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To the Editor,

This past Wednesday, less than an hour after Beth Bye had announced her intention to resign as State Senator, the calls started pouring in. Was I interested in her seat? Did I support Derek Slap? How many delegates could I get on my team? Who else was interested? The “race” was on, and instead of beginning my sprint, I had to step back.

Was I interested? Of course, who wouldn’t be interested? But I needed some time to think about it. Besides having a bit of election fatigue, I remembered that people in the 18th district didn’t elect me so I could “move up” as fast as possible, they elected me because our state has real problems and they expect me to help to fix them. If I decided to take this on, I’d be taking my eye off the ball. Therefore, I will not be pursuing this seat.

There are currently three great candidates who have expressed their interest in running for the 5th District Senate seat: Beth Kerrigan, Derek Slap, and Janée Woods-Weber. The Democratic candidate is selected by a group of delegates from the towns of Bloomfield, Burlington, Farmington, and West Hartford. As one of those delegates, I plan to take the next few weeks before the convention to vet these candidates thoroughly and to give each one of them an equal opportunity to make their case. I know my constituents would expect nothing less.

Jillian Gilchrest
West Hartford