Franks Connelly
I chose to examine the 7th District congressional race because it was local to Woodbridge Township, the town where I live and work. There were four candidates running: Bob Franks, Republican; Maryanne Connelly, Democrat; Darren Young, Libertarian; and Richard C. Martin, NJ Conservative Party. This race was essentially text book. Bob Franks, Republican, the incumbent with a much larger bank account and a good amount of name recognition won with 52% of the vote beating Maryanne Connelly, Democrat who had 45% of the vote. The other two candidates whose total votes made up only 3% did nothing and the FEC had no record of contributions or expenditures. Thus focus of this paper will be exclusively on the race between Connelly and Franks.My goal is to begin this paper by reviewing this race from the perspective of an interested but not active constituent. By this I mean someone who cares enough to read newspapers, watch televised debates, read direct mailings and talk to candidates should they make themselves available but not enough to go out of their way to contact the candidates. The first part of this paper is written from that perspective. I will then take a look at the differences in the candidates' stands on issues, th
I learned from a newspaper article that two public debates were being held. One was being televised on News 12 New Jersey. At that time that station was not available in my area. Fortunately News 12 would let me purchase a copy for the price of only a tape. I received one mailing. Actually it was not even from either of these two candidates. It was from the Democratic Party and the focus was on Pete Delina who was running for Middlesex County Freeholder and mentioned Maryanne Connelly as being positioned on Line A along with himself and others. From Bob Franks or the Republican Party I received nothing. I did hear one radio as for Maryanne Connelly in which Hillary Clinton was speaking on her behalf. Again, nothing from Bob Franks. On a positive note both candidates did have web pages which clearly stated their positions and gave you the opportunity to email them. I e-mailed both of the candidates asking for more information pertaining to their individual platforms. I did get responses from both candidates. From Bob Franks who was using his congressional e-mail address I received a canned "thank you for caring" message in which none of my questions or concerns had been addressed. From Maryanne Connelly I received a personal response in which she addressed or tried to address every one of my concerns. It was "signed" Maryanne Connelly. This was impressive whether or not it was really her sending the message. Maryanne Connelly was one of only 2 female candidates running in New Jersey. Connelly has been the Mayor of Fanwood since 1995, served on the Fanwood City Council for 9 years and was Police Commissioner of the City of Fanwood. She is also Past President of NJ Elected Women Officials, Chair of the Board of Trustees for Benedictine Academy, and a member of Human Resources Planning Society Organization of International Consultants. She is retired form Human Resources of At&t where she was employed for 28 years. Lastly I attended the Woodbridge Township Street Fair. Bob Franks had a booth set there dedicated to
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Approximate Word count = 1381
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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