I Appreciate You All

Two days ago, on Nov 4th, we finally had our day at the polls and I came in second! And second does not count in this contest.

Congratulations to my brother Warren who won his race for State Rep from Rochester. Warren, you will be a great addition to our state legislature.

I am writing to all of you who have read my blog to express my deep and sincere appreciation for all that you have done for me and for my campaign. So many of you helped in so many ways:

• Prayer - over and over again people told me that they were praying for me. I know that was a big factor in the excitement and enthusiasm of our campaign. I also know that it helped me to stay focused and energetic.
  
• Leadership team - a special thanks to Lydia, campaign manager; Leah Roth, volunteer coordinator; Mike Faiella, events and media coordinator; Doug Patteson, Fiscal Agent; Devin Robinson, media producer and Trent Robinson, web site manager. Without all of your help and leadership, I could not have done this. Lydia, your energetic, tireless work and and excellent organization on my campaign inspired me to push harder and to honor your work.
• Door to door help. We had many of you who helped with door to door contacts. With your help we were able to reach thousands of homes in my district. I have to extend special thanks to Bob and Margaret Bennett, senior citizens from our church who drove the car and kept the record list so often that I lost count!
• Organizing events - the kickoff party in July, the volunteer party in September, the Desert Fundraiser in October and the Election Night Party on November 4th were the major ones. Thanks to all who helped in so many ways.
• Addressing and stamping envelopes -we sent out over 18,000 hand addressed pieces of mail. Thanks so much. It almost gives me writer's cramp just to think about it.
• Signs - thanks to all who agreed to have signs in your yards and thanks to the many volunteers who put signs up all over the district. And I have to say a special thanks to my brother Warren and his team of volunteers who put up over 70 4x8 and 4x4 signs with his trademark 2x4 frames!
• Other, so many other tasks that were done by volunteers. Space does not allow me to list them all.

Some of you may wonder just what the vote count was. The latest numbers I have are as follows:

• Fenton Groen 10,132 43.7%
• Jackie Cilley 13,061 56.3%

I have been asked often, "what is next?" I am not sure. For all of those who have been praying for me, pray for wisdom and direction for the future. For all of you who have offered advice, keep it coming! I have not decided whether I will run again, but I am not throwing my signs away!

I am not discouraged, in fact I am still energized. There is still much to be done. I lost my part of this skirmish, but we cannot give up. There is to much at stake. We must reach out to our fellow citizens and build on the values that made our state and country great - values of limited government and personal responsibility, of protecting life, of protecting family values and marriage, of limiting regulation and of protecting constitutional principles that were established by our founding fathers.

This campaign for State Senate has been a rich and rewarding experience for me. I learned more about our state every day and I met thousands of wonderful people. If you feel the pull to serve your community or your state or our nation in elected office, I encourage you to jump in with both feet. Start getting ready for the next election.

May God bless you all,
Fenton

Three Days to the Only Poll in this Race

We are almost to the finish line! Three more days to election day.

Thanks to all of you who have helped to build the momentum of my campaign for State Senate. We have just finished a big day of door to door campaigning with 17 volunteers, 3 of whom are my sisters from Iowa and Minnesota. I finish each day of campaigning with new appreciation for the citizens of our state and with new gratitude for the many volunteers and contributors who are doing so much to help me succeed in this election.

It seems like eons ago, that week of June 6 to 13, when I made the hard decision to run. I think that it would be appropriate to recap why I am running for State Senate. Here are the basic values that I will bring to Concord. This is not intended to be an inclusive list of issues but a framework within which I believe our state government should operate.

• Practice Fiscal Responsibility. The overspending of our current legislature will result in a massive deficit next biennium. We must balance the budget by reducing spending, not by increasing taxes. We must not pass state overspending on to our citizens in increased taxes.
  
• Preserve Our Values. We must value all human life, including that of the most defenseless, the unborn. We must preserve family values, recognizing the family as one of the most basic foundation stones of our society. We must recognize and the protect time-proven institution of marriage. We must honor and respect parental rights and responsibilities.

• Preserve Our Freedom. We must limit and control regulations. Every regulation has a double cost, an economic cost and a loss of freedom. We must make sure that for every regulation, the benefit clearly exceeds the costs, or we must not implement it.

• Protect our constitutional rights. We must protect our clear right to bear arms. We must resist activist judges who would change the constitution without the due amendment process that our founders established.

• Provide limited government. Our founders wisely limited government to certain functions and prized individual responsibility and initiative. We should not expect the government, nor attempt to make government, the solution to every problem. This is and always will be a tough balance, but it is one we must answer on the side of limiting government to what our constitution proscribes.

I will serve you in Concord with fairness and integrity, utilizing my 35 years of business experience to bring innovation and efficiency to our state government. I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to represent you in Concord.

May God bless you all,
Fenton

How Not to Balance the Budget

HOW NOT TO BALANCE THE NH BUDGET
I have been talking a lot about the projected $500 million deficit that is looming for the next two year biennium here in NH.

On Tuesday I was in a convenience store in Somersworth doing business door to door campaigning. The headline in the New York Daily News caught my eye. The NY governor is predicting a 12.5 billion deficit for next year - that is right, 12.5 billion for one year! That is 50 times higher than the NH deficit. They are going to balance that budget by cutting spending in emergency sessions using drastic measures. Governor Paterson said, "When you're in that amount of trouble, everything is on the table, not because you want it to be , but because it's the only way to manage."

So why do you think that NY does not just consider a sales or income tax or both to solve the problem, as my opponent said she will consider "if her constituents want it?" It is because they already have sales and income taxes! Normal New Yorkers - $20,000 to $100,000 per year citizens - already pay 6.85% in income tax. And the average sales tax in the Big Apple state is over 8%. So if income and sales tax is the way to solve a budget crisis, NY should be in great shape, right?

Wrong! A bigger trough of income just creates more feeding frenzy at the trough. New York put those taxes in place years ago to solve their budget deficit problems and now they have much bigger deficit problems.

Citizens of New Hampshire, learn the lesson of New York! Income and/or sales taxes did not solve their budget problems, they exacerbated the problem. Now the governor of New York has gotten the message. Balance the budget by reducing spending. And everything needs to be on the table to do it.

To balance our budget next biennium, we need to reduce spending not increase taxes. The State of New York has given us a timely lesson. We need to take it to heart.

Photos from the Campaign Trail

Check out some pics from our campaign!!


Fenton's speech at the Dessert Fundraiser - notice all of those tasty desserts piled up! There were THREE tables of desserts just as full. Thank you so much to all of Fenton's supporters who are talented in the kitchen!

Bob Bennett came in full costume and was a big hit with the kids - and Grandma Van Otterloo!

We were honored to have Senator Joe Kenney, candidate for NH Governor, come to our fundraiser and speak to the crowd.

The Roth boys show their support for Mr. Groen!

A few supporters read over the new mail piece at the fundraiser.

Fenton hard at work in his office.

Playing around with our big signs...

Thank you all for your support!

posted by LMG

UNION LEADER ENDORSEMENT

Dear friends,

It is 12 days to election day and our campaign is continuing to pick up steam. Today a big part of that steam came from the Manchester Union Leader in the form of a strong endorsement. Thank you to the editorial staff for considering my qualifications and for your great endorsement. Below is a direct quote containing their endorsement.

"Meanwhile, over in Senate District 6 -- which includes Rochester, Somersworth and Barrington -- another thoughtful fiscal conservative is running to control state spending.

Rochester builder Fenton Groen, although running for state office for the first time, has an impressive grasp of state budget issues. He has clearly done his homework and is prepared to enter the Senate with his sleeves rolled up.

Groen says of the current state budget, which is an estimated $250 million out of balance, "I am very committed to balancing the budget by reducing expenses, not by increasing taxes."

His opponent, incumbent Sen. Jackie Cilley, voted for the budget, which increased state general fund spending by a staggering 17.5 percent. She has a record of supporting big spending increases and increased regulations.

Groen, on the other hand, is committed to keeping taxes low by making sure the state spends no more than it can afford. The biggest issue in the next legislative session will be balancing the state budget. Groen has made it his top priority to do that without raising taxes. Voters in Senate District 6 should give him the chance to correct the mistakes of their current senator on spending and other issues."


You can find this endorsement, along with their endorsement of Peter Bragdon from District 11 here.

17 Days Left

Hey everyone, remember the Desert Reception fundraiser on Monday night at 7:00 PM at the TriCity Christian School gym on Rocky Hill Road in Somersworth. Hope to see you all there.

I am wrapping up another busy day campaigning. Another day closer to victory on November 4. It was a beautiful day to be out enjoying the spectacular colors of God's creation, great fall weather and meeting and talking with citizens in District 6.

The morning started with the opportunity to speak to the Men's Group at Emmanuel Church on Eastern Avenue in Rochester, right across the street from the old Springfield House where our family lived in the late 80's. The men put on a great breakfast and showed great hospitality. Thanks to all of you for the opportunity to share my vision for New Hampshire with you.

From 11:00AM until 1:30 I enjoyed the Good Shepherd School Fall Festival with a great group of people in Haley's field across from Calef's Country Store in Barrington. I had the opportunity to meet and talk to many people from Barrington, Rochester and Nottingham. Thanks to all of you who shared your concerns and your ideas with me. This was the 25th fall festival planned and organized by the Good Shepherd School in Barrington. It was a spectacular success with food, crafts, activities, a silent auction and a regular auction. Again, the weather and setting were perfect.

This evening my wife Shirley and I were pleased to join the Barrington American Legion at the Barrington Elementary School for their annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser. We had a great time visiting with a number of old friends and new acquaintances. Thank you to the American Legion members for the great meal. But even more, thank you for your service to our country. May God bless you all.
For the rest of the day, Lydia and I squeezed in door to door campaigning. We continue to find the citizens of District 6 receptive to my message of fiscal responsibility, limited and lean government and the solid family values that made and make our state and nation great.

My friends, I am encouraged, energized and excited. I really look forward to being your representative in the NH Senate next January.