Norwalk Republican Registrar gives in, leaving office after 20 years

NORWALK, Conn. — Karen Doyle Lyons is leaving her post as Norwalk Republican Registrar, ending a battle inspired by a Facebook post widely condemned as racist.

“The Norwalk Republican Town Committee has been informed that the Secretary of the State office has determined that correspondence from Norwalk Registrar of Voters Karen Lyons indicating her intent to remove her candidacy for re-election is final,” RTC Chairman Carl Dickens said in a statement.

Lyons’ 20 years as registrar will end on July 20, in accordance with the correspondence she sent, Dickens said, echoing a statement made Wednesday by Mayor Harry Rilling.

Lyons inspired outrage with a June 22 Facebook comment, “No more Black History Month because many of us know more then many Blacks.” In response, she has emphasized that she meant Black history should be taught year-round. Her Facebook comment was swiftly followed by one that said, “I am just saying study, learn not just one month but all year. I do and so should many others.”

While Dickens, Rilling and Town Clerk Rick McQuaid have said that Doyle Lyons submitted letters agreeing that she would resign and not seek reelection this fall, Doyle Lyons has said that the letters were “drafts,” and weren’t signed. They were done in response to bullying and threats, she said.

“I found out today that the first email I sent as Carl Dickens and the Mayor threatened … my family stands,” Doyle Lyons said in an email. “Because of Covid they don’t need a signature on documents. Even though I rescinded the email they say it stands.”

The RTC statement quotes Doyle Lyons as saying, “I am truly sorry if I offended anyone as that was not my intent. The administration has forced my retirement and the SOTS {Secretary of the State} has removed me as a moderator trainer. Power of the Mayor.”

“I think she made the right decision and I look forward to a new era in the registrar’s office,” Mayor Harry Rilling said in an email. “I would encourage the RTC to appoint somebody quickly because we have primaries and a national election on the horizon.”

The RTC “will quickly commence activation of its Vacancy Committee in order to find a qualified candidate to endorse for the position of Registrar of Voters,” the RTC press release said.

Doyle Lyons was under fire from a different direction: Connecticut Secretary of the State Denise Merrill was seeking her removal.

Merrill sent a letter Tuesday to the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC), calling Doyle Lyons’ statement “misconduct in the highest degree,” a “‘willful and material neglect of duty’ in the conduct of her office.”

“Making statements disparaging a certain group of voters denies that group of voters the equal protection of the law afforded to them pursuant to the Connecticut and United States Constitutions. Full and unfettered access to the ballot box is the fundamental democratic right from which all of our other American rights flow and Ms. Lyons’ comments call her commitment to that access into question,” Merrill wrote.

Doyle Lyons said Wednesday that she found out through a third party that Berkshire Hathaway had terminated her real estate affiliation with them.

“Very vindictive, and it’s personal attacks,” she said. “…I was not an active realtor anyway. Whoever did that, so be it.”

Dickens said Thursday, “Although delayed, today’s decision by Karen Lyons is appropriate. The Norwalk Republican Town Committee called on Ms. Lyons to resign her position and withdraw her nomination moments after receiving a copy of the Facebook posting. Notwithstanding Karen Lyons long service to our community the posting was clearly unacceptable and contrary to the basic values shared by our Republican Party.”