Lively races ahead
for southern RI General Election seats
By Will Collette
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| Won't have Todd Giroux to kick around anymore |
Now that we’re well past the deadline for candidates to
submit signatures to qualify to be on the ballot, it looks like all of
Charlestown’s local candidates for town office have qualified.
There will be no
primary for any Charlestown town position – the campaign is on, heading for the
November 6 Election Day.
The field for Congress thinned out a bit. Sen. Sheldon
Whitehouse faced a potential challenge from a very strange guy – Todd Giroux –
who told
the State Democratic Convention that he would be willing to give up his
challenge to Whitehouse if the State Convention, instead, gave him the House
District 68 seat. I’m not making this up – click here. Giroux failed to get
enough signatures to qualify as a primary challenger to Whitehouse. As did four
other no-hopers, leaving Barry Hinchley (R), the only challenger standing to
face Sen. Whitehouse.
Giroux also failed to collect enough signatures to get on
the ballot in Senate District 10.
Curiously, Giroux was not actually in the running in House District 68 –
I guess if we take his demands at the State Convention seriously, he just
wanted that seat given to him.
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| We'll be seeing a lot of these between now and September 11. Notr so much afterwards |
On the House side, we’ll be seeing a lot more Matson
the Carpenter signs. He had enough signatures to qualify to run against
endorsed incumbent Rep. Jim Langevin in the September 11 primary.
There will be a four-way Republican Primary race to pick who
will run against Langevin in September. The endorsed front-runner is a
Mini-Mitt hedge fund operator Michael Riley who is already spending his
millions on TV advertising.
Riley’s centerpiece is a plan to dramatically expand oil,
gas and coal extraction on all federal lands and to use the fees to “rescue”
Social Security and Medicare. Several small problems with the Riley plan:
federal extraction fees are low and Riley has taken the no-new-taxes pledge and
can’t raise them.
Plus there isn’t enough coal, oil and gas to really make a
difference, even if you got it all. Final problem – do we really want to drill
and strip mine all our federal lands. Somebody on the Republican side ought to
explain to Riley what happened here in Charlestown when there was even a hint of putting wind turbines near the
National Wildlife Refuge.
Looking at the local races for General Assembly:
.jpg) |
| Cathie Rumsey for Senate District 34 |
In Senate District 34, CDTC-endorsed
challenger Cathie Rumsey will take on the winner of the September 11
Republican Primary battle between incumbent Frank Maher and new-comer from
Exeter Paul McFadden. Senate District 34 now includes almost all of Charlestown
north of Route 1
Sen. Dennis Algiere (R, District 38) is running unopposed.
Though most of his district lies in Westerly, his power base, Washington Trust
Veep Algiere represents Charlestown South of One.
In the House, one of Charlestown’s long-time solicitors, Bob
Craven, is running for House District 32 as the endorsed Democrat against
whichever Republican emerges from the September 11 primary between incumbent
Lawrence Earnhardt and Sharon Gamba.
In House District 34, which is mostly South Kingstown and
Narragansett, progressive Democratic incumbent Teresa
Tanzi will defend her seat from the winner of the Primary pitting mortgage
banker Stephen Tetzner against Republican endorsed Christopher Wilkens.
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| Sen. Sue Sosnowski, Rep. Teresa Tanzi & Dalia at the Charlestown Gallery last September |
Senate District 37 pretty much covers the districts of Reps. Donna Walsh and Teresa Tanzi and has been ably represented by Sen. Sue Sosnowski. Sue faces retired laudromat operator Lindy Lindholm, her Republican challenger, in the November election.
The District 35 race pits two progressive Democrats against
each other in the Primary – Incumbent Spencer Dickinson versus endorsed
Democrat Kathy Fogarty. Kathy is leaving the South Kingstown Town Council to
challenge Spencer. Whoever wins will face the perennial Republican candidate
James Haldeman. Haldeman’s main claim has been his role as de facto “Mayor” of
Fallujah during the Second Iraq War.
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| Rep. Donna Walsh and Rep. Larry Valencia |
District 36, Rep.
Donna Walsh’s seat, is shaping up to be a three-way race pitting Donna
against Tea Party Republican Tina Baker Jackson and political unknown Kevin
Prescott, running as an Independent, who squeaked in with 50 signatures.
Incumbent Rep. Sam Azzinaro (D-37 which is almost entirely
in Westerly) will return to the State House unopposed.
Finally, progressive Democratic incumbent Larry Valencia
will face the winner of a Republican Primary fight between two Republicans,
neither of them endorsed. Recent President of the controversial South Kingstown
Chamber of Commerce Clay Johnson will face off against Michael Picillo who
narrowly lost to Larry in 2010. Picillo’s family ran the infamous Picillo Pig
Farm, one of Rhode Island’s worst toxic waste sites.
Larry used to represent the top half of Charlestown before
redistricting. Because of his excellent record, the Charlestown
Democratic Town Committee continues to support him.
