I have been mulling over two flyers from Greg Howard, the Republican challenging incumbent Democrat Kate Rotella for state representative in the 43rd District. Both flyers tout that Mr. Howard is a “lifelong local” (tribalism), that he is a police officer (law and order) and a football coach (apple pie). But noticeably missing is any mention of political accomplishments — because Howard has none. Howard’s political naivete is further exposed by his talk of bipartisanship and his notion that he can “reach across the aisle.” Does Mr. Howard really think Republicans in Hartford are going to let him cross the aisle? These are the folks who engineered dumping locally endorsed candidate Shaun Mastroianni to get Howard on their ticket. They will demand loyalty. If a majority of voters in the 43rd are foolish enough to abandon Kate Rotella and send Mr. Howard to Hartford, he will discover he is not a free man and that, as a minority representative, he is powerless to deliver for Stonington. Better to stick with Kate, who has both a track record of delivering (e.g., Boom Bridge in North Stonington; $600,000 in state funding for Pawcatuck sidewalks, etc.) and tripartisanship from serving as a selectman with Rob Simmons.

Bill Sternberg

Stonington