much success in his life after he escaped slavery and gained his own freedom. Frederick Douglass taught himself how to read and write and wrote three autobiographies of his own life and became the advisor for five sitting United States Presidents including Abraham Lincoln who signed the emancipation proclamation freeing Black Americans from slavery largely due to the influence of Frederick Douglass.”

Furthermore, De Barros said in the 20th century there were a number of Republicans in Congress who supported the civil rights bills that were approved in the 1950s and 1960s.

De Barros, who grew up in Waterbury and has lived with his wife, Alicia, in Plymouth for the last 10 years, takes strong stands against Democrats and the perceived liberal media culture.

“The Democratic Party has always tried to ostracize masculinity in the African-American community,” he declared.

How so?

De Barros explained, “Through Hollywood, pop culture, they elevate homosexual black men. They put a spotlight on homosexual black men, instead of showing stable, responsible black fathers in a positive light. I feel it is intentional.”

In his Daily Ructions blog, Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie criticized one of De Barros’s social media posts as stepping across the line of decency.

Rennie stated that, “De Barros wrote to anyone contemplating running against him, ‘I promise you that I will not play nice and I will actually do you worse than I’m gonna do her [presumably referring to Democratic incumbent Jahana Hayes] because I know no one can beat her but me.’ ”

Rennie stated, “If the incendiary Klan imagery included in that post did not sufficiently appall readers, De Barros added in a second post 10 minutes later that claimed, “If you step in my District with your bullshit, I’m going to destroy you in a Republican Primary Election and intentionally embarrass you for even trying.”

Rennie exclaimed, “Fifth District Republicans will need to put some effort into finding a candidate who will not attract the kind of attention that requires frequent comment and condemnation by other candidates on the Republican line.”

In an interview with Patch.com, De Barros explained, “The Ku Klux Klan from a historical standpoint was created by the Democratic Party.”

History.com stated, “Founded in 1865, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) extended into almost every southern state by 1870 and became a vehicle for white southern resistance to the Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for Black Americans. Its members waged an underground campaign of intimidation and violence directed at white and Black Republican leaders. Though Congress passed legislation designed to curb Klan terrorism, the organization saw its primary goal—the reestablishment of white supremacy—fulfilled through Democratic victories in state legislatures across the South in the 1870s.”

Commented De Barros, “The imagery of a Republican playing chess against a member of the Ku Klux Klan is the image of a Republican playing chess against the Democratic Party.”

“It [the photo in the social media post] wasn’t a racist thing,” he explained. “It was more so from a historical standpoint.”

In 1979, Ned Coll, the executive director of the Hartford Revitalization Corps, surveyed Connecticut’s congressional offices and found that both U.S. Sen. Abraham Ribicoff (D-New Britain) and U.S. Rep. Chris Dodd (D-Second District) did not have any people of color working on their congressional staffs.

If elected, would De Barros seek to meet affirmative action goals in hiring staff members? Would he guarantee that at least one staff position would be held by a person of color?

De Barros said his hiring would be “merit based,” adding that there are many people of color qualified to work in a congressional office.

The Republican leadership appears reluctant to embrace De Barros’s bid for the seat, which has been in Democratic control since the 2006 election.

State Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding (R-30) of Brookfield said, “I don’t know much about Jonathan. I have met him in passing at events.”

Republican state Party Chairman Ben Proto of Stratford commented, “I have had one conversation with Jonathan. I’m not sure what he’s doing.”

Michelle Botelho of Danbury - who ran in 2022 and 2024 for the nomination but received scant support - stated in an e-mail message that she is considering another bid.

Are there other potential contenders?

Said Proto, “I’ve had conversations with a few people who have expressed an interest in the race. They have not made a decision.”

By this time four years ago, Republican former state Sen. George Logan had held a news conference and was attending every carnival and pig roast on the calendar.

In early 2022. the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) established a community outreach center in New Britain, the third largest city in the Fifth District, to help boost support for Logan.

After he lost to incumbent Democrat Jahana Hayes of Wolcott by just 2,000 votes, Logan returned in 2024 and the NRCC set up a battle-ground headquarters in Farmington. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson keynoted the grand opening.

Logan lost by about 23,000 votes in the rematch with Hayes, the former national teacher of the year.

Sacred Heart University Professor of Politics and Scholar in Residence Gary Rose, who wrote a book in 2023 on the Connecticut Republican Party, said, “When [Logan] did not come through, it doesn’t surprise me that there is a reluctance to run against Jahana Hayes.”

“Logan was the best they could put up against Jahana Hayes,” he added.

“Is Mike Johnson going to appear for this individual [De Barros]?” Rose said. “That is a good question.”

In 2024 Hayes captured the five cities – Waterbury, Danbury New Britain, Meriden and Torrington - by a collective 16,858 votes. She only lost in Torrington.

Out of the remaining 36 municipalities in the Fifth District, which encompasses much of Western Connecticut, she annexed 19 of the suburbs. Not long ago, some of them were considered Republican strongholds.

During the 2023-2024 election cycle Hayes raised $4,048 million, according to Open Secrets – almost twice as much as the next highest total for a congressman from Connecticut – Democrat Jim Himes of the Fourth District.

“She is well-connected to the Democratic political operations in Washington,” Harding declared. “If you’re an incumbent Democrat and you look vulnerable in your district, you’re going to get a lot of money. That’s not surprising.”

“I think she is closely connected with Sen. [Chris] Murphy,” Harding added. “I believe he was one of her biggest advocates when she stepped into the political ring. Sen. Murphy is well-known for his ability to fund-raise. Her campaign fund-raising is probably primarily driven by that.”

Explained Rose, “So much of what is happening in the Fifth District has to do with the women’s vote in a lot of these suburbs in Connecticut. White, educated women are voting in a pretty moderately to liberal direction.”

He added that Hayes, the first African-American Democratic female to be elected to the U.S. House from New England, ”has made a number of decisions in Congress that are generating support in her district. She had done a lot with broadband in the district that has reached into Republican communities. It has generated some good will towards her.”

“If she was able to take on Logan and beat him decisively a second time, it is difficult to see anyone defeating her,” Rose commented. “I think she is on her way to establishing a really safe seat.”

Since 1972, voters in the Fifth District have elected nine congressmen – five Democrats and four Republicans. Through the 2024 election it was among a handful of districts nationally that had been so competitive for so long.

This is the district where Republican John Rowland got elected in 1984 by saying that incumbent Democrat Bill Ratchford’s platform was out of the New Zoo Revue. Rowland got Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford to come to the district and proclaim that he was the greatest thing this side of William F. Buckley. Four years later Rowland garnered 74 percent of the vote – still the record in the district.

The district where in 1990 Republican Gary Franks ended former Sixth District U.S. Rep. Toby Moffett’s career for elective office and then attracted such attention as the first Republican African-American U.S. House member in generations that over the ensuing years he answered questions from Ted Koppel on Nightline, went on a book tour after his memoir was published and squabbled with House Speaker Newt Gingrich, but still had him campaign for him.

The district where in 2002, after the Sixth District and Fifth District were merged, that Republican Nancy Johnson’s supporters joked that in the two-incumbent race, Democrat Jim Maloney, who was then serving his third term, had earlier pledged to serve only four terms, so he had, in effect, become the first congressman ever to announce his retirement before he formally launched his next re-election campaign. Johnson, who was the first GOP female to serve on the powerful House Ways & Means Committee, won the two-incumbents arm wrestle.

After reviewing De Barros’s platform, Rose said, “It is very conservative. Very pro-Trump. Will that type of individual do well in the district?”

“He doesn’t seem to be moving to the center, which is what the district really is,” Rose explained.

De Barros remarked, “I tell people, you may not like [Trump’s] personality, but you need to look at his policies.”

Trump imposed tariffs during his first term and has been negotiating with foreign countries for even larger levies since he proclaimed April 2 as Liberation Day.

The Wall Street Journal editorial of August 2 stated that, “The tariff tax in dollar terms at Mr. Trump’s current rates will be close to $360 billion a year. That’s among the largest increases in recent history.”

If the price for a pair of running shorts designed in California but made in China increases by 59 percent, is that going to pass the test with the gang at the Inn Cafe?

Said De Barros, “[The tariffs are] going to disrupt the economy at first. However it will be better for the country in the long term.”

“I believe that tariffs are important,” he added. “I believe it is the only way for us to stay competitive. I think it is a chess game that Trump is playing to get the best deal that he can get.”

Wall Street Journal economics commentator Greg Ip wrote that Trump has engaged in “state capitalism - a hybrid between socialism and capitalism - in which the state guides the decisions of nominally private enterprises.”

A recent example is “the 15 percent of certain chip sales to China that Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices will share with Washington.”

Said De Barros, “I think it is a good policy. A lot of these countries are doing business in China and China is a Communist state party. They’re ripping off their working class. President Trump is trying to strengthen our country by reducing our national debt.”

De Barros said he supports eliminating Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China, which have been in effect for almost 25 years, and instead have a Most Favored Nation trading system with annual reviews attached to human rights improvements in China.

“That is better, because it keeps them in line,” he commented.

De Barros went to prison at age 18, in what he calls a wrongful conviction from an act of self-defense. He won the case in Appellate Court and was “fully exonerated.”

He applauds Trump for signing during his first term the First Step Act for law offenders.

As reported by Wikipedia, under the legislation, “prison administrators would use the national risk and needs assessment system to classify a prisoner's risk of recidivism, to make decisions about which recidivism reduction programs might be appropriate for each individual, and to determine when a prisoner is prepared to transfer into prerelease custody.”

Since 2018, De Barros has operated the Phoenix Youth Foundation, a self-funded organization that attempts to help at-risk youths learn from his “experiences” and get them “back on their feet” so “they can become taxpayers” and “run for government.”

He surveys his hometown of Waterbury and sees, “ So many low-income families living in the housing projects that are not on Section 8 assistance. They go to work every day. But they live in these communities.”

De Barros said some of them could become state legislators, noting that the Republicans did not field a candidate in 48 state legislative races in 2024.

How has Waterbury changed?

De Barros, 46, said his sister, who is 18 years older, and his brother, who is 12 years older than him, “grew up at a time where you had a lot of family households. Families were homeowners. They took good care of their properties. By the time I was born a lot the factories had closed down and jobs were sent overseas or down South for cheap labor or lower costs.”

“Crime followed. Over time the young people had no clue what a healthy family looks like. They didn’t understand how to be respectful; to open doors for women. These kids have no clue.”

In his 1992 ‘Murphy Brown’ speech, Republican Vice President Dan Quayle said, “Bearing babies irresponsibly is simply wrong.”

In 2012, Brookings Institute senior fellow Isabel Sawhill wrote in The Washington Post that Quayle’s speech was “controversial” at the time but now seemed “prophetic.” In 1992, 30 percent of the babies were born outside of marriage and then, 20 years later, it had grown to 41 percent.

She wrote that it appeared to be an “irreversible trend.

Said De Barros, “I grew up in a single-parent household. My parents divorced when I was four years old.”

“I didn’t have the structure of a two-parent household,” he declared. “My friends that did have a two-parent household; they tended to be more successful. They had parents helping them with their school work. They had more discipline.”

“In a two-parent household you can generate more wealth for the family,” De Barros added.

“It is very important to me to promote marriage,” he commented. “To me, church is a great facilitator of marriage.”

Resources:

Interview with Jonathan De Barros, Patch.com on Saturday, August 2, 2025.

E-mail statement from Jonathan De Barros, Patch.com, on Sunday, August 3, 2025.

E-mail interview with Jonathan DeBarros, Patch.com, on Wednesday, August 6, 2025.

Phone interview with Jonathan De Barros, Patch.com, on Thursday, August 14, 2025.

Phone interview with Stephen Harding, Patch.com, on Monday, August 11, 2025.

Phone interview with Gary Rose, Patch.com, on Tuesday, August 12, 2025.

Phone interview with Ben Proto, Patch.com, on Tuesday, August 12, 2025.

Michelle Botelho statement to Patch.com on Tuesday, August 12, 2025.

https://www.wsj.com/economy/th...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAZEtJaCULw&t=1045s

https://www.history.com/articles/ku-klux-klan

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-connecticut-us-house-5.html

https://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary?cycle=2024&id=CT05&spec=N