No Kings Protest Pushes Early Voting

Oct. 17, 2026, Brandon Cortes, New Haven Independent

“I feel totally betrayed by the [Republican] Party,” David Levine said on the Green on Saturday. “I was a Republican because I believed in free markets and free institutions, not the dismantlement of these institutions.”

Levine offered that personal-political trajectory as he joined dozens of people downtown for a “No Kings” rally where attendees called for early voting ahead of the midterm elections.

The New Haven rally was one of thousands to take place across the country on Saturday — and just the latest mass demonstration against President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies.

Levine, a self-described former “very partisan” Republican, said he grew troubled by the party’s denial of climate change even before Trump and that Trump’s attacks on democratic institutions pushed him away.

Levine also said his son works at the White House. “We don’t see eye to eye,” he said, but “we get along in spite of that fact.”

Saturday’s rally was organized by Indivisible Greater New Haven, led by Maggie Marcarelli. Organizers set up a table where attendees could sign up to drive voters to the polls once early voting begins on Monday, Oct. 19.

During the rally, many attendees took turns at the microphone to share their reasons for voting early. Women’s rights, veterans’ rights, the release of the Epstein files, and abolishing ICE were among the issues they raised.

[To read the article in its entirety, see https://bit.ly/48c7KY4.]