A Voice to All Residents

I am humbled to add a statement of support from my neighbor, Antonio Fregoso.

Antonio is a prince of a fellow. I've come to know him through his involvement in the community. Antonio is a particularly effective neighborhood leader because he bridges the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking cultures. It seems that Antonio is always out and about helping his neighbors. He has a demanding career, but makes time to serve others.

Campaigns are generally resource limited, in both terms of time and money. To have the best chances of winning, candidates have to maximize the impact of their resources. Often this means targeting the most likely voters. I've heard it said that voting is the way to have a voice in their government. This is true, though not exclusively so, but it true in multiple ways. Not only are voters the ones who decide who will represent them through the election, but candidates will actually seek out voters. For a fee, campaigns can obtain voting records from the County which list the voters in past elections. Recently Provo has have very poor voter turn out. Nine percent of Provo registered voters voted in the primary election last time. That's 9% of registered voters, mind you, not eligible voters. If you vote, particularly in the primary election, future candidates will want to hear what you think about local issues.

Campaigning helps candidates get to know the people that they hope to represent. Targeted campaigning can be more effective, but it can also skew the perspective of the candidate towards the views of active voters. Now I consider it a sacred responsibility of citizens to be informed voters (note the adjective "informed"). And I recommend to everyone that voting is the first step in having a voice in local government. But I also feel that it is good for the community for candidates and representatives to reach out to the public as a whole and not just likely voters.

One of the benefits of running unopposed is that I am under less pressure to target the most likely voters. I plan to take voter registration forms along with me as I walk the district, knocking on doors. I hope that Antonio and others will volunteer some time to walk with me to help bridge language and other barriers.

Many of our neighbors across the District feel that they don't have a voice in local government, or that it doesn't matter if they are involved. I will try to change that. I will reach out to the 91% of registered voters who chose not to vote in the last primary and the likely greater number of eligible voters who haven't even registered. I don't know how much of an impact that I will have, but I know that I will be better prepared to represent all of the residents of our district.