The first of July marks many things.  It is early summer, the kids are out of school, cook outs and firework outings are being planned.  Vacations are nearing, and thoughts turn to sun, sand, and swimming.  The hammock in the back yard swings invitingly, and the lemonade is in the fridge.  Time to sit back and dangle one's toes in the water . . .

But hold on - It is also campaign season.  As others are winding down, candidates all over Connecticut are out door knocking, lit dropping, and doing their best to make their case to the voters.  Connecticut's local conventions have been had, and most candidates have their place on the ballot and have filed their citizens election forms.  With all of this already done - is it too late to decide to run for office?  No, it is not!

Candidates can still use a petition drive to get themselves on the ballot, and can still participate in the Citizens Election Program.  In order to be listed on the ballot, candidates need to garner petition signatures equal to 1% of the number of votes cast in the last election for the office being sought.  But why stop there?  If the candidate keeps going and gets signatures equal to 10% of the votes cast, he or she can get a partial grant from the CEP program.  But heck, now that you have your team in place to get signatures anyway - go for broke!  Signatures equal to 20% of the votes cast in the last election will get a candidate the full Citizens Election grant.  This is really an unprecedented opportunity for petitioning and minor party candidates to be on equal footing with major party candidates.

So all of you folks who ever thought of running for office, get motivated and get out there! With such a great opportunity in front of you, now is not the time to dangle your toes in the water.  Now is the time to get a team together and get signatures and run for office!  There'll be plenty of time to sit back and have a beer in November.