MAGA Rages Over Democrat 'Ballot Stuffing' in Connecticut

A number of MAGA and Republican figures have reacted to a judge throwing out the results of a Democratic mayoral primary in Connecticut over concerns about ballot stuffing.

On Wednesday, Judge William Clark, tossed out the September election results in Bridgeport—where incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim beat fellow Democratic challenger John Gomes by 251 votes—after reviewing video footage of people stuffing multiple absentee ballots into outdoor collection boxes.

Judge Clark's decision follows on from a lawsuit filed by Gomes challenging the results. In his ruling, Democrat-appointee Clark said Gomes' suit met the "burden of proof" that people who weren't election officials mishandled ballots in such a volume that it "calls the result of the primary election in serious doubt and leaves the court unable to determine the legitimate result of the primary."

The ruling has now been widely discussed by MAGA figures, including those who have frequently claimed without evidence that the 2020 election was rigged against Donald Trump due to widespread voter fraud and issues with mail-in ballots.

Speaking on conservative podcast The Benny Johnson Show, Ohio congressman Jim Jordan said about the Connecticut ruling: "What we want is fair elections, free elections. We want everyone to vote who's allowed to vote. That's the system we want."

"But we also want the safeguards in place where you show a voter ID, where you have the signature match and you follow the law," Jordan said. "That's how we want it to work and whoever wins wins. That's how our great system is supposed to operate."

Johnson posted about the judge's ruling on X, formerly Twitter, writing: "Now that Democrat judges are opening cases against Democrat operatives for rigging elections against other Democrats—are we allowed to start asking questions about Democrats rigging elections against Republicans?"

While sharing a clip of the apparent ballot stuffing during the Bridgeport mayoral primary, Robby Starbuck, a former GOP congressional candidate for Tennessee's 5th district, posted: "All it took was this video to overturn a mayor election in Connecticut. How is this different from the videos we saw after the 2020 Presidential election? There's even less evidence in this case but both possible winners in the race are Democrats so questions are allowed now."

Elsewhere, Elon Musk, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO who purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022 before changing its name to X, also weighed in on the matter.

"Judge orders a new election in Connecticut town after surveillance video showed ballot stuffing in drop boxes! That this happened here is beyond reasonable doubt. The only question is how common it is," Musk wrote.

The post was reshared online by Kari Lake, the former Arizona gubernatorial candidate who claimed she lost her race to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs because of voting irregularities and launched several failed attempts to have the results tossed out.

In his ruling, Clark ordered that discussions be held within 10 days of his decision as to when a new Democratic primary can take place. The judge said he does not have the authority to delay the November 7 general election in which voters decide who they want as Bridgeport mayor, as several other races are taking pace that day too.

Reacting to the Wednesday decision, Gomes said in a statement: "The victory today belongs not only to me as the Plaintiff but to all the people of Bridgeport who were wronged in the numerous ways detailed in Judge Clark's remarkable decision. Today, democracy prevails."

According to Gomes' attorney, Bill Bloss, if Ganim wins the November 7 election and the primary redo, then he will be re-elected mayor. However, if Gomes were to win the primary second time around, there would be another general election, reported the Connecticut Post.

In a statement, Ganim said he is looking into whether to appeal the judge's decision, but is currently focused on winning the November 7 election.

"Over the coming days, we will explore all legal options that are available to us, including the possibility of appealing the court's decision," he said.

"We all want a fair election process. Right now, I am focused on the general election happening this Tuesday, November 7th in which I am the Democratic nominee for mayor. We need the voters of Bridgeport to come out and support the process, both for me and for all of the municipal offices that will appear on Tuesday's ballot."

Ganim's office has been contacted for further comment.