Thank you. I know that there is a Board of Selectmen meeting coming up as well as other conventions this evening, and I have to get to a Vestry meeting, so I’ll try to keep my comments brief.

It is an honor and a privilege to receive, and accept, the Democratic Nomination for State Representative in the 114th Assembly district of Connecticut, serving Woodbridge, and parts of Orange and Derby. It will also be a lot of work, but it is work that must be done.

At the Democratic State Convention last Friday, the person nominating Denise Merrill for another term as Secretary of State talked about the importance of civic engagement saying, “If you don’t vote, don’t complain.” Unfortunately, too few people vote in our state.

But as leaders, there is more to this that we need to hear, “if you don’t provide someone to vote for, don’t complain.” I am not running just because I want to, I am running because it is important work that needs to be done.

Some may say, “Why is he running, he doesn’t have a chance.” That is like saying, “Why should I vote, my vote won’t make a difference.” Wrong!

When I ran two years ago, I received 36% of the vote, yet when people asked me the outcome of the election, I told them that I had won. I hadn’t gotten elected, but I had won. I won by giving people a choice. Over 4,000 people voted for me last time, and I want them to have someone to vote for this time.

I won by discussing the issues. And I am going to win again this fall, whether it be with 56% of the vote, or 36% of the vote.

Some people are bound to give me advice about how I should change my looks. I should lose some weight, I should cut off my beard, I shouldn’t wear those dorky looking Google Glasses.

I feel too much of politics is based on is based on looks, personality, and popularity. We should be spending campaign funds on talking about the issues, not buying giant pictures of ourselves. If I try to be more popular or better looking than my opponent, I have less of a chance of winning, not only the popularity contest, but also the more important goals of talking about the issues and giving the voters a real choice.

So, what issues are most important to me? We can, and will, talk about health, education, civic involvement, the environment, transportation and so on, but I want to start off by talking about the underlying issues. Who are we as a people?

A lot of the discussion these days have been fiercely independent, with people waving flags saying “Don’t tread on me”, talking about freedom and individual rights.

Freedom to do what? To be self-centered, to be concerned about “What’s in it for me?” No, that is not what made our country strong. With rights come responsibilities. Our freedom should be the freedom to help the downtrodden and vulnerable amongst us.

We are privileged to live in a wonderful community. Many of us are privileged to have been brought up in well to do families, with parents that cared for us, and made it possible to go to college. We have responsibility to preserve this wonderful community, and to provide opportunities for those less fortunate than ourselves.

So, the campaign begins. Thank you for your support this evening, and more importantly, for whatever level of support you’ll be able to provide during the coming months.

Thank you.