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There is more election fraud in Connecticut than meets the eye, says Republican Secretary of the State candidate Brock Weber, and he believes the office he is seeking should be much more aggressive in rooting it out.
“We know that there’s problems with our elections here in Connecticut – we see it year after year,” said Weber, a Bristol native who now lives in Wolcott and works as an executive aide to New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart. “We need a Secretary of the State to actively investigate these allegations of voter fraud, follow up and hold people responsible if crimes are being committed.”
Weber acknowledges that he “can’t put a number on it,” but points to persistent issues with candidates and ballots in Bridgeport as an example.
“I think it’s very, very rare at in-person polling locations, but I think that there is extensive absentee ballot fraud and abuse,” he said. “And there is a perception of fraud that does just as much to undermine people’s faith and confidence in the process.”
Asked about the claims by former President Trump and others that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, Weber declined initially to take a position.
“I really don’t want to comment on it because I wasn’t there, you know,” he said. “And in addition to that I think it’s time for us as a party to move on. President Trump’s not in office anymore.”
Pressed for clarification on what is likely the most debated and divisive election issue in memory, Weber explained:
“I think President Trump is entitled to his opinion on this and certainly we know that there are a number of issues with some of the states out there, but I wasn’t on the ground in any of those states. Do I want to say that it changed the outcome of an election? Certainly not. I don’t want to make that point because like I said, I wasn’t on the ground. I don’t have first-hand knowledge. And I think a lot of these allegations deserve the due process to be followed up on before making a comment like that.”
Weber, 31, believes he will stand out from the crowded field because of his politics and his age.
“I am the only conservative candidate in this race,” he said. “I bring a different perspective to the race of somebody who’s a little bit younger, and I think I have the energy and enthusiasm to get out there and win and bring my message directly to the voters of Connecticut.”
Weber also believes that Republicans have the “wind at their back” in this election cycle due to the widely-unpopular administration of President Biden and the backlash in Connecticut against many of the policies of Gov. Ned Lamont, especially regarding the pandemic.
“People who have never been involved in the process are showing up and joining our side,” he said. “Connecticut Patriots who are fighting against the coronavirus executive orders, who are fighting to unmask their children, who are fighting back against Critical Race Theory. So I think we’re going to see a level of engagement we haven’t ever seen,” by Republican-leaning voters this fall.
Weber opposes a referendum question on the November ballot that would authorize the legislature to allow early voting in Connecticut, one of six states that does not offer early voting.
“I think it’s incredibly dangerous,” Weber said. “It gives complete, unchecked power to the legislature to define what early voting means and Hartford Democrats have failed again and again running every aspect of state government. What does early voting mean? Is it three days? Is it three weeks? Is it a month? Is it a year? I just don’t have any faith and confidence in their ability to make it reflect common sense.”
Weber says he grew up in a home steeped in politics, recalling how at the age of six his father took him door-knocking for Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole, and that he “spent a lot of my formative years listening to Rush Limbaugh in the car.”
Weber was active among the young Republican groups at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, where he earned a degree in politics, and after graduation worked on a variety of campaigns for U.S. House and Senate candidates.
Weber later went to work as a political consultant for a New Hampshire firm, gut in 2014 returned to Connecticut to manage the Secretary of the State campaign for Republican Peter Lumaj, who lost to Merrill by just over 44,000 votes.
“I am very, very proud of that race,” he said. “It was the closest Secretary of the State’s race that we had in a very long time.”
Weber said he had no plans to run for the position until the last election in 2018, when he believes Republicans failed to wage an effective campaign for the office.
“I had vowed to myself at that point that I would never let that happen again, whether I was the candidate or somebody else,” he said.
He said his political background and experience running Lumaj’s campaign makes him an ideal candidate for the job.
“Election integrity and the governing structure of elections is a huge passion for me,” he said. “I know the ins-and-outs of the campaign. I know the ins-and-outs of the office. And I want to restore people’s faith and confidence in our election process.”
Currently seven Democrats and three Republicans have declared or expressed interest in the post as the state’s chief elections officer, since incumbent Democrat Denise Merrill announced she would not seek a fourth term.