In four weeks there’s an election to determine who controls the New Jersey legislature. It’s important – both for the state and for the country.

So, who thinks it’s so important? The Koch Brothers and their allies, that’s who!

Until recently, the Koch Brothers used their vast wealth to try to install a GOP majority in the Congress of the United States by investing millions and millions in congressional elections. It didn’t work. The majority in Congress stayed Democratic.

Then it dawned on them. In most states, if you control state legislatures, you control the voter mix in congressional districts. So, they put their millions into State legislative elections. It worked. The power they purchased resulted in gerrymandering across the country that had this effect -- in the latest congressional election a majority of votes were cast for Democratic congressmen, but, because of the Koch Brothers plan, a majority of members in the House of Representatives are Republicans.

If you want to know more about the plan, the New York Times produced an exhaustive article in January 2014.

The Koch Brothers haven’t ignored Sussex County and New Jersey’s 24th Legislative District. Their surrogates, such as Americans for Prosperity, have put as much money in LD24 races are is needed to win them. And why not? LD24’s State Senator Steve Oroho is on their team. He’s the New Jersey chair of their lobbying organization, American Legislative Exchange Council.

It’s expected that the election on November 3rd will have a miniscule turnout. So your vote will definitely count much more than usual. Please use it.

And, if you don’t think it matters, attend one of the candidate forums scheduled for the next several weeks. Compare the Democratic candidates for Assembly, Mike Grace and Jacky Stapel, with their competition. You will see what is at stake. The next such forum is in Ogdensburg, at the Fire House, on Tuesday, October 13th, starting at 7 pm.