House Republican State Rep. Will Duff Denied Access to Minority Caucus

June 5, 2017 – HARTFORD – Freshman House Republican State Representative Will Duff of  Bethel, who was admitted last week to the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, today was denied access to a caucus meeting by Democrats who claimed he was not qualified to attend.

“I was admitted to the caucus as a member in good standing last week, based on my mother’s status as a native of Chile. My grandfather was an admiral in the Chilean navy. The Caucus Secretary, State Rep. Matthew Lesser’s mother, is a native of Argentina. I was barred from the caucus meeting this afternoon when I was told that it was a ‘Democratic Caucus.’” State Rep. Will Duff of Bethel said.

The caucus included only the members of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus and the House Speaker.

House Republican Leader Themis Klarides also objected to Duff’s exclusion. “Denying a member of the minority caucus for petty partisan politics is the height of hypocrisy,’’ Klarides said.

Duff added, “Democrats apparently want to hide behind a ‘Minority Caucus’ facade as along as it does not include Republicans when they come up their policy proposals. It does a disservice to the entire estate of Connecticut.’’