Candidate's Wife Supportive of Council Run

When my husband, Sean Benoit, who is a current candidate for Council in Garwood, and I looked for homes, our primary focus was location. We wanted to be close to my job and family and so we focused on Union County. By chance, our realtor was from Garwood. She had the intuition to know it would be a good town for us and our young son. From looking at houses and talking to locals, we became enchanted with the small town. People seemed to know one another and help each other out. It was an unusually walkable town, and we could envision our children walking to school together, and riding bikes with friends. Two years later, we could not be happier to be here now. We love the small town and the people we have met here.
My husband, Sean, has worked tirelessly to help disabled and disadvantaged children in need throughout his career working as an attorney for a non-profit organization. He takes his professional role personally and fights for these young children as if they were his own. It came naturally that now that we have found our home, he would look to take on a role of activism to ensure the best interests of our community. I am so excited for Sean to continue his lifelong dedication to selfless public service as part of the Democrats for Garwood ticket with Sara Todisco and Michael Ince.
We first met Sara months after moving to Garwood and were astonished at how completely involved in the town she was, well beyond the necessary scope of a council member. Now that I have gotten to know her and the community, I can see why she volunteers so passionately for our town. Her passion has inspired our passion. Whether it be as president of the Education Foundation of Garwood and the Lion’s Club or as a founding member of Garwood’ Green Team she does these things thanklessly out of the goodness of her heart for a town where her family three generations before her have called home.
Unfortunately, some people are suspicious of altruism. My husband is frequently questioned about his decision to work for a non-profit organization rather than taking a higher paying corporate job or one with a lighter work load. They look for ulterior motives when one makes sacrifices to help others rather than focus squarely on themselves. I see this type of behavior repeat itself in the backlash against the Todisco-Ince-Benoit ticket.
Sara’s dedication has been marginalized by the opposing party, and they have taken to calling her an opportunist. They say, why else would she do everything that she does? Meanwhile these same people, including the current Mayor himself, have turned to her to sustain their own political careers. They are now accusing her of being disloyal to those who have “opened doors” for her when, in fact, she has been the one to open doors for them. Their attacks reek of modern-day sexism. They were okay with a woman taking charge as long as she understood that her powers were beholden to her by a male authority.
These are not limited instances. Upon notice of my husband’s intention to run on March 18th, I received a call from an opposing council candidate that attempted to intimidate me into getting my husband to drop out of the race. I was told that I didn’t understand how things work and that he did, having run two Republican campaigns.
I am saddened by this turn of events, but not despaired. I have gotten to know enough people in this town to know our community is full of intelligent people who will see through these attacks. I believe these attacks come from a place of fear. The opposing side has failed to study the issues of our town and thus have turned to name calling, falsehoods, and cries of fake news as their strategy in this primary. I expect more from other Democrats, whether they are running against my husband or not. I hope the Democratic voters will expect more too when they enter the ballot booth on June 5th as I do and choose to vote for the Todisco-Ince-Benoit ticket.