To the Editor:
On Feb. 27, a special election was held in Stratford to fill the state representative seat for the 120th House District. The state representative seat, which had been held by Republicans for over 44 years, was won by me, a Democrat.
Winning this election sent a strong message by residents in the 120th District — we are independent and want to go in a new direction.
This election got the attention of the Washington, D.C. Republican machine, who has pushed into Connecticut with what is referred to as “dark money” (funds donated to nonprofit organizations that in turn spend it in order to influence elections.)
On Aug 1, I, and well as several other state Democrats filed a complaint with the State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) stating that a political committee, Change CT, funded by national Republicans, illegally spent $77,000 targeting at least four Democrats, by calling voters in their districts. This is outside interests (large groups) coming in to benefit Republican candidates. They not only failed to report their expenditures but also omitted which candidates that money was intended to benefit. Both actions are violations of state law.
Don’t expect a resolution any time soon from the SEEC. Its next meeting is on Aug. 15 (after our primaries) at which time the “complainants” have to ask the SEEC for permission to investigate the payments. By law the SEEC, should they investigate these charges, have one year to publish their findings — a process that will not be completed before our very important November elections.
This is a wake-up call to Democrats, unaffiliated voters and especially Republicans to denounce these dirty tactics because we are all better than this. We, the Stratford voters, can’t let them do that. We can’t let them stop the progress we have made to date.
Here’s the message — VOTE, vote in August primaries, and November. Your vote does count.
Phil Young
120th District State Representative
The post Young: Elections matter, go and vote appeared first on Stratford Star.
