The campaign is over.

Boston.com says:

Jim Marzilli (D)	16,437	74%
Eric Steinhilber (R)	4,329	19%
Daniel Dunn (L)	1,501	7%

I haven't done much analysis yet - mostly catching up on work and house cleaning. I did do one bit of math on the Arlington precincts (the Medford data weren't immediately available). Marzilli got 388 votes fewer than Kerry, while Steinhilber got 1455 votes fewer than Bush. The implication is that most of my votes came from people who voted for Bush at the top of the ticket.

Second Debate

On October 28th, the candidates for three house races spoke at an affordable housing forum sponsored by the Arlington Housing Corporation and the League of Women Voters. Disappointingly, my Republican opponent didn't show up, so it was just Jim Marzilli and myself for our race.

This was a tough one for me. The crowd, while very polite, was very supportive of my opponent's voting record. I want to improve the affordable housing problem, but I don't think the government can do it. Ironically, I think the way the HCA is doing it (through actions of individuals and charity) is the right way. You can read my opening statement here.

I did have one really good moment in the debate that I hope makes people think. I quote Elizabeth Warren, a professor at Harvard:

More than anything else, they’re bidding up the price of housing in zip codes that have decent schools. Families with children shop with one thought in mind: Where will my children go to school? Every other decision they make flows from that. What will happen to my little ones if I buy this house? That’s, of course, because school assignments go entirely by zip codes.

When asked about a solution, she said:

Decouple school assignment and zip code. If there were metropolitan-wide school choice for all parents and if schools were permitted to admit children based on test scores, talents, lotteries—anything but zip codes — then the economic pressure on families would be released almost immediately.

One of the arguments that I've been making is that affordable housing isn't an issue on an island by itself. The issue is inseparable from zoning, density, and schools, to name a few. Elizabeth Warren shows us a way to remove some of the pressure on housing by distancing housing from schooling. And, of course, we'd also reap the competititve benefits of a school choice system.

Elizabeth Warren's book is The Two Income Trap and the quotes are from her interview with MassINC.

First Debate

On October 25th, I debated with Jim Marzilli and Eric Steinhilber. Please watch it! I think it makes it very clear the differences between us. The Democrat and the Republican argue about sex change operations, Governor Romney, and stolen yard signs. I'm proud of how I stuck to the issues: smaller government, less regulation, and lower taxes. I thank the Arlington Studio for taping the debate, and David Coletta for digitizing it. You can view it here.

Campaign Funding

There was an interesting exchange between my opponents in the Arlington Advocate over the last week. On September 30, Jim Marzilli wrote that "One of my opponents gets almost all of his campaign funds from the governor. . ." On October 7, Eric Steinhilber replied that Marzilli had "told yet another false tale" and "lied." Steinhilber went on to say that he has "never accepted a dime from Governor Romney."

Is there a liar here? Or maybe a writer going to rhetorical excess? You get to decide for yourself. Check out the online campaign finance reports. Click on "View Reports" and then search by candidate's last name. You can see that of Steinhilber's $12,000, he got $9000 from the Massachusetts Republican Party, but no direct contributions from anyone named Romney. (You also get to see that I've collected about $5000 and Marzilli is up to $22,000 in the bank).

Frankly, I don't care where candidates get their money. What matters is what you do when you're elected. Marzilli and Steinhilber, when not talking about campaign donations, talk about how to spend the taxpayers' money.

I'm the only candidate advocating a smaller government.



Town Day Booth Fun

Town Day was a ton of fun. I got to talk to hundreds of voters. Town Day is such the right pace - people aren't in a hurry. They mosey past you, ready to talk, listen, learn, and be heard. You don't have to interrupt them (be it puttering in the garden or watching TV); they are receptive to new things, new faces, and new ideas. When Town Day ended, I was exhausted and exhilarated.

We gave the World's Smallest Political Quiz (the same quiz on the left-hand side of the website). About 250 people took the quiz and recorded it on our chart. Many more took the quiz home with them. We passed out 400 campaign pamphlets. Oh yeah - we registered 4 voters, too.

Many thanks to all of the volunteers. It was great to have so much help, talking to voters, giving quizzes, setting up the booth, taking photos, printing signs, getting coffee - it was all so valuable.









Third Time is the Charm

The Arlington Advocate made a couple of faux pas this summer. First, they ran a story about a Republican running a write-in campaign in my race - and they completely failed to mention that I was on the ballot. Oops. Then, on August 19, they printed the ballots for the State Primary - but they forgot to print my name. Oops again. Daniel Fox wrote a in complaint that appeared on August 26th. On the page before his letter? The ballots again - still no Dan Dunn. Oopsy-daisy. September 2, the ballots were printed a third time. They remembered! They listed my name on the primary ballot.

Now I need unenrolled (independant) and Libertarian voters to remember - vote for me in the primary on September 14!

Press Coverage

I've created a page with links to the press coverage I've been getting.



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