CT state Sen. Alex Kasser resigns; former Navy SEAL Carl Higbie considers run for her seat

Connecticut state Sen. Alex Kasser (D-Greenwich) abruptly resigned from her elected office, citing the strain created by her efforts to divorce her husband, Morgan Stanley executive Seth Bergstein, whom she has publicly accused of domestic abuse.

Kasser was elected in 2018 and came out as a gay woman after taking office. In a posting on the Medium blog platform, Kasser stated that she and her partner, Nichola Samponaro, were leaving Greenwich because of the stress created by her estranged husband.

“As all survivors of domestic abuse know, emancipating ourselves is an epic struggle that takes years, requires unflinching courage and all our resources ”“ mental, physical  and financial,” she wrote. “Seth uses his powerful position at Morgan Stanley to enable his conduct, so I must work even harder to fight for my freedom. Because of the enormous time and energy this consumes, I can no longer serve my constituents to my fullest ability.”

Kasser also accused Bergstein of harassing Samponaro through “court motions that mention her 56 times for no relevant reason ”“ she had nothing to do with ending my marriage. The truth is that Nichola”™s love, support and willingness to volunteer for me, despite being publicly shamed for her presence in my life, gave me the strength to endure this personal battle and fulfill my responsibility to the public.”

Kasser”™s withdrawal from Greenwich politics piqued the interest of political consultant,  former Donald Trump adviser and former U.S. Navy SEAL Carl Higbie to consider running for her seat.

Higbie, who was elected to the Greenwich Representative Town Meeting in 2019 and hosts a Saturday morning talk show on the Newsmax cable channel, conducted a poll on Twitter to see if his candidacy would generate voter interest. Higbie added that he received “lots of calls” from supporters to pursue Kasser”™s seat.