State To Investigate Complaint About Stratford Primary Petitions

STRATFORD, CT — Stratford’s Democrat registrar of voters is forcing a primary election in an effort to keep his job of more than a decade, but the leader of the town Democrats has filed a complaint with state officials questioning the legitimacy of the primary challenge.

Rick Marcone has been the Democrat registrar for nearly 12 years. However, he could lose his post after the Stratford Democratic Town Committee in May endorsed former Town Council candidate James Simon to run for the position. Marcone planned to seek the endorsement but at the last minute the person who had agreed to nominate him backed out, he said, causing Marcone to instead petition to challenge Simon in an Aug. 11 election. Committee Chairman Steven Taccogna recently complained to the state that Marcone’s petitions do not qualify him to run.

“I think it’s a political ploy just to get some ammunition against me,” Marcone said.

In order to be eligible for the primary, Marcone needs signatures from 458 registered Democrats in Stratford. He collected 556 signatures, but his own office rejected 68, leaving a total of 488. In the complaint, Taccogna argued 20 of the remaining signatures were incorrectly certified and another 20 were fraudulent. He also questioned the ethics of Marcone and his subordinates processing the petitions.

“I’m just calling ethical foul on that,” Taccogna said, adding Marcone could have recused himself to avoid the conflict of interest.

Marcone said his deputy certified the majority of the petitions and his assistant certified any petitions his deputy had circulated.

“I did not certify any signatures,” Marcone said. “… The petitions that I filed were done properly and legally and by the book.”

Registrar of voters is a full-time job, but if elected, Simon said he would like to see it reduced to part-time. Simon, a journalism professor at Southern Connecticut State University, also criticized Marcone’s support of Councilman Jim Connor in the 2019 election. Connor narrowly defeated Simon to hold the District 8 seat.

“For too long, Stratford has not had a strong Democratic voice in the Democratic registrar position,” Simon said.

Marcone has served as the Democratic Town Committee chairman in the past and is a former Democrat candidate for Town Council, but is no longer a member of the committee.

“I’ve been pushed out of the DTC,” he said.

While the Connecticut State Elections Enforcement Commission has agreed to take up Taccogna’s complaint, both Taccogna and Marcone said the commission is unlikely to reach a decision before the primary.