2022 – Secretary of State

As a small business owner, I understand what it takes to grow and maintain a successful enterprise.  There are no shortcuts for hard work and fair dealing.  Government must support and never be an impediment.  Boards value my work because I am not afraid to speak my mind, ask the difficult questions, and challenge historical assumptions.

In 2018 when I saw a problem, I brought the same work ethic and fair dealing to the political arena. I became an active volunteer with Fight Back Connecticut, served on Norwalk’s  Democratic Town Committee, and was appointed to Norwalk’s Zoning Commission. In 2020, with the help of a small army of engaged volunteers of all ages and races, I was elected as State Representative of Connecticut’s 143rd district (Norwalk, Wilton, and Westport).

In Hartford, I made a name for myself by addressing constituent concerns quickly and thoroughly and by speaking up to challenge assumptions on both sides of the aisle. In addition to my work on the Commerce and Transportation Committees, as Vice Chair of the Government Administration and Elections Committee, I was able to sponsor and help pass a variety of voter focused bills such as automatic voter registration at state agencies and resolutions to advance early voting and no-excuse absentee ballot voting.

Platform Polocies

Top Priorities

• Ensuring that our towns have the resources and infrastructure to implement fair, safe, and accessible elections (from tabulators to telephone help)!
• Serving as a leader in cooperation with ROVAC and CTCA to work with the General Assembly to implement early voting and no-excuse absentee voting when those ballot measures become law.
• Using the power of data to provide information to businesses across the state that will help them tap into available programs, funding, and resources.
• Serve as a convener and open up channels of communication with all the stakeholders of the office: from community groups and voting rights advocates to businesses to frontline election workers.

Transparency

• Focused on communication and transparency, ensuring that information is made public on a timely and clear basis and that residents can easily find the information they need.
• Committed to partnering with all groups and political parties in an open and transparent manner. 

Advocacy

• Determined to continue the work that Governor Lamont and Secretary Merrill have spearheaded to utilize technology smartly – streamlining paperwork and creating one-stop-shopping for Connecticut’s businesses and entrepreneurs.
• Committed to work with schools, community organizations, religious institutions, and other stakeholder groups to foster greater civic engagement. Voting is the very underpinning of our democracy, and apathy is winning as many elections as are our political parties.
• Committed to bring town clerks and registrars of voters to the table to discuss their challenges and find 21st Century solutions to ensure that every city and town succeeds.
• Committed to ensuring every Connecticut city and town has the funding and resources it needs to educate their electorate and implement fair and safe elections.

Integrity

• Focused on restoring trust in our elections by fair dealing and embracing listening tours around the state even after elected
• Committed to ensuring access to the ballot box for all eligible voters through an increased focus on voter registration efforts.
• Committed to ensuring that all voters are enfranchised; will further solutions that benefit all voters such as individuals with disabilities, caregivers, business owners, holders of multiple jobs, college students, and others who require effective access to the ballot box.

No Reply

We have reached out to the Thomas campaign in order to get her stances on various issues, and the campaign has returns any comments on these issues. Few of these issues have little role with the secretary of state, but if we see any posts or answers to them, we will update the site accordingly.

Tell me about the work you’ve done with Fight Voter Fraud.

I’ve helped identify 105 people that seem to have double voted in 2020, and almost 6,000 people who voted last November but don’t appear to even be registered. If two voters show up with the same name, address, birthday, and voter ID number, and both of those voters cast ballots, there is a high probability that there is voter fraud. 

Even if those are genuine cases of voter fraud, what is the material impact that number of votes in races where millions of Connecticut residents cast ballots? 

We don’t look at it in those terms, because there should be zero tolerance for voter fraud. We have zero tolerance for bank fraud and zero tolerance for defrauding the IRS, because even one example of fraud disenfranchises all of us. If somebody votes fraudulently, by voting twice or voting in the name of some other person, that cancels out your vote. Every fraudulent ballot cancels out a legitimate one. 

Is voter fraud a big enough problem that it is worth creating more barriers to voting that could lead to voter suppression? 

I would reject some of that premise, because I say that voter suppression happens when people don’t trust the system. People lose confidence in process. If people think their vote doesn’t count, that’s voter suppression.

In 2020, we probably had the most access to voting ever, with mail-in voting and drop boxes. New Haven had more than 40 precincts where people could vote, and I was at 12 on election day. It was the easiest possible election to vote in. Less than 48 percent of New Haven turned out. Was that an access gap or an enthusiasm gap? People want to think it’s access, but you’ve got to give people a reason to vote, and people have to believe that their vote will count and trust the voting systems. 

Do you think extending any of those pandemic voting expansions would be worth considering? 

It won’t be up to me, it will be up to the lawmakers. I support early voting in a limited fashion, contingent on what election officials can handle. Connecticut has 169 towns that all do things differently, and you can’t just tell a 70-year-old registrar to work extra days when they’re part time.

The alternative is relying on temporary employees who will not be as efficient or well-trained, so it’s not a simple thing, though I think there is a way to do it. A two or three day period that gives people time on the weekend to vote is a possibility. As far as mail-in voting, I’ve learned that the safest way to vote is in person. Last year, 56,000 of the requested absentee ballots went missing, and we don’t know if they were stolen or intercepted at the dropbox, or the people decided not to vote. Absentee ballots also have the highest rate of rejection out of any ballot type. 

It’s been decades since a Republican served as Secretary of the State. Why do you think you’ll be able to change that? 

The last Republican Secretary of the State was Pauline Kezer, and she was the only Republican elected that year, the rest were Independents and Democrats. I met with Pauline, and learned that you can’t go in as an ideologue, as a right winger or left winger, you have to be nonpartisan, and be somebody everyone can appreciate. For an office that controls our elections, people want to know it will be somebody pragmatic, not working for one party or the other, and I’m prepared to do that.  

Do you believe that last November’s presidential election, and President Joe Biden’s win, was legitimate? 

I just focus on Connecticut. This is where I was born and raised, and it’s where I’ve been doing my study for the past three years. Whatever is happening at the national level does not impact issues that have to be fixed here in Connecticut. Voters in Connecticut care more about fixing voter fraud in Bridgeport or making sure election officials can do their job properly. 

I do think voters will want to know if the head of their state’s election system believes the last presidential election was legitimate. 

I haven’t been researching what’s happened in Arizona and Wisconsin, I haven’t studied it. I will say that Joe Biden was certified in January and we have to move on. 

Would increasing participation in elections be a priority for you? 

More than 90 percent of Connecticut residents over the age of 18 are registered to vote, so I’m not sure we have a problem there that we have to fix. If anything, we might have a lot of over-registration of people that register to vote and then move. We’ve identified almost 400,000 names on the voter rolls that we think need to be cleaned out. 

No Reply

We have reached out to the Rapini campaign to get his stances on various issues, and the campaign has refused to comment on any issues. Few of these issues have little role with the secretary of state, but if we see any posts or answers to them, we will update the site accordingly.