Rob Blanchard, Door by Door

My name is Emma Barron. I am the youngest elected member of Fairfield's Representative Town Meeting (RTM), Deputy Majority Leader, and lifelong Fairfielder. I've come to know Rob Blanchard as a colleague, a mentor, a friend, and now, the candidate I'm proud to support.

Rob and I represented the same RTM district before his move to Newtown. When I was elected last November, still learning how to be useful to my neighbors, Rob showed me what the job looks like, not through speeches or press coverage, but door by door. The first time we canvassed together, I was floored: Rob knew the names and stories of neighbors I had never even met on streets near the one I'd lived on for 26 years. At one house, Rob marveled at how much a mother's youngest daughter had grown, and recalled that two years earlier, he'd met the woman and her family after they'd just moved to the district. They were like old friends. There was no performance in it, and I understood then what he'd been trying to show me: the job means nothing if you forget the people who gave it to you.

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Rob doesn't just remember people; he shows up for them. If you need him, he'll make time during his commute, between meetings, at the first pause he finds, whether it's a cleanup at McKinley Elementary or an RTM meeting where his former colleagues needed support. A few weeks ago, a woman in my district was at her wits' end over an alarm that had been blaring for days. Two hours into my own crusade, Rob texted: "Emma, I've already been in touch with folks." Two minutes later: "The alarm is off." That's just how Rob operates. It almost seems too good to be real, until you remember it's just Rob, and until you understand why.

Rob never loses sight of who the work is for. His campaign isn't built on talking points. It's built on his own life. He's a husband, father, and neighbor doing the same math the rest of us are doing on issues like affordability and childcare, and he knows exactly how impossible it can feel. When Rob fights for the 28th District, he's fighting for his own family and every household doing the same math he is.

Since I first door-knocked, it was to ask D6 residents to vote for Rob and me for the RTM. My message hasn't changed, and that's because Rob hasn't changed. Rob is the person who remembers your name, who calls back, who turns worry into relief, and who treats his neighbors' problems as his own.

You don't have to take my word for it, or even his. You just have to look at what he's already done: door by door, phone call by phone call, neighbor by neighbor. I hope you'll join me in voting for Rob Blanchard for State Senate, not because he's asking you to, but because he's already earned it.