The two candidates for the 43rd District seat in the state House of Representatives, covering Stonington and North Stonington, each bring to the race many years of public service. Democratic incumbent Diana S. Urban, 65, has held the seat for eight terms — 16 years. The Republican challenger, Nicholas H. Mullane II, 78, served as first selectman in North Stonington for 32 years until stepping into a selectman's post last year.

As in virtually all General Assembly races this year, the two are focused on what's wrong with Connecticut's fiscal house and how to put it in order. Urban is committed to her longtime goal of budgetary allocations being based on the track record of the program or agency being funded, which she terms "results based accountability," or RBA. Mullane charges that Urban has failed for many years to persuade the legislature to her way of thinking.

Nevertheless, she has begun to have something to show for her efforts, in the transfer of funding within programs that serve children. Significantly, the governor in his budget address in February called for the kind of accountability she has worked for.

Measurement of programs' success — the metrics, in management lingo — would be a useful tool for the legislature as it tackles painful decisions of what to fund when not everything can be funded. It would be a good political tool as well. Evidence that a program doesn't work well enough would give legislators the grounds for tough decisions — and perhaps the needed courage to tell constituents that a favorite item is losing funding.

Mullane says a 5- or 6-year budgetary cycle would be an improvement over the current biennial budget. He considers North Stonington to be a good fiscal model after his long tenure, in spite of deferred maintenance to the schools and disputes that have downsized and delayed construction of a new emergency services building.

No issue before the General Assembly outweighs the significance of getting the state's budget out of deficit and creating jobs as Connecticut struggles to attract and keep citizens. Diana Urban has demonstrated her ability to follow through on seeking accountability when most legislators avoided it. The Day endorses her for re-election in the 43rd District.