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.

18 Days and Counting

Only 18 days until election day.

Energy and momentum are building day by day in our campaign team. We have volunteers helping with a wide variety of tasks and we are preparing for a finish sprint in the last two weeks. Don't miss the opportunity to join the camaraderie and at the same time make a difference in our state. If you are willing to be part of our finish sprint, call or email me or Lydia now. Lydia at 369-1964 or me at 817-9352 or both of us at fentongroen@gmail.com. We will fit you to the right task and help you be a success at it. Remember, "Teamwork divides the effort and multiplies the affect."

Over the last few days, I have participated in or attended numerous events. A few of these were:

• Rochester Chamber of Commerce Operation Thank You,
• the Grand Opening of the new Somersworth Police station,
  
• the Chamber of Commerce "Business After Hours" at the new Staples in Rochester where Groen Builders was welcomed and recognized as a new member of the COC, and
• the HBRANH (Home Builders and Remodelers of New Hampshire) where I had an opportunity to address the members who were present.

The reception at all of them has been great. I mean it when I say that we can feel the momentum building.

Next Monday night, October 2oth is our Dessert Reception Fundraiser. This is not one of those $250 or $500 per plate black tie affairs. It is a family night where you, my regular supporters, can come and share in sampling (to you stomach's content) the favorite desert recipes of my supporters from far and wide. Don't miss it. Invite your family, friends, neighbors and your cousin Billy and your grandmother Josie! It would be helpful if you would RSVP to fentongroen.org so we have enough desert for Cousin Billy and Grandma Josie!

It will be held at the Tri City Christian Accademy gym on Rocky Hill Road in Somersworth. Look for the balloons and signs! Your gift of $22 will help us print and mail 50 pieces of direct mail. $44 will cover 100 pieces, $88 pieces will cover 200 pieces, etc. Or $2.20 from your piggy bank will cover 5 pieces.

How do you pay for a 8-10 thousand piece direct mail campaign? 50 or 100 or 200 ... or 1000 or even 5 pieces at a time. This is a crucial time. The last two or three direct mail pieces are very critical to success. Come and help us put it over the top!

Stay tuned for more news and events.

God bless you all for your help and your prayers. With more of both, we can win and win big.

Fenton

Governor Palin Rocks!

~Posted by Lydia

We were so excited to have Governor Sarah Palin here in New Hampshire yesterday. Her speech touched on fiscal responsibility, family values, respect for veterens, and sustainable energy at reasonable costs. Basically, everything she said really resonated with the crowd of 1200+ we were standing with, crammed into Dover High School's gymnasium. Governor Palin did a great job, and really seemed to be connecting with people - looking around the room, making eye contact as she spoke, and signing autographs before she left. The crowd was energized, and several times the Governor had to wait to continue her speech as people chanted "Sarah, Sarah", or "Drill Baby Drill".

The Groen cadre numbered eleven, and thanks to our volunteers who showed up in the predawn light to get a good place in line, we had excellent spots inside only 10 feet away from the podium.

Here are a couple of photos we nabbed at the event:

22 Days to Victory

I am wrapping up another busy day campaigning. Another day closer to victory on November 4.

This morning I spent some time with Charlie Arlinghaus, Executive Director of the Josiah Bartlett Society and a regular financial columnist for the Manchester Union Leader. Charlie is a recognized private sector expert on the NH state budget and has a rare knack of communicating complex financial information in a way that makes it clear and understandable. We discussed matters ranging from the looming state budget deficit, to how forecasting is done to arrive at those estimates, to the dynamics of the current education funding formulas. On second thought though, I am not sure that the terms "clear and understandable" can be applied to the complicated and convoluted education funding formulas, even with Charlie’s ability to clarify the difficult. Thank you Charlie, for helping me to understand our financial crisis and for preparing me to serve as the next senator from District 6.

After door to door campaigning in Somersworth, I continue to receive convincing feedback that the citizens of District 6 want to make sure that our looming budget deficit of approximately a half a billion dollars is resolved by responsible management and reduction of spending and not by increasing taxes.

Thank you to all of you who have put my signs in your yards and thanks to those who have requested our 4x8 "billboard" signs.

26 Days Until Victory!

26 Days Left!

To win, we will need a stepped up effort on all fronts as we accelerate toward the election. For those of you who are already on our team and for those of you who want to be part of our team, here are some things that you can do to help:

Volunteer your time. We need help in many different areas: phone calls, computer work, door to door teams and assistants, envelope addressing, networking with friends and fellow voters, sign holding and so much more.

Help us with sign locations! Do you want a yard sign? Or would you like a 4x4 or 4x8 "billboard" sign at your home or business? Call us. We will get them out to you and set them up. Our signage is our trademark. Help maintain our dominance in this area.

Help us financially. Running an effective campaign is an expensive operation. Direct mail is an essential, but very expensive, component. We have a number of mailings that we need to get out, each numbering in the 9 to 15 thousands. You can help by donating $44 to cover the total cost of printing and mailing 100 pieces of literature. Or if you can contribute $88 dollars, it will cover 200 pieces. Maybe you can cover the cost of 1000 pieces for $440 or you may already be maxed out but could contribute $22 to mail out 50 pieces. I will greatly appreciate any contribution you can make. As many hands make light work, so many modest contributions can have a major effect.

Pray for me and our leadership team. For myself, for wise use of time and for wisdom and good judgment in what I say; for Lydia, my campaign manager as she works huge hours, tirelessly organizing and running my campaign; for Mike Faeilla our capable events and issues coordinator; for Devin Robinson, our creative media and technology person, for Leah Roth, our tireless volunteer coordinator and for Dan Groveman, our full time campaign field agent. We would love to hear from you if this is your way of helping.

To help in any of these areas, you can contact Lydia, my campaign manager at 369-1964 or Dan Groveman at 301-830-2222. Or email us at fentongroen@gmail.com. To contribute, you can go to our website at www.fentongroen.org and click on "Contribute" or you can mail a check to Fenton Groen for Senate at PO Box 582, Barrington, NH 03825.

I said at the beginning that an effective campaign is a huge task! But with an enthusiastic team of volunteers, it a manageable task. Come on board with a winning team! Remember, teamwork divides the effort and multiplies the affect. You may not be able or feel called to run for office, but your help will change the State of NH as certainly as if you were running. Together we can win.

28 Day Countdown

Greetings my friends,

Today marks the 4 week mark to the November elections. I would like to update you on what is happening.

As you know, this the first time that I am running for public office. I expected that running for state senate would be very hard work. But the work and the time demands have exceeded what I thought. It is one of the most interesting and challenging things that I have done in my life. Most days I can relate to one of Rush's favorite statements: "Having more fun than a human being ought to have." I have a strong sense of being where I belong and doing what I am supposed to be doing. We are out meeting people, meeting with community and business leaders and working hard to get out a message of fiscal responsibility and family values as we face a major deficit brought on by the overspending of our current legislature and attack and erosion of the values that have made our nation great.

I am committed to continue the exciting days of campaigning to make sure that no stone is left unturned to win this race and bring to the NH legislature my 35 plus years of small business experience, fiscally conservative philosophy of government and strong comittment to family values and the sanctity of life. But I cannot do it alone! I sincerely appreciate the many hours of volunteer work and generous donations on behalf of my campaign already contributed . To win, we will need a stepped up effort on all fronts as we accelerate toward the election. Here are some things that you can do to help:

• Volunteer your time to help in many different areas: phone calls, computer work, door to door assistants and teams, envelope addressing, networking with friends and fellow voters, sign holding and so much more.
• Help us with sign locations! Do you want a yard sign? Or would you like a 4x4 or 4x8 "billboard" sign at your home or business? Call us. We will get them out to you and set them up.
• Help us financially. Running an effective campaign is an expensive operation. Direct mail is an essential, but very expensive, component. We have a number of mailings, each numbering in the thousands, that need to get out. You can help by donating $44 to cover the total cost of printing and mailing 100 pieces of literature. Or if you can, could you contribute $88 dollars to cover 200 pieces. Maybe you can cover the cost of 1000 pieces for $440 or you may already be maxed out but could contribute $22 to mail out 50 pieces. As many hands make light work, so many modest contributions can have a major effect.
• Pray for me and our leadership team. For myself, for wise use of time and for wisdom and good judgement in what I say; for Lydia, my campaign manager as she works huge hours tirelessly organizing and running my campaign; for Mike Faeilla our events and issues coordinator; for Devin Robinson, our media and technology person and for Leah Roth, our tireless volunteer coordinator.

To help, you can contact Lydia, my campaign manager at 369-1964 or me at 817-9352. Or email us at fentongroen@gmail.com. To contribute, you can go to our website at fentongroen.org and click on "Contribute" or you can mail a check to Fenton Groen for Senate at PO Box 582, Barrington, NH 03825.

I said at the beginning that an effective campaign is a huge task! But with an enthusiastic team of voluteers, it a manageable task. Together we can win. Come on board with a winning team! You may not be able or feel called to run for office, but your help will change the State of NH as certainly as if you were running. Together we can win.

Expanded Gambling

At a meeting this past Thursday, I was asked this question:

"I understand that you are opposed to increasing taxes. But given the looming budget crisis that is expected during the next biennium, would you consider expanded gambling to help to balance the budget?"

Here was and is my answer:

First, we do not have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem. Our revenue increased close to 4 1/2% over the last year. That is higher than the rate of inflation. The problem is that the current democratically controlled legislature increased the General Fund budget by 17 1/2% for the biennium and then "funded" it with over rosy revenue estimates that, not surprisingly, did not materialize..

Second, gambling is a regressive tax. That is, its revenues are drawn heavily from people in lower income brackets.

It is bad policy to fund excessive spending with a regressive tax! We need to reduce the bloated budget spending, not take the easy way out and balance the budget on the backs of the people who can least afford it.

I will oppose expanded gambling in New Hampshire.

Building More Momentum

Good evening all of you,

This has been an encouraging week for my campaign! Let me fill you in on a few of the interesting and exciting things that are happening.

This week again, a number of people have asked me about my position on our right to bear arms. Let me quote from what someone wrote in 1784 that succinctly states my position: "All persons have the right to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves, their families, their property and the state." That fully describes my position. I will not add to or subtract from it. This is the simple but profound language of the New Hampshire Constitition, Part First, (Art) 2-a. Well said, founding fathers!

On Tuesday, New Hampshire had its primary for all state level races. Even though my candidacy for the District 6 State Senate seat was unchallenged, we decided that we wanted to be well represented at the polls to gain name recognition, to meet the core voters that are out to the primary elections and to do a practice run for the organization we need for the general election on November 4. We were represented by 30 volunteers at 13 of the 14 polling stations in my district! Plus I spent half the day at Ward 5 in Rochester and half the day at my largest ward, which is Barrington.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the volunteers who came out to support my campaign. It is a great encouragement to me to have your dedicated support. I have heard from many people in the communities in my district who commented favorably about the excellent organization, (thanks Leah and Lydia), the prolific placement of signs (thanks Warren) and the cheerful sign holders. Great job all!

On Saturday we got a very interesting email. A Barrington resident went to the dump and was greeted on the way out by my opponent with Dunkin Donuts coffee and donuts. She talked to them and took coffee and a donut. But on the way home she decided that she should not sell her vote for coffee and a donut. So when she got home, she googled the 6th District race, found my name and checked out my web site. She said that she agreed on every point with my positions and will enthusiastically vote for me in November! She said that now she feels bad about taking the donut from my opponent though. Isn't that a great story!

Door to door continues to be very interesting and encouraging. We meet great people and we have received a really strong reception. I am looking for more help in the door to door. If you have a car and time and can help, we will give you voter lists, maps and careful instructions. We would love to have your help! Together we can really make a difference in Concord next year. I can't do it without you.

At your service,
Fenton Groen

St. Charles Children's Home 5K

Today I had the privilege to participate in the Rochester St. Charles Children's Home's 5K Road Race, held at the Pease International Tradeport. What a great fundraiser - over 1000 runners/walkers, etc plus many spectators. It was well organized and the hospitality shown to the runners and spectators was spectacular.

After the race I had the opportunity to read about the history, vision and daily life of this great children's home. It brought tears to my eyes. Their mission is to be family to abused, neglected or abandoned children and provide them with a stable home. Congratulations to the dedicated staff and volunteers who make this ministry possible and who made today's road race such a success.

If you are a runner or a walker/runner like me, (I finished #806 out of 1054) with a time of 37:52 - if I can do it you can too!), I urge you to mark your calender for next Labor Day and support this worthy ministry.

On the national campaign level, great job Senator McCain on a great VP pick! I have been watching news and You Tube clips and the more I see, the more excited I get about her quality, values, leadership and charisma. I believe that she will bring added excitement and enthusiasm to the McCain campaign and that she will be a rallying force for the fiscal and social conservatives that need to part of the McCain winning coalition.

Now about our campaign!
We are gearing up for the primary and need lots of you to help as sign holders at the polls on election day. And we will have many other volunteer opportunities, starting with the Rochester Fair the end of next week. We are having a Volunteer Appreciation Cookout at the Rochester Commons on Saturday evening at 6::00 to 8:00 PM. Contact me or Lydia at fentongroen@gmail.com or call 817-9352 (Fenton) or 369-1964 (Lydia, campaign mgr) to let us know where you can volunteer and if you can make it Saturday evening. Your help is need to bring common sense and financial responsibility back to Concord. We look forward to hearing from you.

Door to door campaigning
In the last week, we have been out doing our first focused, targeted, door to door campaigning. On Saturday morning I went out with Lydia, my campaign manager and with my brother Warren who is running for State Rep in Rochester. The rest of our calls were made with me doing the door to door and Lydia organizing our contacts and driving.

We were so encouraged by the very receptive response we received from almost all of the people we visited. We have found that voters are generally well informed on the issues and are especially concerned about the "drunken sailor" spending of our current legislature. We have found people to be generally pleased to be contacted their candidate for State Senate and eager to address and discuss the issues.

We are building steam daily in our campaign. Our campaign leadership team is meeting weekly to set goals and target times for key issues such as campaign financing, door to door goals (D2D), house parties, finding sign placement and getting signs out, house parties and speaking engagements. Our website is up and improving as well as related things such as our blog, Facebook and You Tube media clips.

As we build up steam, our victory train builds up momentum. We will be scheduling events, speaking engagements, direct mail pieces, volunteer activity and much more.

Folks, now is your chance to help change the future of New Hampshire, protect and support family values, and keep your taxes from skyrocketing from our current legislature's our of control spending. We need many volunteers. Can you help. I will write soon to talk to you about pressing needs we have for volunteer help.

God bless you all.

Fenton Groen

Reduce Regulations

Dear friends, 235 years ago, our forefathers got fed up with unfair taxes and regulations. They dressed up in costumes and staged the Boston Tea Party – dumping 90,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor to protest the imposition of taxes without proper representation. I think they would roll over in their graves if they saw the increasing load of burdensome regulations that are now being placed on the backs of our citizens, businesses and local governments.

Make no mistake! Every regulation has a direct cost in dollars and an indirect cost in loss of freedom! What is even more alarming is that many of these regulations are implemented without adequate, or in some cases without any, elected representative oversight.

This amounts to Taxation by Regulation without Representation.

Many, many times our 8 years in the construction business and in my decades of small business management experience, I and my colleagues have asked the questions: “What is the statistical basis driving the need for this or that regulation? Or, “Where is the study that shows what positive impact this regulation will have?” Over and over we have heard answers like, “There must be a good reason or it would not be proposed.” Or, “We don’t write the regulations, we just implement them.” or “Look, if a 50’ setback is good, a 75’ setback must be better.”

My friends, regulations are too easy to add and too hard to remove. We need to reverse that. We need to make them harder to add and easier to remove.

I am committed to Reduce, Limit and Control Regulations.

I will listen to citizens, professionals and business leaders for their input on the impact of regulations on their lives and their pocketbooks.

I will work hard to assure that we have clear and focused elected representative oversight over all regulations.

I believe that we should require a careful cost/benefit analysis based on hard statistics and citizen testimony before regulations are added or expanded. A kind of “Regulatory Impact Study.” This would have a welcome, chilling affect on unnecessary and unwise regulation.

Unbridled regulations add cost and reduce the freedom of NH citizens.

I am not suggesting we stage a regulation “Tea Party” at the Isinglass River, but I will fight hard against taxation by regulation without representation.

Let’s live free in New Hampshire!

Fellow citizens, I would be honored by your support for my campaign and by your vote on November 4th.

(You can watch Fenton tell you about his commitment to reducing regulations on YouTube! Follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3TTkh61Zqg)

Many thanks to Devin Robinson for his professional filming job! Be watching for more clips coming soon!

Kickoff Party

I thought you might enjoy seeing some photos from the kickoff party on July 17.

We had over 100 guests gather under Billy Taylor's tent. In this photo, everyone is singing the National Anthem, led by Liz and Dan Faiella.

Fenton speaking with Dana Robinson.

Elisabeth Somers and Laura Truman greeted guests at the welcome tent. We're so thankful to the many volunteers who helped with everything from making potato salad and cookies to setup to serving to cleanup. You guys are great!

We're so thankful that it didn't rain! The weather was perfect, and I think everyone had a nice time. Thanks to everyone who came!

My Positions

Good Evening to all of you, friends and fellow citizens.

When Ronald Reagan announced his first candidacy for President, he said, “Government has become more intrusive, more coercive, more meddlesome and less effective.” How much more applicable this is since he made that speech in 1975! I will work hard for you to make our NH state government more effective, less intrusive, less coercive and less meddlesome. Less government, lean government, more efficient government!

Last Thursday evening, we had our campaign kickoff barbecue at our house in Rochester. It was a great success. (There's a link to the Fosters article about it at the bottom of this page.) In my campaign kickoff speech, I outlined five issues that will be central to my campaign for NH Senate. These are broad issues that are part of my philosophy of government; that government should be limited and lean. When you elect me to the New Hampshire State Senate, you will get an advocate who is committed to:

1. Exercise Fiscal Responsibility by limiting spending and tax increases and balancing our budget without gimmicks.
2. Reduce, Limit and Control Government Regulations. Unbridled regulations are a hidden tax that robs us of our resources and restricts our freedom.
3. Support Time-tested Family Values and Time Proven Social Policy. We must value life and support families as the basic building block of our society.
4. Oppose Judicial Activism that uses the courts to impose changes and interpretations that are not within the literal reading of the constitution.
5. Support Our Right to Bear Arms that is specific in both our state and federal constitutions.

I will expand on these issues in upcoming blogs. Tonight, I want to tell you more about who I am and what you will get when you elect me to the State Senate.

My friends, I am a fiscal conservative. I am a social conservative. I am a strict constructionist with regard to interpretation of the constitution. I believe that our founding fathers wisely limited government to certain defined functions; that is, they believed in Less Government and Lean Government. I believe that there are natural rights and responsibilities, truth and error, right and wrong, which are endowed by God, which are inalienable.

Does this sound radical in our current political and social climate? Listen to our founding fathers’ most famous document. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

We can clearly discern from this document, and from extensive additional writings of our founding fathers, that they believed that right and wrong, truth and error, privileges and responsibilities are derived from the Creator. As a social, fiscal, and moral conservative, my beliefs are not radical. They are central. They are consistent with what our founding fathers believed. And I believe that they are consistent with the core values of New Hampshire citizens.

With you, my fellow citizens and supporters, I am embarking on a great experiment. Can a candidate with strong beliefs, strong moral values, and a strong commitment to act on these values be elected? I believe that the answer is yes! I don’t expect every one of you to agree with me on every issue. But I believe in the bedrock foundational principles that have made our state and our nation great.

The Chinese built a great wall to protect their citizens from external threats. Our founding fathers built a great nation without physical walls. They protected this great nation from enemies both internal and external by writing a brilliant set of documents based on principles endowed on us by our Creator. These documents, and the principles contained therein, are our Great Wall. My friends, I will work hard to protect this Great Wall. Where there are holes in the wall, I will work hard to rebuild the wall. Where there are gaps in the wall, I will stand to protect the wall from further damage.

I submit to you today that my philosophy of government, and the honesty and integrity with which I have lived my life, treated my family, run our business, and served my community are the first and primary reasons that I am asking you for your vote and for your support during this campaign. My friends, I do not know all of the answers on all of the issues. I have a lot to learn. But I will learn, I will stand for what is right, and I will serve you with integrity. Together we can build a better government for a brighter future.

Fenton Groen
Candidate for NH State Senate
District 6

My Decision

Warmest greetings to all of you, fellow citizens, friends and family. My name is Fenton Groen and I am running for the New Hampshire Senate in District 6.

Three weeks ago today, after a week of intense soul searching, family meetings, company meetings, quiet talks with my dear wife of 38 years, and a lot of time in prayer, I decided to run for State Senate. This decision is not a sudden, spontaneous one. It is the result of a desire I have had since high school; a dream that began to unfold 8 years ago; a deep concern that was born on the night of the last elections; and finally, in that last week, a settled determination that it is time for me to stand with and for my fellow citizens, my friends, and my family as their representative in our state government.

Four months from today, you and I will have our opportunity to exercise our privilege and responsibility to vote for the elected representatives who will shape the future of our communities, our states, and our nation. For those of you who are in my district; Rochester, Somersworth, Barrington, Madbury, and Nottingham, New Hampshire, I am asking for your vote to be your next State Senator.

I am a running for Senate because I believe that the common sense values that I have practiced in my responsibilities as a private citizen will be beneficial to the citizens of my district and of the State of New Hampshire. Today I am introducing myself. Over the next six weeks I will outline my positions on the major issues and my philosophy of life and of government. We will continue to expand on those issues and that philosophy during the next four months of campaigning.

Over the next four months, I invite you to read our campaign blog, examine my web site, and become familiar with me, my positions on issues, and my philosophy of government. I want you to respond to help us know you and what is important to you. I hope that in the course of this campaign I will meet you in person. If you want to talk to me in person, or if you are willing to arrange a house party with your friends and acquaintances, please tell us in your blog comment and my campaign staff will arrange for an in-person meeting and/or help arrange a house meeting.

My commitment to you is that I will be authentic and transparent with you. What does that mean for my campaign and for my service to you as a State Senator?
I will not adopt a position that I do not believe in to be elected.
I will not abandon a position that I do believe in to be elected.
I will not obscure a position that I do believe in to be elected.

Thank you for visiting my campaign blog. I look forward to getting to know you over the next 4 months.

Fenton Groen
Candidate for NH State Senate
District 6