State To Investigate Southington GOP Regarding 2022 Campaign Complaint

SOUTHINGTON, CT — With Southington Democrats and Republicans at war this election season regarding the 81st House race, an incident from the heated 2022 race is being probed at the state level.

Wednesday, the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission voted to schedule a hearing with Southington Republicans regarding a complaint Democrats filed in 2023 about a mailer sent out before the 2022 state House elections.

During the 2022 election for the 81st House seat, Democrat Christopher Poulos narrowly defeated Republican Tony Morrison, 5,297-5,296.

The one-vote margin was finalized following a recount in the heavily GOP Southington district, which initially showed a Poulos win by a few votes.

Morrison conceded the race and the 81st seat was flipped, albeit by the narrowest of margins.

Now, Poulos is currently fighting for re-election against Republican James Morelli Jr. for the seat, which represents most of Southington, the lone town in the district.

But the specter of 2022 continues to loom over Southington politics.

Following the heated 2022 election, the Southington Democratic Town Committee filed a complaint with the Connecticut Elections Enforcement Commission about an anonymous letter sent out prior to the vote.

At issue, essentially, was whether the Southington GOP illegally funded the distribution of the flyer, Democrats said in the complained, filed in March 2023.

And, according to Democrats in a statement released Thursday, the state EEC's decision to take up the matter at a yet-to-be-scheduled hearing shows something illicit occurred.

"This vote by state election officials indicates that a violation occurred related to the 2022 election, when many Southington voters received an unattributed letter attacking candidate Chris Poulos, aiming to sway voters using divisive language," wrote the Southington Democratic Town Committee.

Specifically, the hearing will include Southington Police Commissioners Michael Riccio and Steve Kalkowski, along with Southington Republican Town Committee Chairman Mark LaJoie.

At issue is complicity with Connecticut State General Statutes 9-602 (a) and 9-621 (a).

Wednesday, the election's board appointed a hearing officer to oversee future proceedings, but no date has yet been scheduled.

"This vote by state election officials indicates that a violation occurred related to the 2022 election, when many Southington voters received an unattributed letter attacking candidate Chris Poulos, aiming to sway voters using divisive language," wrote Democrats.

Democrats earlier this month contended that "publicly available financial records of the Southington Republican Town Committee show that they have recently used donor money to cover unusual legal expenses."

Last week, LaJoie said those legal expenses referred to by Democrats have nothing to do with the March 2023 complaint filed by Democrats.

Rather, he said, the fees were for legal counsel relative to a fundraising event

As for the 2022 letter that spawned the Democrats' elections board complaint, LaJoie said Thursday afternoon that had nothing to do with Southington Republicans.

LaJoie admitted to being named in the complaint, speculating it is because he took over as chairman in 2022, but he said he did not know who was behind the controversial letter.

"It's not an SRTC issue," LaJoie said. "I'm named in it, but I had nothing to do with it."

He accused Democrats of "nit-picking" and filing nuisance complaints with the state.

"This is standard operating procedure with the Democrats. That's what they do," LaJoie said. "They don't have any accomplishments. They don't have any policies."

From Oct. 21: 'Southington Dems, GOP Fight Over Republicans' Legal Fees'