Glastonbury Dems pass over Dobbins for registrar, pick Murray

Alex Wood, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·2 min read

May 21—GLASTONBURY — The Democratic Town Committee on Wednesday unanimously endorsed former Registrar of Voters Charles Murray for another term in the job after hearing warm speeches on his behalf, including a nominating speech by Town Council Chairman Thomas P. Gullotta.

But the process wasn't as free from controversy as it appeared. Mark Dobbins, who has been registrar since Murray left the job in February 2020, was unhappy about having been passed over by the Democratic slate committee, which recommended Murray to the full town committee.

Dobbins has been involved in controversy on social media with Chris Haaf, a conservative Republican who ran unsuccessfully for Town Council last year.

Stressing that he was speaking as a private citizen, Dobbins expressed the view in a direct Facebook message that the Democratic Town Committee "naively" thinks that replacing him with a former registrar "will make the attacks by Glastonbury Republicans such as Chris Haaf go away.

"I endured over two years of cyber bullying without one public word of support by the DTC," he continued. "It is unfortunate that the only openly gay elected Dem in Glastonbury had to face his bullies alone. Time will tell if Mr. Haaf and the RTC will continue to undermine our democratic institutions of government by continuing their unhinged attacks against election officials."

Haaf replied in a direct Facebook message, "Mark Dobbins has been a polarizing and divisive actor and is a reason for much of the mistrust in our municipality. You would be hard-pressed to find a Glastonbury Conservative who Mr. Dobbins hasn't belittled or disparaged directly or via inflammatory political commentary. As a result, he has been a boon to the local Republican party. His online attacks on citizens (and local businesses) motivated many first-time voters."

Haaf said the Democrats' decision to pass over Dobbins "demonstrates a level of wisdom and maturity" and called it "a win for future apolitical and bipartisan collaboration."

Dobbins said he will serve out his term "with full commitment," which will include helping run this November's election. He said he is happy to have contributed to providing Glastonbury "with flawless elections during a pandemic."

Also Wednesday, the Republican town caucus unanimously endorsed Lisbeth Becker for re-election as registrar.

Because each Connecticut town has two registrars, one from each major political party, nomination for one of the posts almost always leads to election.

Murray said he has seven to eight years' experience working with Becker, adding that they have made a number of changes and have talked about other changes they can make in the future.

"Once you're the registrar of voters, you can't be political in the office or outside the office," he said.

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