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Dear Editor,

Normally, I stay out of politics, except for regular rants on social media about the Trump administration’s abuse of families at the border. However, today I would like to express my support for Jillian Gilchrest for the 18th State House District.

Jillian runs against a 20-year veteran, bringing freshness and energy to a network dominated by males. Did you know that Connecticut ranks 19th in the country for women serving in state legislatures at only 27.8 percent?[i] I would like to see this figure increase and would love for the Nutmeg State to rank Number One.

Jillian is a woman for women. In fact, she was recognized as “a woman to watch” by the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund.[ii] And her experience corroborates this sage advice: Director of Health Professional Outreach for the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Senior Policy Analyst at the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, Policy Director of Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, Policy Director at Connecticut Association for Human Services.

But, Jillian is not just for women. She is also for West Hartford. Jillian plans to champion such issues as paid family and medical leave so that our families can care for their loved ones while keeping their economic security. Jillian also wants to support small businesses so that they can afford to offer competitive benefits to their staff.

And because education is king in West Hartford, please note that Jillian was elected to the West Hartford Board of Education and is the proud mom of West Hartford elementary students (shout out to Morley!). Among other advances, she would like to offer more accessible before/after care options for parents and to protect and invest in higher education. Jillian also would like to implement a contemporary education funding formula that meets the needs of West Hartford students.

Jillian is also pro-Connecticut, wanting to make structural changes to the way the state budgets, supporting common sense revenue solutions such as tolls and tax reform. And, like all of us, she wants to keep young people in Connecticut and rejuvenate our cities.

This is the first Democratic primary in 20 years! And with much gratitude for and respect to our incumbent representative, Andrew Fleischman, for his two decades of service, I think it is well time for new energy. I believe the West Hartford and the entire State of Connecticut needs it.

Don’t sit this one out! Please join me on Aug. 14, 2018, and vote for Jillian Gilchrest for State Representative for the 18th Assembly District.

Proud resident of West Hartford! and immigration attorney,

Nettie Parker Bauman

[i] Office of Legislative Research, Objective Research for Connecticut’s Legislature, Research Report: Women in State Legislatures, see https://www.cga.ct.gov/2017/rpt/pdf/2017-R-0339.pdf

[ii] See http://www.jilliangilchrest.com/west-hartford-candidate/index.html