Politics & Government
Working class Republican
Lieutenant Gov. nominee Matt Corey says Fazio's star is on the rise; praises Trump's policy in Iran
By Scott Benjamin
BROOKFIELD – Matt Corey recalls when Danbury Road from New Milford to Brookfield didn’t have two lanes on each side with a grass divider in between and the Route 7 bypass was only on the drawing board, because of too little federal money and too much bureaucratic gobbledygook.
Or that there wasn’t a need for an additional traffic light so the residents at New Milford’s Willow Springs condominiums could safely make a left-hand turn.
Find out what's happening in Brookfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
He is sitting at a Dunkin Donuts in Brookfield Town Center – within running distance of the 2.1-mile Brookfield bypass and Danbury Road, where there is a sign on the New Milford side proclaiming, “Best Town In The USA.”
Corey says, “What was that barbeque place in New Milford that eventually went out of business?”
Find out what's happening in Brookfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Now there are restaurants with checkered tablecloths, candles and wine bottles.
Corey did exterior construction work on New Milford High School along Danbury Road. The new school opened in 2000.
“I can’t believe it was that long ago,” said Corey, who lives in Manchester.
It was before his three runs for the U.S. House in the First District, a state Senate bid and two campaigns against Democrat Chris Murphy for the U.S. Senate.
“He has certainly been persistent in his pursuit of elected office” said state Sen. Eric Berthel (R-32) of Watertown. “He has won primaries in 169 towns and cities across Connecticut.”
But he has never garnered the gold medal.
Corey is now the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, running on a ticket with State Ryan Fazio, 36, of Greenwich, who wasn’t even in high school when Corey was going to work along the less-traveled Danbury Road.
State Senate Republican Leader Stephen Harding (R-30) of Brookfield commented, “Part of the reason he did so well at the convention is that he is familiar with many of the Republican Town Committee members who were delegates.”
Bob MacGuffie of Fairfield, the Republican convention nominee in 2024 in the Fourth Congressional District, remarked, “Fazio knows all the issues and is ever-ready to peel the onion on them at a moment's notice. He is an impressive candidate. With Matt Corey, we have a genuine representative of the everyman's interests.”
Corey has worked for the Teamsters, had a window washing business and owned a pub.
Corey said Fazio understands that people often don’t use a calculator to select a candidate.
“You get him outside of a Republican Town Committee meeting at a bar and grill and the public asks tough questions about homelessness and addiction problems,” he remarked. “You can hear the sincerity in his heart. He gives real-life answers. You need a guy who has that type of personality, that kind of sharpness. If he gets elected for two terms as governor, I could see him moving up to national office.”
New Milford also borders Washington, which last year became the first Connecticut town to install speed cameras. Jamel Johnson of Fox 61 reported that Washington Police Officer Rich Innaimo has said, “I have seen some speeds that I didn’t think were possible on that road. Since the camera has been up, most of the speeds have been 14-15 over the limit. When we first started the program, I was getting pings of 20-25 over the speed limit."
However, Corey said that despite the need for safety “especially around schools, neighborhoods, and heavily traveled areas,” he opposes installing speed cameras.
“In my opinion, they create another layer of government bureaucracy and, too often, become more about generating revenue for towns than about improving public safety,” he said in an interview with Patch.com
“I believe the better approach is supporting visible law enforcement, improving road design where needed, and focusing on dangerous driving behaviors directly, not automated systems that many residents feel are designed to issue tickets first and ask questions later,” Corey commented.
Corey was talking about the Republican working-class platform before CNN cut away to air a Donald Trump MAGA rally.
Harding commented, “Matt embodies that philosophy.”
Corey attended Trump’s 2017 inauguration and criticized state Republican Party Chairman Ben Proto of Stratford two years ago for discouraging Connecticut GOP candidates for mentioning Trump – a charge that Proto has strongly denied.
Since Trump initiated the war with Iran, gas prices have spiraled toward $5 a gallon.
Should the state government enact a temporary gas tax suspension as it did when inflation was roaring in 2022? AAA reports that the average price per gallon in Connecticut for regular is now $4.57. A year ago it was $3.10.
Corey said, “Any kind of relief Connecticut families can get is great.”
He remarked, “Once the war ends; gas was below $2 a gallon [before the war]. We need gas below $3 a gallon. This is a national security issue. We all should suffer a minor bit to support good policy to make sure that Iran doesn’t get nuclear weapons. Hopefully this will bring peace and prosperity to the people of Iran.”
Declared Corey, “If Iran ever got ahold of a nuclear weapon, Israel would be wiped off the face of the earth.”
Corey praised Trump’s fortitude.
He commented, “The president has done a good job of containing Iran. You have to give this man a chance. We were in Afghanistan for about 20 years. You have religious fanatics in Iran. It is not a conventional war.”
Larry Lazor of West Hartford, the Republican nominee in the First Congressional District in 2022, said “The president probably won’t get credit until years from now, but he has engaged in serious pushback on Iran and terrorist activities that I am very much in favor of. He also is a good negotiator.”
Added Lazor, “It is always tough to win an election when the economy is not going well and you are the party in power. When the Iran situation comes to a conclusion. The Strait of Hormuz opens up and prices come down, I think people will look at it differently. They appreciate that the president closed the border and with the Democrats going so far left, I think some people are going to pause before voting for them.”
Corey said that more so than most presidents, Trump has done what he said he would do.
“He stopped more than eight wars around the world,” Corey remarked. “You don’t have to like his personality. Look at your 401K. Look at the $18 trillion he repatriated to this country.”
Corey is wearing a gray U.S. Navy T-shirt with an anchor symbol. He served from 1982 to 1987.
Former Army helicopter pilot Amber Smith wrote in her 2024 book, “Unfit To Fight,” that diversity, equity and inclusion has degraded the military.
Corey agreed, exclaiming, “My main concern is lowering the standards. Everybody’s life is dependent on every person that is in there. They need the best and the brightest.”
“Talking about woke doesn’t make a great military,” he said. “This DEI stuff has to go. We need to teach our kids how to think and not what to think.”
Peter Devine, an assistant professor of Economics at Boston College, and Sam Slocum , who was an economist with the White House Council of Economic Advisors during the Biden Administration, wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal column that in 1990 America had 51 prime defense firms, now it has just five.
Corey said there should be more competition for Pentagon contracts even though three of the five prime firms – RTX, Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics have large operations in Connecticut.
Policy experts Ben Freeman and William Hartung wrote in their 2025 book, “The Trillion Dollar War Machine,” that the legacy defense contractors, such as those in Connecticut, are facing competition from the Silicon Valley start-ups, which are operated by such billionaires as Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.
Corey said to address that competition, Connecticut needs to become “more affordable.”
“Just registering a tractor trailer in Connecticut,” he said. “It is not profitable when you compare it to registering something in Vermont or New Hampshire.”
State Rep. Marty Foncello (R-107) of Brookfield recently told Patch.com that, “I’d like to see more artificial intelligence here in Connecticut. I think some of that will be tied into the defense contracts.”
Corey agrees, complaining that the legislation recently approved by the General Assembly “curtails” artificial intelligence.
“Connecticut is not going to be on the radar for any innovation,” he declared.
Donald Eng of CT News Junkie reported that the artificial intelligence legislation “establishes protections against artificial intelligence harms, expands workforce development programs, and positions Connecticut as a national leader in responsible AI policy, according to Sen. James Maroney, D-Milford, the Senate’s leading proponent.
Corey acknowledged that part of the reason Wall Street is booming and consumer confidence is lagging is because artificial intelligence is boosting stock values and consumers, particularly white-collar professionals, fear A.I. will eliminate their jobs.
However, as with other technological advances through the years – telephones, cars, the Internet – he believes that over time, A.I. will generate even more jobs.
He said he laments that Connecticut is not creating patents the way it did when Igor Sikorsky flew the first functional helicopter in Stratford in 1939.
Corey commented, “We are a service state that used to be an entrepreneurial state.”
Who would have thought 50 years ago that you would have ESPN, one of the most profitable cable television companies in the world, headquartered in Bristol.
Corey said in 1989 he did the window washing on ESPN’s first building.
He commented, “It was started by a commentator for the Hartford Whalers, wasn’t it?
“Bill Rasmussen.”
His son, Scott Rasmussen, a noted pollster, just published a book, “Out Of Touch,”
Scott Rasmussen stated, “ [The top one percent] trust government more than the public, believe Americans have too much freedom, and increasingly doubt whether everyday citizens should even be allowed to vote.”
Corey disagrees with that thesis, saying, “Jeff Bezos is a self-made billionaire who built Amazon and you cannot deny the job growth that he has created. Those jobs have come as a result of his wealth.”
If elected, Corey said he wants to expand the role of the lieutenant governor’s office so that “it can be a place for whistleblowers in the state of Connecticut,” and make state operations more transparent and efficient.
Corey added that he would follow the model of M. Jodi Rell (R-Brookfield), who at the beginning of her nine-and-a-half-year tenure in that office traveled the state to meet with each of the municipal chief elected officials.
She had said many of them followed up with her office when they had questions about state policies.
“I want to be their ambassador,” said Corey. “I also want to be an ambassador for getting more jobs in the state.”
Who has been a better NBA player: LeBron James or Michael Jordan?
“Michael Jordan,” says Corey.
“It’s about attitude,” Corey commented. “It is about personality and inspiring young people.”
“I go back to Dr. J and Pistol Pete.,” he noted.
Corey remarked, “I think Michael Jordan inspires people more than LeBron James.”
Resources:
Interview with Matt Corey, Patch.com, on Sunday, May 24, 2026.
Phone interview with Matt Corey. Patch.com, on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
E-mail interview with Matt Corey, Patch.com, on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
Phone interview with Stephen Harding, Patch.com, on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
E-mail interview with Eric Berthel, Patch.com, on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.
E-mail interview with Bob MacGuffie, Patch.com, on Tuesday, May 26, 2026.
Phone interview with Larry Lazor, Patch.com, on Friday, May 29, 2026.
Scott Rasmussen, “Out Of Touch,” Republic Book Publishers , 2026.
Amber Smith, “Unfit To Fight, ”Regnery, 2024.
William Hartung, Ben Freeman, “The Trillion Dollar War Machine,” Bold Type Books, 2025.
https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=CT.
https://www.ctinsider.com/living/article/Inventions-created-in-Connecticut-16379555.php
