The Republican party in Connecticut is a joke, and has been for several decades now. This latest incident is just a further stain.

Source: Hartford Courant

A Republican running for Congress in Connecticut’s 2nd District abruptly dropped his bid on the day of the primary following his arrest on domestic violence charges.

It is unclear what will happen if Gilmer, the party-endorsed candidate, wins the primary. Thousands of absentee ballots had already been cast, and results were still being tabulated Tuesday night — a process that is expected to stretch into Friday given a two-day extension for late-arriving ballots sent by mail.

The charges stem from a violent altercation with Gilmer’s former girlfriend that occurred in 2017, according to the warrant for his arrest. A portion of the assault was captured on video and, according to the warrant, shows Gilmer “punch the victim in the face and jump on top of her as she falls to the ground. Gilmer then attempts to choke the victim, followed by multiple closed-fist punches to the victim’s face. Gilmer then takes off his T-shirt in the middle of the assault, and places the victim into a rear choke hold.”

Despite all that, Gilmer is leading and will probably win the nomination in Connecticut's second district.

In the 2nd District, Thomas Gilmer had 50.2% of the voted compared to Justin Anderson, who had 49.8%. About 88% of the votes had been counted as of 10:45 Wednesday morning.

The primary in the 2nd District in eastern Connecticut was unexpectedly thrown into chaos Tuesday when voters learned that the Gilmer, the party-endorsed candidate from Madison, had been arrested late Monday on domestic violence charges in connection with a violent altercation in 2017 with a former girlfriend. Gilmer announced that he was dropping out of the race, but it was too late to remove his name from the ballot.

In fact, some residents had already voted for Gilmer by absentee ballot. Anderson is a U.S. Army combat veteran who served in Afghanistan.

Connecticut's Republican Party knew about the allegations at least as early as last spring but did nothing about it, of course. That's just not how they roll.

Gilmer’s primary opponent, Justin Anderson, reportedly notified Connecticut GOP Chairman J.R. Romano in the spring that there was video of the alleged fight between Gilmer and his ex-girlfriend.

“When you see domestic abuse, you can’t ignore it," Anderson said.

His opponent, Justin Anderson sent out a press release a few days ago, before the arrest, but still nothing was done.

In a press release sent to Republican town committee members on Sunday, Anderson’s campaign accused top party officials of ignoring the allegations.

“Instead of investigating the issues over the last three months, party leaders participated in cajoling, victim-shaming, and shunning Mr. Anderson, questioning his integrity,” the release states. “It was Justin’s goal to deal with the allegations privately among leaders to protect the victim, however party leaders brought this out publicly to discredit Mr. Anderson.’'