WESTMINSTER — I had the distinct honor to serve with Michael Mrowicki as his district mate in the Windham-4 district for 10 years. In that time, I learned that he works hard, is imaginative in response to difficult situations, and that he earned the respect of the members of all three of the political parties in the House - Republican, Democratic, and Progressive - because of his fair and thoughtful deliberations about issues.
In the upcoming Aug. 11 primary, Michael faces one of the unique awkward realities about a two-member House district. Whenever there is an open seat, there is an open primary if more than two people are running for the nomination of their party in order to be on the ballot in November.
And as such, the top two vote-getters are the nominees for the party. A sitting House member seeking reelection has no inherent claim to one of the seats.
In my three decades of elections, I faced a few primaries in the same situation as Michael now faces, and in all of those races those candidates running for one of the two seats assured me they were not running against me - all well and good in terms of their intentions, but that is not how it works. The top two vote getters are the nominees: it matters not a whit whom someone claims to be running against.
Please keep in mind as Aug. 11 approaches: In order to keep an experienced and caring Michael Mrowicki as one of the representatives from this district, you need to vote. And then you need to vote for Michael.
For me, I am supporting Michelle Bos-Lun as the second nominee for the district seat. I think she will represent this district well in the coming years.
But second choices aside, I am casting my first vote for Michael, and I hope you will join with me and do the same.