Springtime for Stewart and Ackert as Swastika and Klan vandalism charges mar launch and sink Coventry Republican’s choice for House seat successor.

Not an easy three days for the Stewart/Ackert ticket a month before state Republicans endorse candidates before the August primary. Erin Stewart’s Wednesday announcement of State Representative Tim Ackert (R-Coventry) as her running mate put Republicans in Ackert’s 8th House District brought a close call with calamity for party faithful beyond the district.

Ackert had until recently been running for re-election. Joining Stewart left a vacancy for his House seat with little time to fill it. No one expected Hitler would threaten to become the symbol of the springtime Ackert addition to the Stewart campaign.

Ackert had a candidate to take his place, Columbia Republican Michael Carroll was according to Facebook posts, chuffed to the gills to run for Ackert’s seat. A cautious House Republican staffer saved the party from a magnifying a colossal embarrassment. He discovered Carroll, who won a $2 million lottery prize in 2013, was arrested in 2017 for painting Nazi and Ku Klux Klan graffiti on eight properties in North Stonington and one in Preston, as well as traffic signs. He was also charged with painting “Trump” on at least one property.

Connecticut State Police investigated the three-day crime spree and charged Carroll with first-degree criminal mischief, impairing the morals of a minor and interfering with police.

The crimes cost property owners and North Stonington thousands of dollars in cleanup costs. The investigation, according to a newspaper report at the time, includes Carroll’s admission to police.

Republicans on Friday were scrambling to minimize the damage an association with Hitler and the Klan would cause among voters. Party candidates would have been required to prepare inadequate answers for persistent questions on the party’s association with a candidate with a taste for Nazi imagery, the Klan, and vandalism.

Carroll is a delegate from Columbia to next month’s Republican convention and serves on a local commission.

Published April 18, 2026.