WERNICKE: Fazio is Out of Touch With Constituents

Submitted by Sherry Wernicke, Riverside

Letter to the Editor:

I could easily make the case for you to vote for Alexis Gevanter for State Senator 36th district on August 17. She is an amazing, accomplished woman with a platform of public health and safety, prosperity, and progress with actual policies to back it up.

But we are in a profound crisis as a country and at risk of losing our democracy and our lives due to the incompetence, lies, and corruption of a former president and a Republican party, at all levels, that has not only failed to speak out, but gleefully continues to support him.

And if you don’t see this happening, it’s time to pay attention. Republicans like to say CT deserves better than a one party rule. Well, I say CT deserves better than electing into office members of a party, like Ryan Fazio, who are out of touch with the majority of their constituents and don’t seem to care.

Access to healthcare, pre-existing conditions, paid family and medical leave, gun control, a woman’s right to choose, climate change, teaching factual history in our schools, racism, and public safety are all issues important to CT residents. Ditto democracy, law and order, fiscal responsibility, national security, and the military. But Republicans are failing us on ALL of these issues. Instead of governing, they promote fear mongering, culture wars, voter suppression, and chasing failed economic policies of deregulation and tax and spend less.

Where is the outrage over the misinformation/lies about COVID and vaccines that endanger our freedoms and health and safety? The Delta virus ravaging parts of this country and killing many today did not have to happen. Why isn’t Fazio speaking out to defend our democracy as it is being dismantled by his party? Maybe it’s because he calls early voting and no excuse absentee voting extreme and voting in person sacred. A recent Pew poll shockingly showed that two-thirds of Republican voters DO NOT think that voting is a right and can be limited.

The only outrage I see is the lie about CRT being taught in schools. Please ask yourself, where was this outrage before the Black Lives Matter movement? I’ll tell you…it didn’t exist! CRT has been around since the 1970’s, but the feigned outrage only recently. If you have children in school and care about what they are taught, you need to be paying attention to people running for your local school boards.

Republicans would have you believe the sky is falling on CT, when in fact, the opposite is true. While we still have much to get done, under Lamont and the Democrats, our state is actually on a very positive projection.

We have a balanced budget, revenue and economic growth, private sector job growth, low state spending, and businesses are moving into the state along with thousands of new residents, We’ve expanded workforce development to help residents earn high-paying jobs, reformed our pension fund obligation, passed a budget full of wins for families, and invested in our towns and cities and infrastructure. Much was done on a bipartisan basis, but all was accomplished without raising ANY taxes, while under the threat of COVID. CT, by the way, has always been at the forefront in dealing with the pandemic, because our governor acted on the science with the health and safety of the residents in mind.

The changes made over the last two years will have a positive effect on our state for generations. We have momentum and are on stronger ground than we’ve been in decades. But to keep it up, you MUST VOTE! If there ever was a time to put country over party, it is now. People of ALL political persuasions would serve themselves and the state of Connecticut well by voting for Alexis Gevanter.

She is a fresh voice who will actually work for you and put you first, not her own self-interests. She definitely will have my vote on August 17! 

Note:

The tmeline for submitting letters to the editor for Aug 17 special election:

• Accept letter to the editor submissions for consideration beginning July 22.
• Deadline to submit is Aug 10 (one week before election) by 5:00pm.

UPDATED: GFP Letter to the Editor Policy