I don't know if anyone read my story on uncontested state political races. It ran in Tuesday's Record-Journal. If you didn't, the link to the story is featured at the end of this blog.
Anyway, this year there are 53 uncontested House races in Connecticut and seven uncontested Senate races. Keep in mind, the Secretary of the State's office is taking into account both unopposed races and races where a candidate is not facing a major party opponent when they came up with these numbers.
Locally, Republican Sen. Leonard Fasano, Republican Rep. Vincent Candelora and Democrat Rep. Joe Arisimowicz are running unopposed.
Notably, Fasano has not run against an opponent since he was first elected in 2002. Wallingford's Democratic Town Committee chairman says that no one has stepped forward and wanted to run against either Fasano or Candelora, who is just wrapping up his first term in the legislature. Money and time play a role when it comes to potential Democratic candidates, Vincent Avallone said.
Most people, including Avallone, seem to think that the state's new public financing system will provide an incentive for people thinking about running for office. They think the new system evens the playing field, and come 2010, they are hoping that more people want to get involved in politics.
Is money the main reason why people are not running for office, or is it something more -- like apathy?
I'd like to believe it's only about money and time. Those are certainly valid reasons not to run. I, however, have my doubts. Call me cynical, but I'm more inclined to believe that maybe money and time are excuses rather than reasons.
Read the Story
P.S. My sympathies to the family and friends of Dan Hunter. Hunter, vice president of Meriden-based Hunter's Ambulance and Transporation Services, died this morning as a result of injuries he suffered when his motorcycle collided with a car in East Hartford Oct. 15.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment