Jonathan Daly-LaBelle is running for state rep in Westerly's District 37
Steve
Ahlquist: You
have some news? What's up?
Daly-LaBelle (right) on sidewalk in front of his Wakefield real estate office
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I
went to Westerly Town Hall a little before four o'clock, and I filed my
declaration of candidacy to run for state rep against the incumbent, Sam
Azzinaro in District 37.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Jonathan is challenging Azzinaro in the Democratic primary on September 10. There is no Republican in the race, so the primary winner wins it all. - Will Collette
Steve
Ahlquist: Why
are you running?
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I
decided to give the incumbent a challenge and give the people of Westerly a
choice. The person who's currently serving is anti-choice and against most gun
regulations. He was the primary sponsor of the book-banning legislation that was moving
around in the State House last year, and he was very vocal and
influential against turning VJ Day into Peace and Remembrance Day.
Steve
Ahlquist: I
want to talk about that because I'm meeting you here right after your peace
protest outside Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's Providence office. Can
you talk to me about that activism, which you've been doing as long as I've
known you?
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I
have two main silos to my activism. They both relate to issues of peace and
anti-militarism. The one that you're referencing is oftentimes just myself.
Other times I have another peace activist or two who joins me - sometimes we
have a small crowd - but we've been going outside congressional member's
offices, as well as other locations around the state, for about seven years
now, focused on reducing military spending. When issues of high priority come
up, we'll shift focus to.
Steve
Ahlquist: Like
Palestine.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: Right.
Right now we're looking for a permanent ceasefire. That was my sign, “Say it,
Sheldon “Permanent Ceasefire.” It's our taxpayer money. So that's where that
focus is.
The
second part is that I'm one of six to eight peace organizers in a
loose-knit group called Just Peace RI. We've just finished our fourth
year collaborating, trying to move issues forward at the State House that
relate to peace and anti-militarism
Steve
Ahlquist: And
that's the group that wants to change Victory Day to Peace and Remembrance Day.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: Correct.
The primary sponsor of that was Representative Jennifer Stewart. It's very
important to her. That was her initiative and we were happy to support her. We
want to reframe societal thinking. Why are we celebrating a situation that
ended up killing hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and
celebrating the use of the worst weapons known to man? Why can't we frame it as
peace? That should be part of our new societal template. We will still have the
remembrance - nobody wants to minimize the service of the people who fought in
that, or any war. In general, when people sign up, they're thinking in terms of
trying to promote democracy, trying to promote freedom. Unfortunately, we know
that's not always the case, but we want to remember the people who were lost
and acknowledge that sacrifice.
Steve
Ahlquist: Theoretically,
isn't the ultimate goal of every war peace? We're not supposed to be doing it
because we love war. Theoretically, we're doing it because we want there to be
peace.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I
hear what you're saying, and we align on these things for sure. I think a lot
of the time that's how war is framed, but at the same time, war theoretically
could be peace-related, but a lot of it is over resources, territory, and
religion. It's framed as "once we get our way, there will be peace."
That's not a healthy society.
Steve
Ahlquist: I
was being a bit flippant because I know there's a strong factor of capitalism
built into this - the selling of arms and the instigation of war is a way of
making obscene profits for people who own munitions companies.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: To
your point, it can be framed that way because ultimately everybody should want
a peaceful world, who can be against that?
Steve
Ahlquist: Who
would be against that out loud?
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: My
opponent is locked into Victory Day. I don't think renaming that day is the
number one issue in the world right now or for the constituents that I would
like to represent in Westerly, but I have talked to people in Westerly about
this, and everybody who I've talked to, says that it's not their top priority,
but also, why is it Victory Day? Rhode Island is the only state that still
celebrates.
Steve
Ahlquist: That's
interesting because “top priority” isn't what the State House is about. They
passed hundreds of bills there this year. Most of the bills passed were not top
priority, they were just bills that passed. We're capable of doing more than
one thing, and the General Assembly does hundreds of things
every year.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I
realize it's going to be a challenge to get into office. A few years ago there
was a movement to put less power into the hands of the Speaker and give more
power to the committees - to have the House be a more democratic institution.
I'm going to be looking at what has happened in the past that would move some
of the power away from the Speaker and give the members the ability to move
things forward and not just wait for what the Speaker or the Senate President
wants.
Steve Ahlquist: Democrats who vote for the Speaker choose to give the power they have to the Speaker. It is a choice. As a group, they decided to give up their power to the Speaker. They could elect a weaker Speaker, but they decide not to. Once the power is vested in the Speaker, moving away from that becomes very difficult. Giving up your power is easy. Reclaiming it is hard. You're running as a Democrat, so if you win you will have a say in the choice of Speaker, though it seems to me that present Speaker Joseph Shekarchi is a shoo-in.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I'm
not running under any illusions of how easy things would be. But I want to do
whatever I can to uplift issues important to my constituents and work towards a
more democratic institution.
Steve
Ahlquist: What
do you consider to be more of your primary issues?
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I
want to be a strong ally on some of the core issues of the Democratic Party. I
know some of these things have happened at the State House, but as a value
statement, I am pro-choice. Women's rights are human rights.
On
guns, more needs to be done at the federal level, but we need to pass whatever
reasonable regulations we can at the state level to make our communities safer.
I will be an advocate for that.
And
I am very protective of LGBTQ rights. There are all sorts of terrible
challenges and threats for LGBTQ people. I want to be a good ally there and
uplift those human rights.
Moving
beyond that, housing is a critical issue.
Steve
Ahlquist: Can
I ask about the housing situation in Westerly? What's your take on that?
Jonathan Daly-LaBelle: People are challenged. It's the same here as across the state. Rents are ridiculous. Westerly and North Kingstown are maybe a little better positioned and a little more affordable, but it's still far beyond the reach of anybody with a regular income, which includes me.
I'm fortunate that I own my home, but with the
economy how it is, I rent out rooms in my home just to help be able to live the
best quality of life I can and to get by. I talk to people in Westerly. There's
not enough housing. There are so many Airbnbs and second
homes. The investor class has taken over the housing market and all the beach
towns are going to be less and less populated by regular people.
Steve
Ahlquist: What
else are you thinking about?
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I
know there was a push a couple of years ago to get healthcare for all in Rhode
Island. I was involved in that slightly. I know the proponents at that time
felt it was viable. I would like to look into that.
Steve
Ahlquist: Representative David
Morales puts the bill in every year
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I
started a job about nine months ago. I still don't have health insurance. I'm
fortunate that I'm healthy. Nine months ago, I was an independent contractor. I
haven't had health insurance for 20 years.
Steve
Ahlquist: My
wife and I are both self-employed. We've covered through Obamacare.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: It's
very expensive.
Steve
Ahlquist: My
wife has cancer and if it wasn't for the ACA, we would be broke right now. But
healthcare still costs too much. Obamacare helps, but it doesn't solve the
problem for a lot of people.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: It
is better than nothing. Obamacare should have been a building block toward
something better.
I
like working on issues. I've held political office before. I was on the South
Kingstown School Committee. I've been an activist on one issue or another
for 20 years, focused on peace and anti-militarism for the last seven. Other
people may be better connected or more talented, but I have some decent
talents. Nobody will outwork me.
For
the last two election cycles, I've thought about a run and opted away from it.
I didn't feel like my life was settled enough to do it. This year I realized
that the job that I'm in is giving me a lot of stability and I am feeling very
settled economically, I'm fortunate. I'm comfortable enough that I can pay my
bills right now. I've been talking to people in Westerly. I've been talking to
activists across the state and nobody has been negative toward the idea. I've
only gotten positive feedback and support.
Steve
Ahlquist: What
are you hearing from people in your district about their concerns?
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: The
housing crisis, healthcare, and education - but also coastal access. The
coastal access issue is important to me. I love going to the beach and I don't
like paying to go to the beach. I ran into somebody at town hall as I was
filing who is very involved in these issues.
Steve
Ahlquist: What
are you thinking about the environment? Does Westerly have any particular
environmental concerns?
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: The
reality is that if the predictions being made by the professionals come to
pass, not only is Westerly going to be wiped out, but south of East Greenwich
is going to be wiped out. People know this is a critical issue for Rhode
Island. Unfortunately, there's been so much climate denialism by so many for so
long and not enough leadership from Democrats historically. I know that there's
been progress made at the State House - legislation that sets requirements and
guidelines.
Steve
Ahlquist: There's
a possibility that President Trump will be back in power shortly after you take
office, and that would make things different in the State House. We won't know
what the effect is going to be, but it's not going to be easy in a blue state
dealing with a president who's actively hostile to a lot of that. Do you have
any thoughts about that?
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: A
lot of people would prefer not to think about that. To think that a convicted
felon could be president. Biden's not the worst guy, but he's not popular. The
only reason he won is because he ran against Trump. I would rather see Biden be
president than Trump.
Steve
Ahlquist: On
many issues, Trump will be far worse than Trump. On trans rights, on climate
change.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: Trump
pulled us out of the Paris Accords.
Steve
Ahlquist: He'll
do it again, and worse. It's pretty existential.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: Rhode
Island got a huge cash infusion under Biden and the Democrats. That's how some
of the housing initiatives are being funded and why does Rhode Island have a
surplus? It's not like all of a sudden the people in the State House did an
incredible job.
Steve
Ahlquist: We
were always behind the eight ball money-wise, the last few years have been made
better.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I
wanted to give the voters in Westerly a choice. The current Rep was born
in Westerly Hospital. He is 81 years old. He served on the town
council for a dozen years. He's been a state rep for 14 or 16 years. I'm not
taking anything from him - he loves Westerly and the town means a lot to him.
But he has these positions that are more attributable to Republicans than
Democrats, so I felt that people should have a choice.
I
want to ask people what they think about the 2016 and 2020 Bernie platform.
Those are my values, those are my goals, and that's what I would work toward.
Steve
Ahlquist: Are
you looking forward to doing a debate or public forum with your opponent?
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: I
would love to do that, but from what I've seen, no organizations are built to
do that before a primary.
Steve
Ahlquist: There
being no Republican in this race, the election will be pretty much settled in
the primary. Alex Nunes from The Public's Radio should
do it in a room at the Westerly Library.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: He'd
be perfect. That could work very well.
Steve
Ahlquist: He'd
do a great job. I'm saying that on record
Thank
you so much for your time, this is my first official election interview for
2024.
Jonathan
Daly-LaBelle: Thank
you. Appreciate this.
Subscribe to STEVE AHLQUIST. Hundreds of paid subscribers. Progressive politics, news and opinion from Rhode Island's hardest working journalist.
