How Santanella And Tyler Differ In Their Political Giving

ENFIELD, CT — State Rep. John Santanella and challenger Tom Tyler are both seeking the Democratic nomination in Enfield’s 58th House District, but their personal political contributions have followed sharply different paths.

A Patch review of Connecticut campaign-finance records found that nearly 97 percent of the money Tyler contributed between Jan. 1, 2023, and Aug. 24, 2026, went to Republican committees or candidates. Santanella’s contributions during the same period went to Democratic recipients or political action committees connected to Democratic officials.

The review used the same search criteria for both candidates in the State Elections Enforcement Commission’s eCRIS database. It examined itemized contributions reported under the names Thomas Tyler and John Santanella with Enfield addresses.

Records show six contributions from Tyler totaling $6,520. Of that, $6,320 went to Republican recipients and $200 went to Democrats.

Tyler gave the Enfield Republican Town Committee $2,000 in 2023, another $2,000 in 2024 and $2,000 in 2025. He also contributed $320 to the 2024 campaign of Republican Carol Hall, who now represents the neighboring 59th House District.

His two Democratic contributions were $100 to the Enfield Democratic Town Committee in July 2023 and $100 to David Alexander’s 2026 state Senate campaign.

By dollar amount, 96.9 percent of Tyler’s disclosed contributions went to Republicans. By the number of transactions, four of his six contributions went to Republican recipients.

Tyler’s ties to the Democratic Party extend back decades. He is a former chairman of the Enfield Democratic Town Committee and previously served on the Democratic State Central Committee. His campaign website also says he is self-funding his current campaign and is not accepting contributions or public campaign money.

Tyler’s first $2,000 contribution to the Enfield Republican Town Committee was made in August 2023. That donation became a public issue later that year, when the Republican-majority Town Council voted 6-4 along party lines to appoint him interim town attorney.

Then-Councilor Gina Cekala, a Democrat who is now mayor, cited the contribution among her reasons for opposing the appointment. Tyler served as town attorney until February, when the current council appointed Cindy Cieslak to the position.

Santanella’s personal giving was larger overall and stayed within Democratic political circles, the records show.

The eCRIS search returned 31 Santanella contributions totaling $9,065.47 during the same period. No contributions to Republican candidates or committees were found.

Of that total, $7,815.47 went to recipients that eCRIS explicitly identifies as Democratic. That included $4,648.07 spread across 19 contributions to the Enfield Democratic Town Committee and $2,000 to the Manchester Democratic Town Committee.

Santanella also gave a combined $1,167.40 to Democratic candidate committees, including campaigns for state Senate, state House, lieutenant governor and state treasurer.

The remaining $1,250 went to two political action committees that eCRIS does not assign a party affiliation: $1,000 to Forward Together CT and $250 to the Matt Ritter PAC.

Forward Together CT’s current state registration identifies Santanella as its chairman. The Matt Ritter PAC is headed by Democratic House Speaker Matt Ritter. Because neither is formally listed as a Democratic committee in the receipt database, those contributions were kept separate from Santanella’s $7,815.47 in direct Democratic giving.

The records do not indicate why either candidate made a particular contribution or whether a contribution reflected agreement with every position held by its recipient. Political contributions are legal and are made public under Connecticut’s campaign-finance disclosure laws.

The comparison also does not include money contributed to federal campaigns, contributions made before 2023, unitemized donations or personal money placed into the candidates’ own campaigns under a different reporting category.

Santanella is the party-endorsed candidate and is seeking a second term in the state House. He also serves as Enfield’s deputy mayor and District 2 town councilor. Tyler collected enough signatures to force the primary after not receiving the party endorsement.

The two will meet in a special Democratic primary Sept. 1. The winner will become the party’s nominee for the November election.

For more Northern Connecticut news, follow Patch editor Jay Kenney.