Republican Maltese Mayoral Camp: Shakeup At Best, Chaos At Worst

EAST HAVEN, CT — The East Haven mayoral campaign of Republican Sal Maltese appears to be fractured as in less than two days, one after another, key advisors have either bailed, or assumed top roles only to, hours later, withdraw.

The ball began unraveling as it rolled downhill when Chris Lancia, who was running the campaign to unseat Democrat Mayor Joseph A. Carfora, posted on social media he was out.

On the East Haven Politics Facebook page, with around 800 followers, Lancia wrote:

"Hello, I would like everyone to know At this time I will no longer be running Salvatore Maltese campaign for Mayor. That will be the job of Patty Cofrancesco will be his main advisor. I was brought into this mix by a friend, Louis Pane who asked me to help Sal. At the time I did not know what party either belonged to. I am a republican full time not part time. I will not let a person like Patty run a Republican campaign. I am trying to get the party stronger. We have an amazing chairman for the state, Ben Proto, and we need to run our own elections. Not a democrat who is very angry with the current Mayor."

He is referring to former town attorney Cofrancesco.

Shortly after Lancia posted, East Haven Town Clerk Stacy Gravino shared her own message:

"The Maltese for mayor campaign is sorry to have parted ways with Chris Lancia but we have decided to take the campaign in a different direction. While Patty will be part of the campaign, she will not be in charge of it. We have a nucleus of people stepping in to assist the Campaign which will be led by me, Stacy Gravino. I will be heading up Sal’s campaign. We have a very strong slate and Sal’s campaign is looking forward to working with the underticket to bring about a victory for all."

Sources told Patch that Lancia made it clear in a social media post that he “left,” as opposed to the campaign and he “parting ways.”

But not long after, Gravino wrote:

“I have spoken with the attorney at the Secretary of State’s office and was informed there isn’t anything in the state statutes prohibiting me from taking on the role of a campaign manager, I have however made a decision. After much thought and concern about my current position as Town Clerk as well as the integrity of the Office of the Town Clerk, I am stepping down from being campaign manager for the Maltese for mayor campaign.”

In 2017, Maltese sued the town and Gravino in particular demanding a recount of the mayoral race he lost that year, as a Democrat, citing "an unknown number” of absentee ballots were rejected by Gravino.

Just a few days ago, Gravino posted to Facebook about absentee ballots including the Maltese campaign. Gravino is a Republican running for town clerk.

Meanwhile, Tuesday afternoon, Cofrancesco submitted a letter suggesting Maltese asked her to step aside — he "knuckled" —, in her role in the campaign, to be posted to the Facebook group. The post appears to have been removed. Patch got a screenshot and a copy of the three page letter that ends with her announcing that she cancelled her fundraiser for Maltese.

She also claimed that the GOP chairwoman was “disingenuous” when, Cofrancesco wrote, “she feigned ignorance about my involvement in this Campaign.”

Cofrancesco called Lancia “disgruntled,” alleged Gravino left due to “fear of reprisals,” claimed that the RTC chair did not show up to campaign meetings, and that East Haven GOP legislator Joe Zullo ghosted Maltese when he did not show up to a meeting with the candidate.

She called East Haven politics a “blood sport” and said that Republicans are “feeding on their own."

She blasted Carfora and his administration and called Town Attorney Michael Luzzi a “bully."

Among her many allegations in the letter, she noted that she “authored letters under (RTC chair Holly Bryk’s) signature for the East Haven Courier as well as the East Haven Patch.”

Here is the full letter:

Cofrancesco Letter by Ellyn Santiago

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Tuesday morning and again in the afternoon, Patch reached out to two members of the East Haven Republican Town Committee, secretary Lynn Torello and chair Bryk for clarification on the status of the campaign. As of 6 p.m., Patch had not heard back. This post will be updated if a response is received.

The RTC endorsed Maltese last month.