Goodbye and good riddance to Blake Filippi
By Will Collette
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| Flip tweeted this photo last Sunday |
Filippi won in 2014,
defeating effective incumbent Rep. Donna Walsh (D) with the support from the
Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA).
Filippi ran as a libertarian
but without any fixed beliefs or principles, a trait that characterized his
eight years in office. Not surprisingly, he finally came out as a Republican.
He couldn’t seem to give an actual fixed address with official documents listing him as living in
Lincoln, Providence and various Block Island addresses.
That was our first inkling
that Flip has a very loose relationship with the truth. Over his time in office,
I have documented numerous occasions where he said one thing but did something
entirely different. CLICK HERE for a prime example of his casual relationship with the truth.
He has close historical ties to the far-right armed militia
group, the Oath Keepers, who led the
storming the Capitol on January 6.
Virtually none of legislation
sponsored by Filippi was ever enacted, though he did take credit for
legislation sponsored by others, such as a bill to limit quarry dust (actually Rep. Brian Patrick Kennedy’s bill) and lowering state income tax on Social Security (which was Rep. Bob Craven’s bill).
He botched this year’s push
for a modest shoreline access bill by failing to line up any support in the
Senate. Serious legislators almost always get a sponsor for a companion bill in
the other house in order to expedite legislative success, but Flip has never been a serious legislator, always more interested in personal publicity than achievement.
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| Flip tweeted this photo on Monday. I'm not sure if this is a before or after snap |
Filippi was known to sponsor
downright goofy legislation, such as numerous efforts to pass amendments to the Rhode Island Constitution and for Rhode Island to secede from the Eastern Time zone and join the Canadian Maritime Provinces in the
Atlantic zone.
Filippi voted against every single gun bill (other than those proposed by gun nuts) and tried to
block Rhode Island from codifying Roe v. Wade. Yep, that’s our Flip.
For all the support the CCA gave him, what do they have to show for it?
Even though the CCA disliked Donna
Walsh because she is a Democrat, Donna knew how to get things done and served
her constituents well.
In his farewell remarks,
Filippi singled out obstructionism as his only
achievement. As WPRI described it:
“Filippi said his proudest moments included refusing to suspend the House rules during the final stages of the 2019 session, reining in the speaker’s powers; filing a lawsuit over the management of the committee that handles the Assembly’s budget; fighting the proposed Lifespan-Care New England hospital merger; and working on an effort to clarify Rhode Islanders’ rights of access to the shoreline.”
Filippi was vague about his
reasons for leaving saying only that after eight years, he decided to make way
for somebody new.
His colleague Mike
Chippendale who immediately takes over as Republican Minority Leader did little to help
to clarify. Chippendale said he wasn’t being pushed out and said
it could have just been personal or business related.
In recent years, Filippi fought his mother and brother Steve in court over the family businesses. His mother accused him of
deception and manipulation in court filings. So, yeah, maybe it’s business.
Whatever it is, he announced
his departure with no apparent Republican contender to run for his seat. Since the one consistent thing about Filippi was his thirst for publicity, his abrupt departure from office raises a lot of questions about why he decided to leave when some conservative sources called him the RI GOP's "top star."
As of this writing, the only candidate
is Democrat Tina Spears of Charlestown who has just won the party’s
endorsement for House District 36.
The deadline for candidates
to declare for office is Wednesday.