| OCTOBER 5, 2014 -- We have two big events occurring soon. The first one for all Grangers is the Annual State Grange Session which will convene on October 16th. This is when we will be concluding Grange business for the year. This year is also an election year for our State Grange offices. A major portion of the session will be the consideration of all resolutions that you have submitted though your local Granges and were sent on to the State Grange. There is one resolution from last year that will again be addressed as it was sent to the Agricultural Committee for study and recommendation. This was the one concerning the labeling of Genetically Modified Organisms or more commonly known as GMO’s. Charles Dimmick wrote an excellent article in the March Granger titled ”What is a GMO?”. I encourage all to review that article before state session.
On November 4th residents of Connecticut will be heading to their polling places to determine who will be our Governor and other state officers for the next four years. This year we have Thomas Foley challenging the present Governor Dannell P. Mallory for the office of Governor. Also on the ballot is Joe Visconti as a petitioning candidate for Governor. We will also be electing the Lt. Governor, along with the Governor as well as the Secretary of State, Treasurer, Attorney General, Comptroller and Probate Judges. All five of the National Congressman are also seeking reelection. Neither of the two Federal Senate seats are up for election this year.
There are 36 State Senate seats and 171 State Representative seats also being chosen. I was looking at the Secretary of States web site at the list of those running. I noticed for the 36 Senate seats there are six districts that do not have a opponent to the incumbent. In the House, of the 151 seats, there are 27 districts that also do not have opponents running. There are also a number of districts what have a major candidate along with only a minor party running against them. I sometime wonder why we don’t have more people who are concerned about our state and government and are willing to speak out and step up to challenge the incumbents.
With the election season upon us, please remember that the Grange is a non-partisan organization. We as a Grange cannot endorse one party or person for any position. We do encourage you all to participate in the elections process. Invite your local candidates to meet and express their positions on various issues or host a meet the candidate’s night. This is also the time to meet with your candidates to express the concerns that your Grange may have on local issues that you would like to see addressed. The State Legislative Session starts in January and the Legislators will start introducing possible bills for the upcoming session right after the elections occur. So if you have something that you want them to consider, get the information to them soon after the elections. |
