At NHS—

State Sen. McKinney Offers A Lesson In Politics

By Eliza Hallabeck

Students at Newtown High School got a taste of politics last week, when state Senator John McKinney visited the school to share his experience as a senator and his insights on how politics work.

“Senator McKinney has come to talk to us a little bit about local elections,” said social studies chair Candice Dietter, “and some politics.”

Sen McKinney explained to the students that he represents the 28th District, which is four towns, Newtown, Fairfield, Easton, and Weston.

“A lot of people ask, ‘Why is Newtown in a district with Fairfield?’ And the only real answer is politics,” said Sen McKinney.

He explained for the students the entire legislature runs for reelection every two years. Every ten years, four republicans and four democrats from the state senate meet to redraw the district lines.

In Connecticut, he said, roughly 90 percent of the bills passed in the state are worked on and passed jointly by both the Republican representatives and the Democratic representatives. He said it is the other ten percent the media likes to focus attention on.

“In our state,” said SenMcKinney, “we tend to get along.”

He spoke to students on ranging topics, from the state budget and the expected $600 million deficit to local elections.

“I think in the next couple of years we need to spend less money,” said Sen McKinney. He added that economists expect another 10,000 to 20,000 jobs to be lost within the state, and these jobs, he said, will be jobs that will not come back.

“The question is, as a state, how are we going to get more jobs here, instead of loosing residents,” said Sen McKinney.

Sen McKinney asked if anyone in the room had participated in the most recent local elections. One students said he had voted for the first time.

“I think any election starts with having good candidates,” said Sen McKinney. On election day, he said, people who are upset tend to come out and vote.

He also said he would prefer closer to 100 percent of possible voters attending the polls, rather than the normal rates of voter turnouts.

During his visit, Sen McKinney also answered questions from the students, but before he left he told the assembled NHS seniors to try to get actively involved.

“The reality is you really can have an impact,” he said.