Dennis Bradley is already a convicted felon. He’s awaiting sentencing for defrauding Connecticut’s public campaign-financing program. Now he’s facing new charges — this time for allegedly walking into a voter’s home and changing her ballot by hand.
Here’s what we know, dated and sourced.
The New Charges
On October 7, 2026, Connecticut authorities charged Dennis A. Bradley, 42, of Bridgeport, with two counts of illegal possession of absentee ballots and envelopes, and with being unlawfully present while an absentee voter executed her ballot, according to reporting from CT NewsJunkie.
Bradley is a former Connecticut State Senator who represented Bridgeport as a Democrat.
The charges trace back to a complaint filed on August 6, 2026, with the State Elections Enforcement Commission. That complaint alleged that one day earlier, on August 5, 2026, Bradley entered a voter’s apartment. Her absentee ballot had already been filled out and executed. According to the complaint, Bradley opened it and told her to change her vote — from incumbent Probate Judge Paul Ganim to his own brother, Mark Bradley, the outlet reports.
That alleged visit came just days before the August 11, 2026 Bridgeport Democratic primary, where Mark Bradley was a candidate for probate judge.
Bradley was released on a promise to appear. He is due in Bridgeport Superior Court on October 21, 2026.
Not His First Case
This isn’t Bradley’s first run-in with the law over how elections are run.
In March 2026, a federal jury convicted Bradley of one count of conspiracy and several counts of wire fraud. The case centered on his 2018 State Senate run and his use of Connecticut’s public campaign-financing program — a system designed to let candidates run for office without relying on big-money donors, according to the CT NewsJunkie report.
A judge later dismissed three of the wire-fraud counts. The conspiracy conviction and remaining wire-fraud counts stood. Bradley’s federal sentencing on that case is scheduled for December 3, 2026.
The Timeline
Lay the dates side by side and a pattern emerges.
- March 2026: Federal jury convicts Bradley of conspiracy and wire fraud tied to misuse of the state’s public campaign-financing program.
- August 5, 2026: Bradley allegedly enters a voter’s apartment and tampers with her already-executed absentee ballot.
- August 6, 2026: A complaint is filed with the State Elections Enforcement Commission.
- October 7, 2026: New criminal charges filed.
- October 21, 2026: Bradley due in Bridgeport Superior Court on the new charges.
- December 3, 2026: Federal sentencing scheduled on the fraud conviction.
This next point is editorial interpretation, not an established legal finding: Bradley built a political career on a public financing system meant to keep elections clean. A federal jury found he defrauded that very system. And while he was waiting to learn his sentence for that, he is now accused of personally altering a voter’s ballot in his own brother’s favor — the kind of act the voting system exists to prevent.
Where Things Stand
As of today, Bradley has one federal conviction on the books, with sentencing still pending for December 3, 2026. He also faces new state charges from the alleged August 2026 ballot incident, with his first court appearance on those charges set for October 21, 2026.
No trial has taken place on the new charges. The allegations have not been tested in court. Bradley was released without having to post bail, on a promise to appear.
That’s the record as it stands.
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