Jean de Smet
Jean de Smet (Green Party) ran for election to the Connecticut State Senate to represent District 29. She lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
De Smet completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jean de Smet was born in Montclair (Essex County), New Jersey. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Connecticut in 1979 and has career experience working as an electrician.
De Smet has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1]
- Willimantic Whitewater Partnership
- Willimantic Renaissance Inc.
- Willimantic Lions Club
- Garden Club of Windham
- Windham Regional Arts Council
- Sustainable Windham Committee
- Windham Community Food Network
- AAUW
- Irish Club
- Thread City Development
- Windham Preservation
- CATS NE
- Joshua's Trust
- The Last Green Valley
- Clean Water Action
- Habitat of Eastern CT
- ACLU
- Hartford Catholic Worker
- Preservation CT
- Compassion and Choices
- Sierra Club
- Food First
- Food and Water Action
- Association for Union Democracy
- CISPES
- Madre
- Alliance for Global Justice
- Equal Exchange
- Bird Conservation Research
Elections
2022
See also: Connecticut State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Connecticut State Senate District 29
Incumbent Mae Flexer defeated Susanne Witkowski and Jean de Smet in the general election for Connecticut State Senate District 29 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mae Flexer (D / Working Families Party / Independent Party) | 50.6 | 14,893 |
 | Susanne Witkowski (R) | 47.3 | 13,927 | |
 | Jean de Smet (G)  | 2.2 | 634 | |
| Total votes: 29,454 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Mae Flexer advanced from the Democratic primary for Connecticut State Senate District 29.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Susanne Witkowski advanced from the Republican primary for Connecticut State Senate District 29.
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jean de Smet completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by de Smet's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I work hard to create positive changes. I started the 3rd Thursday Street Fests in Willimantic to bring people together in our historic downtown, and to bring customers to businesses. I plant trees and milkweed, I work with students, I pick up trash, I volunteer with our museums. And I have fun.
I served as Windham First Selectwoman and have served on numerous Boards and Commissions, including Chairing the Energy Commission for 12 years, the Recycling Commission, and amember of Conservation and Open Space and currently, Sustainable Windham.
I retired as a union electrician after 40 years of work in the field, and 6 years as Secretary of the Executive Board.
As Rev. Anna-Maria Falcon Garcia described me, "You light the fire, Jean, we just bring the wood."
- Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Democratic elections aim to represent the will of the people, as expressed by the majority. Elections today are falling short of that ideal, undermining voter confidence and democracy itself. Third party candidates like myself are labeled as "spoilers", as if the 2 major parties are the only legitimate representatives of our citizens. RCV elects candidates who represent the majority of the voters. RCV voting increases the voice of the many residents who are not affiliated with either of the 2 major parties. When we invite more people into the room, when we rid ourselves of backroom deals and power brokers, we form a community of trust and goodwill to bring us, together, into a better future.
- Climate change is the biggest issue facing the world and we are fortunate to not feel the brunt in eastern CT. The climate is changing. Our challenge is to work to alleviate the impacts, to be flexible and to be fair. We all need food, water, energy. Regional cooperation in services will help us jump across the arbitrary lines we make on maps. Our rivers and forests are connected. As are our roads and our economies.
- CT is one of only a few states that rely on local property taxes which pits seniors on fixed incomes vs schools, and town vs town. We need systemic change, not temporary relief packages..
I am passionate about fair and open elections. I understand the complexities and that there needs to be serious study before changes to early voting are instituted. Registrars statewide are quitting and 16 towns cannot run 2 candidates. CT needs systemic reform of the election administration: Hire well-paid and trained Regional Moderators to assist local ROVs and Town Clerks. We must change our archaic system of "electing" 2 appointed ROVs town-by-town, who are generally underpaid with increasing demand on their time and abilities.
Sen. Prague was the only Senator to vote against privatizing the electrical utilities in CT. She was so right.
Sen. Prague always stood with labor and working people. She understood universal health care is essential.
Sen.Prague helped us to keep ash landfills off of the Shetucket River.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 19, 2022
