Rising Republicans See Post-Trump Hope

• Local young GOPers blast Trump mob.
• Will they steer state party toward center?

Don’t look for these young Republicans at ​“stop the steal” rallies at the state Capitol this coming week. Don’t look for them to defend the president’s actions. Don’t look for them to make excuses for the mob that invaded and trashed the Capitol, attacked cops, and went hunting to kill the vice-president and speaker of the House while seeking to stop the certification of the presidential election results.

But do look for them to stick with the Republican Party — and try to steer it back a bit toward the middle.

That was the upshot of a discussion with leaders of the New Haven County Young Republicans.

The leaders — Matt Schwartz, Kassie DeFala, Patrick Burland, and Rob Mullins — mixed outrage with optimism during the discussion, which took place Tuesday on an episode of WNHH FM’s ​“Dateline New Haven” program. (Watch the episode above.)

At times they sounded more like Republican officeholders of generations past like the late U.S. Rep. Stewart McKinney, back when their party won Congressional races, than like, say, the current state party chair.

None of them have been Trump supporters. They voted for other presidential candidates. One of them, Burland, a Georgetown University student who hails from Woodbridge, began warming to some of Trump’s policies, from renegotiated trade deals to negotiated normalization of relations between Israel and Arab nations. But then Trump lost him, too, with his mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic and ​“the way he handled the 2020 election” and its aftermath.

All four consider themselves conservatives. They envision helping to rebuild a state party that takes a conservative line on taxes and spending and pro-business policies, while moderating some of the national party’s positions on immigration and climate change.

But first, they said, the party needs to move away from the events of the past week in D.C.

The group issued this press release right after the storming of the Capitol, calling for prosecution of the ​“domestic terrorists” who participated.

“Like most Americans, regardless of party, we were pretty horrified by what was going on,” said Schwartz, a state lobbyist from Woodbridge who serves as the group’s political director. ​“It surprised us. As young Republicans, we’re fighting for a better Connecticut and a better country. What took place at the Capitol does not represent our party or what we stand for. We needed to condemn violence at its roots lest it be accepted.”

DeFala, a first-year Quinnipiac University law student who hails from Derby and Naugatuck, was working out to a Youtube video when her phone exploded with messages about the insurrection. She tuned in — and turned ​“angry.”

“We’ve worked so hard as Young Republicans to make a better name for the party. We know better than this. we do better,” she said. On Facebook, she posted: ​“This is NOT democracy. If you support this delete me and save me the time and energy because we are not friends.”

Mullins, an Xavier High School student from North Branford, saw the Confederate flag being waved, and thought about seeing that flag displayed on T‑shirts at the Durham fair. He felt ​“disgusted,” he said. ​“It’s absolutely ridiculous that people think the Confederate flag means anything other than racial hate and division.”

“It was disheartening to see the hesitation of the president and the House leadership for our party,” said Burland, who stayed away from the rally but walked over with his roommates to view the melee from afar after it broke out. ​“How do we stay with the party with this? It’s important at these inflection points that as leaders coming up in the party, we take a stand.”

The group condemned plans for militia members and other Trump diehards to storm all 50 state capitols this coming Wednesday and next week leading up to Wednesday’s presidential inauguration.

“Anyone encouraging that should be stopped. Any politician should be condemned” for supporting it, DeFala argued. ​“The process has played out. You have to respect it.”

At the same time, they said, they’re sticking with their party.

They cut their political teeth working on campaigns of Republican state legislators like State Sen. George Logan and State Rep. Themis Klarides and Derby Mayor Richard Dziekan. They believed in their candidates, and still do.

Looking ahead to next year’s gubernatorial candidates, they see a promising field„ from Klarides and New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart to 2018 nominee Bob Stefanowski. (The first two publicly opposed efforts to overturn the presidential election. Stefanowski did not.) Schwartz was particularly bullish on Klarides, several of whose campaigns he has worked on: ​“I think she would be a great governor. I think she could appeal to farther-right Republicans but also middle-ground Democrats.”

“We need somebody more toward the middle if Republicans want to win. Republicans left a bad taste in people’s mouths” with the recent turn of events, argued DeFala.

The interviewees all embraced fiscally conservative positions geared toward limiting taxation and government spending and removing barriers to business growth. They sought more of a ​“middle road” on immigration.

Burland spoke of enforcing laws, especially on employers who depress wages through underpaying people hired illegally, while ​“making sure people can come here legally” and stop ​“using children as a way to threaten new immigrants.” He called that last strategy ​“a moral failing for our country” that ​“hasn’t stopped” undocumented immigrants from crossing the border.

“Younger Republicans like us want to put more of an emphasis on protecting the environment. We love this earth. We want it be here long after we’re gone,” said Schwartz.

Jonathan Wharton, a former New Haven Republican town chair, has watched the new crew coalesce. He has taught some of them in his political science classes at Southern Connecticut State University.

The group may meet resistance from some old-guard town chairs and state central committee members, Wharton predicted. He urged those established leaders to ​“take this younger group seriously.” This fall’s municipal elections will test the younger group’s impact, Wharton said.

“You’re dealing with a younger population of people who are more pragmatic to offer old ideas and make them new again,” Wharton observed. They show that the Republican Party is not ​“monolithic,” he said, and doesn’t have to be the party of Donald Trump.