People to Look Up To

Why I look up to guys like Legislator Carmen Gumina (R-Webster) and Supervisor David Dunning (R-Chili).

People get involved in politics and government for a variety of different reasons I'm most impressed with people that get involved because they want to make things better. This is why our forefathers were involved in government affairs and politics and is still the reason why many people get involved today. Yes, I realize that some people have other reasons, but for today's discussion I am looking at the honorable few that get involved to make the lives of hard-working citizens and our families better.

Carmen Gumina and David Dunning ran for office because they truly believed in their heart that they can right wrongs, make better decisions, and in the end safeguard and improve the lives of the citizens that they represent. Both of these gentlemen ran for office in a time when they would win if they were Democrat or Republican. They took the path available to them and set out to win an election and obtain an office where they believed they could make a difference.

After serving for a year or two in their respective positions both came to realize that the party that they were enrolled in did not truly help them to serve the people that they represented. When they looked at other elected officials in the Democratic party they found very little common ground, and when looking across the aisle to elected officials of the Republican Party they found others that had similar core values and beliefs as they did. They made decisions that to do their best to help out the people that they represent, they would have to move to the more conservative, fiscally responsible, family oriented party, the Republican Party.

I am sure that the decisions that these two gentlemen made was not an easy one and took much soul-searching. It takes courage to be an elected official and switch parties, especially when you are making the decision for all the right reasons as these two gentlemen did. I applaud their courage, I applaud their determination to align themselves with others that have the same values and same core beliefs. I applaud that these two men are men of action, men of conviction and men that are willing to do what is necessary to fight for the families that they represent. They have earned my respect.