Fontas For State House

2007-05-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

Just a quick heads up: Andrew Edwards (D-Hills 26) and myself have taken up webmastering the Nashua City Democrats website. Consider this blog defunct if you haven't already.

2006-12-20T21:33:00.000-08:00

Well, at long last I have finally returned to fontas06.blogspot.com. For those of you who aren't aware, the people of New Hampshire chose Fontas in '06!

I must say life has been busy in the past few weeks. To give a brief recap: the end of the semester has come and gone; complete with finals, end of the term papers, and extensive study sessions. I attended Legislator Orientation on Nov. 28th and 29th at the State House, Legislative Office Building, and the Upham-Walker House. I met a lot of legislators and state faculty that I look forward to working with in the future. They were all extremely nice, and I was amazed at how easily I was received. Finally, I attended Organization Day on December 6th at the State House where I was sworn in and officially became a member of the House of Representatives. Organization Day is essentially the first time the newly elected members of the House officially convene in their entirety for the first time. As the two youngest members, Andrew Edwards and I both led the House in the Pledge of Allegiance, which was an awesome (literally) experience in itself.

Here are some photos taken before the ceremonies:

Myself, in the Gallery

Obligatory Mom and Pop shot

Well that is pretty much it for the Organization Day/Freshman Orientation/School wrap up. To give you an idea of what my plans are for the near future, the first legislative session day is on January 3, 2007. I am definitely looking forward to it. I am also currently co-sponsoring two bills, so that in itself is exciting and I will keep you posted! As for you, look forward to an update on how my first legislative session day was! In the meantime, have a happy holiday!

2006-11-09T16:25:00.000-08:00

After a brief consideration of the past few weeks, I have come to terms with the fact that I am truthfully an awful blogger. I apologize to all those who kept checking blog to see the same updates day after day and week after week.

But there is good news that comes with this blog post. For one, I am now a State Representative. No, that is not a joke, I won a seat in the election! So that is big news. Second, Andrew Edwards also won, which means I have some young blood (along with the veteran representative Scott Merrick) to accompany me in the State House. Furthermore, the Democrats now have a majority in the House of Representatives, the State Senate, and the Executive Council. That is huge and I'm looking forward to finally being in the majority come January.

Finally, I would just like to thank everyone for the encouragement and support over the past few weeks. None of this would have been possible without it.

2006-10-20T19:37:00.001-07:00

Well the election is less than twenty days away and things are really getting down to the wire. I am typing yet another blog entry on my Friday night at home, deja vu I suppose. This week has encompassed a lot of new and exciting campaign happenings which I will begin to detail for you in a very exciting and engrossing fashion.

One thing that I was surprised about in the past week was the amount of contact I have been receiving from the press. Throughout the week, I completed two interviews with two seperate publications, which I am really excited about. The first article will be published in our daily local Nashua publication, the Telegraph, in I believe the Sunday paper. The interview went really well, at least from my perspective, so I am hopeful that the article does a lot to not only give the voters a feel for who I am but also introduce me to the Telegraph readership as a whole. I personally feel my campaign (and Andy's as well) has an undeniable intriguing nature to it, which I'm hoping will serve to garner at least some interest in the electoral process where it currently does not exist. In this light, I am really glad it is getting some press.

The other interview was with my school's publication, the Northeastern News, which will really just serve as an informative article for students at the school. Again, nothing would please me more than creating an interest in politics in a group that so frequently too apathetic.

Moving on, tomorrow I will be attending a Nashua Democrats event where General Wes Clark will be in attendance. I really cannot wait for this event, it has been in the back of my head all week long. Obviously, I will give everyone a report upon my return.

Tomorrow also marks another big day in terms of door-to-door campaigning and sign dispersement. While some signs have been distributed, I look forward to this weekend will also be a big success. Again, if you are interested in a campaign sign, let me know! I'll even bring it to your house or business.

It dawned on me while writing this blog post that I may have not given out my personal info yet. If you need to contact me, shoot me an e-mail (this is probably best) at fontas.j@ neu.edu. Or if you really need to contact me, my cell phone number is (603) 440-3483. That's it for today, have a great weekend!!

Best regards,
Jeff

2006-10-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

It has finally come time to revisit my blogspot blog and give all of my faithful readers (I am aware of at least one) a couple of news tidbits as we near election day. Among the most important, the results to Mark Warner's Forward Together PAC NH MapChangers poll have been posted, and I placed 5th. This means that not only do I have a lot of friends with Internet connections, but that I will also be receiving a $1000 donation from Forward Together. I can't express how much this helps me out as it would have been very difficult for me to fund my campaign expense out of pocket. I am sure all my college friends could easily relate. Abig thank you to anyone who voted for me.

Moving on, I am currently at home right now (yes, it's a Friday night and I am sitting at home typing on a blog) and getting ready to go out tomorrow and tackle political sign distribution with more enthusiasm than you can shake a stick at. The bad news is that as of right now only one sign is currently up, and it is on my front lawn. The good news is that I have yet to see any of my opponents signs (I do not consider Jane Clemons or Dave Campbell opponents, as both of them are incumbents and are both obviously going to win, and to the best of my knowledge we are running as a team). However, I am anticipating a rampant change in the bad news department and there is no doubt in my mind that it will become a reality. If you know anyone that lives on Main St. or East Dunstable Road (Main Street side), or even Kinsley or Lund Road, let me know if they would be willing to throw up a Fontas for State Rep sign. It would help me out big time.

Finally, I now have a pretty hefty surplus in my campaign budget. Send me some suggestions on what I should do with it! The idea of taking out a full page advertisement in the newspaper has been thrown around, and the more I think of it the more it sounds like a great plan. But if you have any ideas, shoot me an email at fontas.j@ neu.edu.

Best regards,
Jeff

2006-09-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome everyone! Thanks for checking out my blog and your interest in local and state politics. This is the first entry of many that will detail my progession down the campaign trail for State Representative in the NH General Court. As far as the present is concerned, there has been a lot of progress this week in terms of laying the foundation for what will be happening between now and Nov 7. Signs have been ordered and the design has been chosen. The big fundraiser is coming up on Sunday. For those who don't know, we are having a Pasta Dinner fundraiser at my apartment in Boston to help pay for campaign expenditures and the like. If you would like to attend let me know or just show up.

Until next time,
Jeff

2006-09-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

My Decision to Run

It is not a secret that many students in my age group are apathetic to the world of politics. This poses a variety of problems, but the most important of which is that the opinions of young people are rarely considered when drafting legislation, including legislation that even affects young people directly. This is one of the many reasons I have decided to become a candidate for State Representative. If elected, I will be able to provide a voice for young people in the State House that is so rarely heard. In addition, I will gain a valuable educational experience while simutaneously benefiting my community in the best way I possibly can. As a student of Political Science at Northeastern University, I will also be able to apply what I learn in the classroom to my career as a State Representative. I will gain insight from both of these pursuits: into my academics through my experience in the State House, and into my position in the State House through my academics. With that said, I am looking forward to November 7th and what the next two years may have in store for me.

2006-09-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

About Me

JEFFREY FONTAS is currently a Political Science major at Northeastern University work towards a B.S. degree. He is vice president of hall council for his current residence hall, Davenport Commons, which is an elected position. He was formerly a participant in Northeastern Club Rugby and the NU College Democrats.

He graduated from Nashua High School North in 2005 as a member of the National Honor Society, where he served as webmaster.

He has been a resident of Nashua for all 19 years of his life. As a former student in Nashua’s education system, he gained a perspective on the educational system in New Hampshire that many legislators do not currently have. One of his advantages as a young person is his potential to bring new and innovative solutions into the legislative marketplace of ideas.

His diverse professional experience has found him working such jobs as one of the only English speakers in a restaurant, to an internship with a prominent web developing company. Combined with his academic experience, he has the skills necessary to tackle the variety of tasks waiting for him in the future.