To The Editor:

Rob Blanchard, a Newtown resident, is the real deal and is the clear choice for your State Senate vote. He brings hands-on experience from Hartford’s executive branch, so he’ll arrive knowing how the state budget and agencies actually work. He’ll arrive knowing the details of the issues facing us, including the rising costs of utilities, healthcare and childcare, and how to make Connecticut more business-friendly. And he’ll be among the majority, in the room where decisions on property taxes and school funding are made.

Michelle Embree Ku is energized and ready to go. Since so much has already been said on social media and in countless letters to the editor, I’ll save you the repetition here. But suffice it to say, she is keyed in to Newtown’s top issues and concerns, and she will put our town’s representative in the room where the Democratic majority makes the decisions that truly affect us.

Julie Kerton is Michelle Ku’s counterpart in the 107th district, which includes about 1,000 Newtown households along the Brookfield border. If you live there, as I do, I hope you’ll join me in voting for Julie. She has nine years of hands-on experience with local property tax issues on Brookfield’s Board of Assessment Appeals, which she now chairs. She also worked in nonprofit management, helping people with HIV/AIDS and their children, served as an HR benefits manager for a 7,000 employee company, and also worked for many years as a behavioral therapist serving Fairfield County.

Let’s send all three to Hartford.

Paul Lundquist

Member of the Board of Selectmen, but speaking only for myself

Newtown