Letter: Special Elections On Tuesday, Feb. 26

To The Editor, Farmington Neighbors and Friends:

As your elected representatives, we write to ask you to vote in the special elections on Tuesday, Feb. 26 for two outstanding candidates to become Farmington's next state Senators: Derek Slap and Rick Lopes. Farmington's Senate seats became vacant a few weeks ago when our prior state Senators, Beth Bye and Terry Gerratana, vacated their positions to take policy making roles with the state where they will be able to advocate for Farmington families on a greater scale.

Running in Farmington's 6th Senate district to succeed Sen. Gerratana is Rick Lopes, a current State Representative and small business owner.

Rick has worked to help repeal state taxes on senior benefits, such as Social Security. He has fought to cut bureaucracy and red tape that get in the way of businesses' ability to compete and grow.

As a husband and father of three who are between the ages of 6 to 16, Rick has fought for greater protections for women and children. He will continue to fight for middle class and small business tax relief, vocational training and good-paying jobs, and more affordable healthcare.

Derek Slap, also a current State Representative who is running in Farmington's 5th Senate district to succeed Sen. Bye, led the fight last year on pay equity for women in the workplace. He's fought for gun-safety legislation to keep our kids and families safe, for controlling utility costs for seniors, and for preservation of our water supply and natural resources. He will continue to fight for property tax reform, retirement security, and our top-rated schools. Derek is a husband and father of three.

On Tuesday, Feb. 26, you will vote at your regular polling place between 6am-8pm. If you will be out of town on Tuesday, please be sure to vote by Absentee Ballot by going to Town Hall (located at 1 Monteith Dr) between 8:30am-4:30pm by the end of the day on Monday.

We hope that all Farmington voters in the 5th Senate district will join us on Tuesday in voting for Derek Slap and that voters in the 6th district will support Rick Lopes.

Mike Demicco, State Representative, Farmington

Demetrios Giannaros, former State Representative, Farmington

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