Why are you a Democrat?

Read how some of your neighbors have answered that question.

Why I am a Democrat in Washington Township

As a Washington Township Democrat, I believe that government can be a force for good for all people of the township – rich or poor, land owner or renter, resident or even just a visitor. Our taxes are among the highest in the nation; therefore, it is the local government’s job to ensure that our tax dollars are put to the best use, strengthening and enhancing our community. As a Democrat, I believe that the most important job of our local elected officials is to foster smart growth that will not put an extra burden on taxpayers, and to support local businesses to help them prosper. Only then can we look forward to a well-managed and vibrant township that will attract new residents, and remain a green and appealing rural community for our children. Finally, whether the government in Washington, DC and Trenton is predominantly Republican or Democrat, I believe that it is the responsibility of all citizens to use the tools or our democracy to make the government work for us – to be an agent of change when change is called for, and a protector of our rights when they are infringed upon. That is why I am a Washington Township Democrat.

— Neil M. Szigethy


I was recently asked what it means to me to be a Democrat, especially here in a Republican-dominated town. Labels really aren’t important unless they accurately identify a group’s member with a certain set of values and beliefs. Indeed, I registered as a Republican at the age of 18…primarily because everyone in the town I grew up in was Republican and it was the only way to ensure you could vote in the primary. I really didn’t give it much thought until I moved out of my parent’s house and began to question what the Republic Party was doing for me and my middle class family. The answer was “not much.”

The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is the only party to have passed legislation that significantly and positively affected the lives of middleclass and lower income Americans: minimum wage, social security and medicare come to mind. My choice of party was clear cut thirty years ago and remains so to this day. I am a Democrat and passionately so.

Survival of the fittest is the way of the natural world. Human beings claim to be different (better?) than the animals. To me that means that we owe something to the community of man in which we live. It means that those who are well off have a duty to help those who have less, or little, or nothing. Additionally, we all know that the middleclass is the backbone of America and of all the communities across this great country. Unfortunately, It is being squeezed into non-existence. Without the middleclass, this country faces the bleak future that all two-class nations have faced in the past and continue to face today: deep and continuing unrest.

The Democratic Party – whether local, regional or national, is the only party that has made a clear stand for all Americans: rich, poor, middleclass, blue-collar, white-collar, pink-collar, black, white, yellow or red. This is the party that wants all people to have access to high-quality healthcare at a reasonable cost. It’s the party that made retirement possible for those other than the richest among us and the one that fought for a minimum wage. It is the party that wants America to legitimately and confidently hold our collective heads up high among our peers in the world, not only in healthcare, but in education and in the protection of our only home – the earth.

That is why I am a Democrat. That is why – despite the odds being against me here in Washington Township – I continue to believe that the best thing for our town would be a balanced representation in local government, bringing needed transparency, accountability, and a focus on smart growth to bring in the ratables required to maintain our quality of life and excellent educational system WITHOUT continuing to raise our property taxes.

- Jennifer Chudy Simon