Press Release

January 18, 2011

Contact:
Rolf Maurer
Candidate for State Senate District 27, (203)327-6464, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

David Bedell
Secretary, Fairfield County Green Party, (203)581-3193, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Stamford, CT--Today was the deadline for petitioning candidates in the February 22 special election to submit signatures to the Secretary of the State. Rolf Maurer, who last week announced his intention to run for the State Senate seat vacated by Andrew McDonald, has resolved to run a write-in campaign instead.

Maurer previously represented the Green Party when he ran for Stamford Mayor in 2009 and for State Representative in 2010, focusing on environmental and social justice issues.

"Now more than ever, we need alternative ideas to the prescriptions of the major-party candidates," said Maurer. "During these difficult economic times, we need to discuss some common-sense solutions that promote robust employment opportunities and economic resiliency for the state, such as a Connecticut public bank, incentives for Open Book Management, civilian-side repurposing of military contractor operations and a Land Value Tax instead of traditional property taxes."

David Bedell, local secretary for the Green Party, commented on the change in plans. "Given the tight schedule for this special election, we just were not able to collect the requisite 250 signatures. Maybe the state should look at other models for ballot access. In Australia and Canada, a petitioning candidate needs only 50 or 100 signatures even for national office; in the UK, only ten signatures are required in addition to a monetary deposit. Is it really in the public interest to limit voter choice?"

Maurer, a resident of the Glenbrook neighborhood for over 20 years, has worked in trade/consumer publishing and has been active over the last several years in promoting community engagement in social, creative and political matters through participation in the Unitarian Universalist Society's Civil Liberties Committee, the Public Listening Project and other programs.

More information about Maurer and his platform can be found at: www.vote-rolf.org

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