Connecticut

This post is by Chris Golden, who is on the Mobilize.org team and a student in DC.

Connecticut voters ratified a state constitutional amendment this week which would grant voting rights to 17 year-olds in party primaries if they will reach the age of 18 by Election Day. The amendment, which would make Connecticut the 19th state to put into law such a measure, was approved by voters by a nearly 2:1 margin.

“This will help encourage lifelong voting habits among young people. This will encourage not only voting, but working on primary campaigns and getting involved in the political process. It shows that with hard work, perseverance and a good idea, we really can amend our constitution to expanding voting rights in Connecticut,” said State Representative James Spallone, a member of the Judiciary Committee.

As an example of what this amendment will mean, if a young voter turned 18 in August 2008, making him eligible to participate in the November election, he would also have been able to vote in the February 2008 primary to select the candidates for the November ballot, even though he would still have been 17 years old at the time.

“With the passage of this constitutional amendment, thousands of 17 year-olds can now participate in the political process sooner and hopefully become lifelong voters. The passage of this amendment was due to the hard work and perseverance of high school students throughout the state of Connecticut who joined forces…we owe them a sincere set of gratitude,” said Secretary of State Susan Bysciewicz.

In an October statement released in support of the Amendment, Bysciewicz argued that if 17-year olds can sign up to serve their country in the military, then they should be able to choose their preferred candidates for office when they will be able to vote. “If our state’s young men and women at 17 years of age can make a decision and commitment of that gravity—knowing there is a great chance that they will be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan—they certainly are capable and mature enough to cast a ballot in primary elections,” she said.

The passage of the amendment holds special significance for Connecticut because it was the first state to ratify the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which lowered the national voting age to 18, in 1971. That Amendment has been interpreted by the Supreme Court as not restricting states from setting a voting age below 18 but rather prohibiting them from setting an age above it.

A 1986 Supreme Court decision, Tashjian v. Connecticut, further specified that a state political party has the power to determine who is eligible to vote in their primaries, under their existing legal authority. As Adam Fogel, the Right to Vote Director for Fair Vote, explained in testimony to a Pennsylvania House of Representatives Committee in May 2008, it is in the political party’s interest to extend primary voting rights to 17 year-olds, “Studies show that if a young person votes for one party in three consecutive elections, that person votes with that party for life. Parties should be encouraging participation, not discouraging it—if a young person cares enough to participate and will be eligible to vote in the general election, we should provide them with that opportunity.”

Officials with the Connecticut Office of Secretary of State estimate that the passage of this Amendment could make as many as 10,000 new voters eligible to vote in the next primary elections, scheduled in September 2009 for municipal elections. The office said that it would work with high schools across the state to integrate knowledge of the Amendment into an existing requirement for civics education.

Connecticut joins Alaska, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia and Washington in having a 17-year old primary voting law.

By Chris Golden, Mobilize.org, originally posted on the MoBlog on 11/9/8

Bumped. George is a 29 year old running for state senate in Connecticut. He live-blogged here on Future Majority a few weeks back. Feel free to ask him about his race, his district, or running for office at such a young age.

Hi everyone!

It’s been a month since the live blog and I want to again thank Michael and everyone who participated. It was my first live blogging event and a real learning experience! It was a great opportunity and I’m looking forward to blogging again.

I’ve spent the past month enjoying the many community events that summertime brings to the 7th district: parades, 4th of July Celebrations, Fireman’s Carnivals, summer concerts, Little League games and more than my fair share of cookouts. The striking common element that hits me time and again is how refreshingly non-political these gatherings are. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of running a campaign. So much time is taken with responding to questionnaires, researching legislation, entering voter contact data, meeting with pollsters and mailing consultants, setting up websites and fundraising. Yet, while all these things are vital to a campaign, it‘s the time spent in fellowship with neighbors and strangers-turned-new-friends that remind you what public service is all about – people.

The one-on-one conversations are inspiring me to get out there every day. The headlines are dominated by stories of rising gas prices, the continuing mortgage crisis and companies making rounds of layoffs. Yet, when I talk with people, there’s just as much focus on last night’s Red Sox game, bragging about the fish that was caught last week or anxiously anticipating a child heading off to college.

I believe folks want representatives who understand what they’re going through every day: the worries of making ends meet and the joys of family: the crushing concern about the economy and the elation over a pennant race victory. They want someone they can trust to look out for them when even when they’re not looking out for themselves. Someone who will anticipate their wants and needs, maybe even before they do. Campaigns are a chance to remind people why they should care about who represents them in politics, while voters should seize the opportunity to remind candidates that they’re being sent to do a job to protect and support our families, our work, and our communities.

I spent nearly every morning in July at a different diner in the district. They weren’t publicized events. I would show up on my own, sit at the counter and strike up a conversation with anyone and everyone who felt like talking. I wouldn’t mention that I’m running for office until the middle or end of the conversation. It’s these casual, unscripted talks that are teaching me the most about what folks are going through and I’d like to tell you about just a few of them. I met a waitress who drives 25 minutes to work and needs to seriously consider working closer to home, but doesn’t have the time to search for another job in summer because she needs the day-to-day tip money to pay for day-care. I spoke with a diner owner who’s spending $56 per case of eggs. He can’t pass that along to customers – ‘cause let’s face it, who wants a 10-dollar omelet – but that could mean laying off a worker who’s become more family than employee. I broke bread with a relocated father who’s starting a new job, in a new town, while trying to sell a home that is worth less then what he owes on it. He’s not sure he can come up with the security deposit for a rental after taking the loss…and to top things off he can’t sleep at night thinking about his wife going through the start of the school year while he’s 1500 miles away. These are the campaign meetings that I’m discovering are the most compelling. The first step in solving any problem is to understand it, and the more I’m learning, the more anxious I am to begin finding solutions as a State Senator. The “inside politics” many of us in the blogosophere like to debate and argue are fun, important, and can lead to some great *on-line* discussions. However, I found that what’s learned *on the road* is what really matters most.

I'll be checking back soon. Feel free to follow along on www.georgecolli.com . Enjoy the Summer!

In the State of Connecticut, the first chapter in the future of how campaigns will be run and how they will be won is being written as we speak.

2008 brings the first election cycle where candidates have the option of filing for state financing for campaigns. The need to level the playing field in elections and to put the power in the hands of the individual voter and away from PACS, lobbyist and special interests groups has created this program.

This “Clean Elections Program” was instrumental in giving me the confidence to take this step. I am running against an incumbent who has been in office for 8 terms. However, in the last election cycle, he raised only $11,000 from individuals with close to $55,000 coming from PACS, Lobbyists or his state party. The program requires a candidate to meet two thresholds:
1) You must receive a minimum of 300 donations from individuals within the towns in your district. These donations are between $5-$100. No individual lobbyists or state contractors are allowed to contribute.
2) The candidate must then raise a total of $15,000. These contributions can come from in or outside the district, however each donation cannot exceed $100.
3) Once the candidate reaches these two thresholds, the state gives a grant of $85,000 for the general election. This money does not come directly from tax payer dollars but from the revenue from unclaimed property in Connecticut

It is a program that is revolutionizing the political process in Connecticut and I believe will be a model in the future for how other states deal with campaign election reform. It is a program I think many of you will get excited about.
While there are many issues facing my district, I have been focusing on issues surrounding energy, the housing crisis and, what I feel is most important to young people in my state – youth flight.

In Connecticut, there is an alarming amount of young people who go away for college and never come back. The list of reasons for this long, but in my area they revolve around declining job growth, a lack of public transportation and the high cost of living. This is an issue that the Connecticut Young Democrats have been trying to tackle and we are working on getting the state legislature to respond to.

Thank you for the opportunity and I look forward to taking your questions.

Bumped. George will be joining us for a live blog today at 1pm. Please stop by. --Mike

Greetings to the Future Majority!

My name is George Colli and I am honored to be introducing myself as the Democratic nominee to the Connecticut State Senate out of the 7th District. At 29, I am a lifelong resident of a district that consists of seven towns in North Central Connecticut (Enfield, Somers, Windsor Locks, East Granby, Windsor, Granby and my hometown - Suffield). It runs along the border of Massachusetts and is split by the Connecticut River.

I work in a family business as a realtor that includes a small town real estate office, commercial property management, and a restaurant. I graduated with a political science degree from Providence College in 2001 and worked my first year out of school as the Assistant Director of Admissions at my alma mater, Suffield Academy.

I became involved with my local Democratic town committee and several local, state and congressional campaigns over the past six years. It was the campaigns of two candidates in 2006 that inspired me to serve in elected office.

The first was Joe Courtney. Mr. Courtney, now Congressman Courtney, won the closest Congressional race in the country by a margin of 83 votes. He is the definition of a public servant and is an exception to the rule in showing that good people can finish first!

He was victorious by keeping the race about his future constituents and their needs. If there were ever a reminder that every vote counts, this race was it! Even more inspiring was the fact that this was a race that clearly was decided by a significantly higher number of young voters going to the polls. The University of Connecticut alone experienced an 800% performance increase over the prior off-year election. Even more interesting, his best precincts were the ones where college students were located. It was that moment when I realized the power of our generation’s voice.

The second race was that of Derek Donnelly for CT State Representative out of the 61st district. Mr. Donnelly was running against an incumbent who was first elected to the seat when he was three years old. The 61st is a heavily Republican district, one that had not been opposed in years. He ran a race that was both positive and tireless. He knocked on every door in our district and attended every meeting and event. By the time people started to pay attention, Derek had set up an organization of young and lifelong supporters alike that forced his opponent to pull out every stop she could. While he ended up about 200 votes short in the end, he showed that by having drive, energy and a positive platform voters will respond.

What I look forward to sharing with you is a regular diary, from today until Election Day, of the experiences I encounter along the campaign trail.In the five weeks since I received the nomination, I have listened to people in my district talk about the direction they would like to see our state go. I will be sharing these issues with you and would love to open up a debate as to how we can solve them. I am running a campaign based on responsiveness and accessibility. My goal is for my district to expect more out of its state senator.

What I look forward to learning from you is how our generation can continue to make an impact in our political process, in business and in our society as a whole. And, as we are a campaign driven by young people, I’d love to hear your best practices for getting even more young voters engaged in the process and participating.

Our generation is one of great courage, great intellect and great promise. I am optimistic for our future and look forward to giving you all a first hand look into how we are going to show that here in North Central Connecticut.