And Does He Want Another Term As Chair?

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Some drama unfolded on social media between the West Hartford RTC and the Greenwich RTC earlier this week.

It all started on Sunday after the Connecticut Centinal posted a Bob Swick article critical of the CT GOP and the total lackluster election performance that resulted in a veto-proof democrat supermajority in Hartford.

Swick said Connecticut was in "dire need of a vibrant, coherent Republican Party that no longer embraces the 'coolness' of condemning all things Trump and all things Conservative while playing the continual patsy to the Connecticut State Democrat Party's hold."

The X account for the West Hartford Republican Town Committee ("RTC") used the post as an opportunity to take a swipe at the Greenwich RTC, writing "don't look to Greenwich, that's for sure."

The Greenwich Republicans responded by blocking the West Hartford Republicans.

"Not even a "hey you wrote this, wtf" or any discussion," quipped the West Hartford Republicans who are of the opinion that "Boomers and Xers running the political show here in CT need a wakeup call."

It wasn't very long before people started making fun of the situation.

Some commented on how sad it was to see one Republican group blocking another, saying the Greenwich RTC has "thin skin" and displayed "disappointing behavior."

Others called the Greenwich RTC "childish" and "out of line" for blocking another RTC and even suggested the Greenwich RTC doesn't have a backbone.

A former Connecticut congressional candidate, Dr. Amy Chai, said the posts were symbolic of the "lethal dysfunction of the entire CT GOP" and emphasized the need to put party ahead of personal issues.

A lot of folks shared that same sentiment -- they want to see unity in the CT GOP -- and that means that MAGA republicans get fair representation, too, instead of being treated like second class citizens.

We reached out to the West Hartford Republicans on X to get better insight into their position.

"The only thing the CT old guard knows is grifting, cowardice and failure. Millenials and Gen Z are bringing the fight fight fight - and reform - to CTGOP," said the West Hartford Republicans, who seem disappointed that the Greenwich RTC no longer embraced MAGA the way it had under the previous leadership and didn't even list Trump as a candidate on the 2024 candidates page.

"The milquetoast, country club Republicans - the Cheneys/Romneys of CT - have committed gross civic negligence and have completely lost the faith of grassroots, common-man, non-elitist Republicans, especially the youth," explained the West Hartford Republicans. "President Trump needs a CT GOP who actually supports him; CT Republicans need a CT GOP that reflects their values. Otherwise, there will be no future for the Republican party in CT."

"The old guard will simply go the route of grotesque politicians like Diane Feinstein - leaving this world a worse place while still desperately clinging to power and control till the better end," said the West Hartford Republicans who are hoping the "anti-MAGA faction that took over the Greenwich RTC comes to their senses before it's too late for the CT GOP."

So what does the head of the CT GOP, Ben Proto, think?

On Monday night the chair of the CT GOP, Ben Proto, appeared for a telephone interview with Yankee Tea News ("YTN").

Proto was confronted about the lack of visible support for Donald Trump from Connecticut RTCs and why the CT GOP waited so long to publicly back Trump.

Proto said he's always been a strong supporter of Trump and didn't understand why people thought he wasn't. He provided YTN with a laundry list of examples to prove his loyalty and demonstrate his Trump creds, and even said he endorsed Trump at the RNC convention.

"I have no idea where I'm anti-Trump came from," said Proto who assured YTN that he "regularly had conversations with the Trump folks."

Proto's sense of loyalty to Trump is clearly not universally shared among Connecticut RTCs.

Complaints have rolled in from across the state about how some candidates and RTCs shied away from Trump. We also heard Trumpers had better luck winning the lotto than finding Trump signs at most (but not all) RTC election headquarters.

Republicans are understandably frustrated that in a year with one of the biggest shifts in voters toward Trump, they still lost seats in the state legislature.

Proto himself didn't take any of the blame for the lackluster results, and instead blamed some of the losses on lazy candidates who didn't do the work.

One loss he pinned on an incident involving a republican candidate who posted a photo on Facebook of her standing next to one of her own lawn signs planted beside a Harris-Walz sign. Proto says he warned the candidate to remove the post, but it stayed up, likely costing her the race.

Another loss he blamed on a shift in the voter base, citing a rep that won four out of five towns in the district but lost one town that became "very anti-Trump" -- it had a big enough impact to change the outcome of the race.

He said the CT GOP was heavily invested in a handful of races in particular, including those of Ryan Fazio and Tina Courpas in Greenwich, and Tony Hwang in Fairfield. Proto also said the CT GOP was invested in the Chris Reddy race which is heading toward litigation. Then he complained about money and the shifting demographics that favored democrats in certain areas.

Proto said everyone is asking him if Trump is going to help us or hurt us in the 2026 midterm elections.

"If Donald Trump does what he said he was going to do, if he can get the economy and inflation under control, if he can get the border under control, if he can stop the flow of fentanyl and opioids into this country, if you know, if he can get us energy independent again, suddenly, we have a real opportunity in 2026 to capitalize on the gains that we're getting out of Washington with the Trump Administration," said Proto.

Getting Back to the Greenwich Republicans Blocking the West Hartford Republicans...

YTN told Proto about the spat between the Greenwich and West Hartford Republicans that had unfolded on X, and asked how he planned on uniting republicans.

Instead of addressing the issue, Proto dodged and pretended like the question was about "social media" -- he literally went off on an irrelevant tangent about how some RTCs lack the technical prowess for social media and needed instructions on how to set up a Facebook account.

That was not the question.

The question was about what he would do to unite the CT GOP when two clear factions are still fighting and deeply divided -- MAGA republicans versus the old guard, the RINOs, the country club elites, whatever you want to call them -- because it's tough for Republicans to win if they remain divided.

Proto offered no ideas for how to bridge the gap whatsoever, perhaps a bit shortsighted for a guy who said he'd be open to another term because "when you begin to do things, you want to obviously see them through."

Fortunately, grassroots advocates have stepped in to offer ideas on how to revitalize the party.

Then Proto closed the interview by dropping a bit of a bombshell when he casually mentioned he was looking into "issues with vote tallies that aren't making sense" in Tod Laudonia's race against incumbent State Rep Hector Arzeno in Greenwich.

Hmm... issues with vote tallies?

Meanwhile, Laudonia's campaign issued a statement today saying, "The race for the 151st District was a tight one. As my opponent and I sit a mere 400 votes apart with over 13,000 votes cast, our team is looking at results and numbers to confirm a final outcome in this election."

A final outcome, eh?

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