In addition to candidate op-eds, GMW’s Voter’s Guide special issue also provides each political town committee with the opportunity to submit one, 600-word op-ed. More information is available in GMW’s Election Guidelines and Policies.
In 2024, so many smart people told Democrats we were overreacting when we called Trump a threat to democracy. Nobody says that anymore. Trump and his MAGA allies are ignoring courts, militarizing our streets, neutering Congress, targeting our world-leading universities, waging illegal wars, plundering taxpayer funds, using the Justice Department for personal revenge, trampling press freedoms and threatening ballot access itself. Meanwhile, he, his family, and cozy billionaires are lining their pockets through crypto scams, sweetheart real estate schemes, bribes from sovereign wealth funds and oil deals that would make an oligarch blush. The question in 2026 is no longer whether we’re overreacting.
My kids have known politics only with Donald Trump at the center of a polarizing, tribal, death battle. I remind them that before Trump, presidents aimed to govern toward the middle. Clinton accepted welfare reform, GHW Bush endorsed higher taxes, Obama extended GW Bush tax cuts. MAGA governs at extremes, unilaterally and without Congress. Trump still can’t explain the goals, strategy or status of his disastrous war of choice in Iran, or why tariff-induced inflation is not a ruinous failure.
Our nation desperately needs a return to government committed to finding balanced solutions for healthcare, eldercare, AI, climate, living wages and safety here and abroad. A government that honors our allies and builds strong international coalitions for trade and defense. A government that models the moral standards our country reputedly stands for. And most foundationally, a government that believes in creating real opportunity for everyone regardless of color, wealth, origin, religion, gender or identity.
Use this election to engage friends and neighbors. Tell a friend or uncle you “just can’t agree” with masked ICE agents in our streets, tax policies that offer the middle-class crumbs while showering billionaires with riches, or a president convicted of felonies and liable for sexual assault.
Your vote matters. Trump is throttling the post office, sowing false doubt about election officials and voter rolls and even threatening to post armed federal agents to scare voters away. We need margins too big to rig, margins that leave no doubt about our rejection of today’s Republican leadership.
Democracy comes with obligations. Get informed and help others do the same. Insist that candidates explain what they stand for and why. It is appalling that the Republican candidate for Wilton’s State Senate seat evaded her one opportunity to debate in Wilton this year. Shockingly, she then refused debates in every single other town she seeks to represent.
As we imagine a return to honest, good faith, competent government nationally, Wilton is fortunate to have an extraordinary group of incumbents and one new candidate standing ready for us on Nov. 3. Gov. Lamont and his team have struck the perfect balance of fiscal responsibility and progress. They have paid down historic amounts on our state pension debt, delivered the largest middle-class tax cut in Connecticut history and also provided universal free school meals. He and his team deserve reelection. When Democrats retake the U.S. House, Congressman Jim Himes will chair the House Intelligence Committee. Reelect him and we’ll sleep better with his oversight protecting our nation and world. State Rep. Savet Constantine has proven herself tireless, knowledgeable, accessible and effective representing us in Hartford. And we are particularly fortunate that Sam Nestor is running to fill the state senate seat currently held by Democrat Ceci Maher. Sam’s very successful tenure as first selectwoman of Weston represents precisely the experience that a town like Wilton needs in Hartford.
On Election Day, Nov. 3, let’s double down in Connecticut, and help redirect our country toward decency, fairness and competence.
