Many valuable people have stepped up
to the task of running for office. They have my gratitude just for doing
that. I do not envy them. The hurdles
ahead locally, regionally, and nationally are daunting. We’ve been able to see most of the candidates
and get a sense of where they are and what they want to try to tackle first.
And this is where my first source of ire springs forth.
If you are going to make a go for a
political position, please do not wait to run until the season is almost
over. A few candidates in the CD 1 race
did this. It is a mistake. It makes you
look like a drama queen. It diminishes the process and, it dismisses the
position filed for. Good candidates put in the very hard work of campaigning.
Good candidates have time for small towns and politically unimportant people.
Good candidates build campaigns over time to connect with locals and fund raise
from the local level. It shows you are invested in a broad range of areas. It
shows you might actually care about their locality beyond the election cycle.
Voters, please do not vote for candidates who abuse you like this. Your votes
are certainly worth much more than this lazy behavior is worth.
While we are talking about small
towns and visiting locals, I want to call attention to two other candidate
behaviors I dislike, with two personal stories from this cycle. As I said
before, we’ve seen most of the candidates in our local setting. This is
invaluable for people living in small, rural towns; it is an important
investment for legitimate campaigns. Whether we are talking about Molly Kelly
for the governor’s race or Levi Sanders in the CD 1 race, I expect to see them,
I expect to talk to them, and I expect to question them. As a former town
chair, I expected at least that much from both of them and they failed our
locality on that front. They were invited and we never heard from them. They
didn’t even send a surrogate or at least a statement through the town chairs. This
is unacceptable. I don’t want to hear excuses; I value my town and the people
in it too much to accept any excuse they might give. We need to work on this
failing; it is far too common.
The second personal story I want to
tell covers the transgression of failing to read an audience or connect with a
group you don’t know. I was with a group at the SCDC picnic last month. In the
group were a local town chair, two former town chairs, and two people running
for NH rep positions. All are very involved in the community. That’s a lot of
local knowledge and experience in one place. We were enjoying ourselves and I at least had
already talked with or exchanged pleasantries with most of the candidates
present, at least the ones that matter to Farmington. Maura Sullivan came over
to our group and sat down to chat. Maura started by asking if we were excited
about this election season and if we could feel the energy of the campaigns. I
call it the standard party “ra, ra” speech. If she had not met all of them before
I might not have thought very much of this lack of understanding, but she had
met them and been questioned by them at our local meeting. She misread them. She
was trying to project that she cared about us and was excited to see us, but that effort fell
flat. I found it insulting. Farmington is not the DC beltway bubble. Candidates
have to get out of their comfort zones. The conversation seemed to go downhill
from there. There wasn’t a connection and she couldn’t build one. It was immensely frustrating to watch and
even harder to experience myself. I know Maura hasn’t lived in NH long, why
would she know us like other candidates do? That cannot be an excuse for any candidate.
Connection is key in any political
race. It’s essential in navigating the political realm. Some people connect
with others easily, others don’t. That doesn’t mean a candidate cannot learn
that skill and become better at it. I also think candidates cannot undervalue
local knowledge and establishing connections with communities, especially
localities that are struggling. Know the constituents you will represent. To
not step up to this challenge is to relegate these communities and the people
in them to obscurity after elections. This cannot be the cloth our candidates
are cut from.
On Election Day I’m putting my vote
toward progressive people I can trust. I plan to vote for Steve Marchand, a
broad, unapologetic, thoughtful progressive voice, for governor. The CD1 primary
race is filled with many good progressives I could vote for. I easily chose
Mindi Messmer. She is a person of reason like my husband, a scientist who will
look at DC a different way. In this age, the importance of that quality cannot
be understated. The environment is not just a dead thing to her; it is our
future, and that is a priority. Its restoration is not just an issue, not just
a talking point; she knows how connected we are to it, how all life on the
planet depends on humankind developing fast solutions to mitigate the damage we
have done, like I do. Most importantly, she has enormous compassion and
empathy. She has been invaluable ally to my own LGBTQIA community a number of
times. It means a lot to me that someone will stick their neck out for people
who need help.
We are so fortunate to have not one,
but two wonderful candidates for NH state representative this year! Manny Krasner and
Sylvis Arcouette are integral parts of Farmington’s community. They give and
give, and give to the community; I can think of no better stewards for the two
open legislative positions. Please vote for both of them. The very hard working
Anne Grassie is running for our NH Senate seat. She would be a breath of fresh
air for that seat and bring some much needed empathy and compassion to that
office. Please give her an opportunity to serve us. Andru Volinsky has been
able to restore some sanity to the Executive Council, so I would ask you to
join me in supporting him for re-election to that position.
On NH Primary Day the Farmington polls are open 8
AM - 7 PM. Mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 11th and don’t forget to
make your way to the Farmington Old Town Hall/ Rec Center gym, 531 Main ST,
Farmington to vote. I certainly hope you will take the time. We need your vote then and
we need you to turn out in force in November.
Kyle Leach
Farmington, NH
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