Eric Berthel
Eric C. Berthel is an American politician and a Republican member of the Connecticut Senate, representing the 32nd District since 2017.
Early life and education
Berthel was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Pomperaug Regional High School. He has a Bachelor's degree from Manhattanville University in Purchase, New York and a Master's degree from the University of Bridgeport in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He moved to Connecticut in 1976.Career
In 2011, Berthel was elected to Watertown, Connecticut's Public Schools Board of Education, where he participated in all of the Board's subcommittees, and served as Board Secretary, Vice Chairman, and interim Chairman, as well as acting as the Board liaison for three of five schools. He served until 2014, when he was elected to the State House of Representatives.Berthel has been the State Senator for the 32nd Senate District since 2017, representing part of the Naugatuck River Valley and Litchfield County in the Connecticut Senate, including the towns of Bethlehem, Bridgewater, Middlebury, Oxford, Roxbury, Seymour, Southbury, Washington, Watertown, and Woodbury.
Berthel considered a run for the open congressional seat in Connecticut's 5th congressional district in 2018, but ultimately decided not to run, instead seeking reelection to the state Senate.
In September 2020, Berthel's car was photographed with a window sticker supporting QAnon, a right-wing movement promoting baseless conspiracy theories. After the sticker came to attention on social media, Berthel initially defended the QAnon conspiracy theory by contending that it has "inspired more people to participate in policy and government." Later that month, Berthel apologized, saying, "My failure to look into the movement more deeply, which I take full responsibility for, led me to overlook the extreme views of the movement which I don’t subscribe to and find abhorrent. It was my lack of fully understanding this movement that led me to put these words on my car for which I deeply regret." Berthel's Democratic opponent Jeff Desmarais called Berthel's conduct "disqualifying" but Berthel nevertheless won a third term in the November 2020 election.
Berthel has introduced legislation calling for the reintroduction of bear hunting in Connecticut.