A Connecticut minister faces 20 criminal counts tied to fake signatures on election petitions.
Rev. Robert K. Hoggard, 33, was nabbed on an arrest warrant accusing him of cooking up bogus petitions during a 2024 bid to force a Democratic primary in Middletown's 33rd House District, according to reports. The chief state's attorney revealed the charges, which include 14 counts of second-degree forgery and six counts of perjury. That is a staggering pile of allegations for a man of the cloth.
Here is how it allegedly went down. Connecticut law says anyone wanting to challenge a party-endorsed candidate in a primary needs valid signatures from at least 2% of that party's enrolled voters. Prosecutors say Hoggard submitted multiple petitions loaded with forged signatures and falsified circulator certifications. He was released on a promise to appear in court.
The whole mess unraveled after voters started complaining to the State Elections Enforcement Commission. Their gripe was simple and damning. Their names showed up on petitions they never signed. The commission investigated and then shipped the case over to prosecutors.
Hoggard was gunning for a seat held by Rep. Brandon Chafee, a Democrat who won the Middletown district back in 2020.
His lawyer, John Kennelly, is pushing back hard. Kennelly insists his client did absolutely nothing wrong and says he expects full vindication once a thorough investigation wraps up. The attorney also took a swing at the timeline, pointing out that years passed between when signatures were collected and when the state finally came knocking. He argued the prosecution's case rests largely on people trying to remember a 30-second interaction from over two years ago.
That defense did not exactly win over the public. Social media lit up like a Christmas tree with people roasting the situation. One commenter dropped the nickname "Corrupticut," saying the state never disappoints when it comes to living up to that reputation. Another sarcastically noted that election fraud supposedly never happens in Connecticut. One particularly spicy comment predicted Hoggard would end up picking up highway trash before landing a radio gig, drawing a comparison to former Governor Rowland's post-scandal career.
The jokes kept rolling. Multiple commenters mocked the common refrain that Democrats never engage in voter fraud, dripping with sarcasm about how cheating supposedly does not exist.
Adding fuel to the fire, the Department of Homeland Security recently released data showing hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens were registered to vote, with many actually casting ballots in prior elections. States like New Jersey and California were identified as major hotspots for this activity.
Whether Hoggard beats these charges or not, the optics are absolutely brutal. A minister allegedly forging election documents is the kind of story that writes itself. His day in court should be quite the spectacle.
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