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Political Hay
Executive Vacancy
Who wants to be governor of Rhode Island?
Who wants to be governor of Rhode Island?
The gig pays $117,118 a year, and while Rhode Island may be our smallest state the winner still gets to be one of only 50 governors in the nation. All of which should make the job an inviting target for ambitious pols.
But the 2010 Ocean State governor’s race is so far missing big-name Democratic and Republican candidates, with only B-team prospects filling the void.
To be sure, governing Rhode Island would seem an unenviable task. Tiny “rhodie,” as it’s known in the rest of New England, has long stood in the shadow of its prominent northern neighbor, Massachusetts, and its far wealthier western rival Connecticut.
Sure, the Vanderbilts and other wealthy families once summered at Newport. Yet much of Rhode Island is mostly a string of aging industrial towns where the economic bottom has fallen out. Unemployment in Rhode Island is second-highest in the nation, at 10.5 percent in February, behind only Michigan.
And like much of the rest of the country, big drops in Ocean State housing prices make it tougher for homeowners to borrow and spend. Tax revenue has plummeted, prompting Republican Gov. Don Carcieri to propose big cuts in state spending for cities and towns.
Despite the state’s tough times, the chance to be governor should be tough to turn down. But that’s exactly what prominent Rhode Island politicians are doing.
Carcieri is being forced from office by term limits after serving for eight years. The first potential replacement to demur was Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, who at 48 is considered a Democratic rising star. He’s one of the first openly gay big city mayors and his decision to run for re-election instead of statewide office caught many by surprise.
Republicans experienced their own disappointment when former investment banker and Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey decided against running. Laffey earned considerable national exposure — and the enduring enmity of many Republicans — when in 2006 he challenged then-Sen. Lincoln Chafee in the Republican primary.
Laffey ran to the right of Chafee on social and economic issues, and his criticism of the incumbent took its toll. Laffey lost the primary but softened up incumbent Chafee enough to damage him in the general election.
Chafee lost his re-election bid to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, ending a Senate career that had only begun in October 1999 when the previous Republican governor appointed him to fill the final 15 months of the term left open by the death of his father John Chafee, a revered former governor and fixture in Washington for nearly a quarter-century.
The lone Republican now in the governor’s race is state Rep. Joseph Trillo, hardly a household political name. The Republican mayor of Warwick, Scott Avedisian is a possible candidate, but he hasn’t tossed his hat in the ring. Either would seem to have an uphill task in overwhelmingly Democratic Rhode Island, but Republicans have held the governor’s mansion since 1995 and can’t be counted out.
The only Democrat to declare his candidacy is state Treasurer Frank Caprio. Former Congressman Robert Wygand — who lost a Senate bid against Chafee in 2000 — is also considering making a run. So are Attorney General Patrick Lynch and Lieutenant Gov. Elizabeth Roberts. Former Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty, who narrowly lost to incumbent Carcieri as the 2006 Democratic challenger, is mulling a bid. Yet each has been slow to jump into what would seem an eminently winnable race.
That leaves Chafee, the former Warwick mayor and former senator who left the Republican Party after his 2006 defeat to become an independent. scion of an establishment Rhode Island family, Chafee’s seven-plus years in the Senate are notable for his break from party leaders. He was the only Senate Republican to vote against the Iraq war and often teamed up with Democrats on issues such as abortion and gay rights. Since leaving Capitol Hill, Chafee has been a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University.
In a different political environment Chafee might be considered a has-been who couldn’t hold on to the Senate seat bequeathed to him by his political icon father. But if Chafee chooses to throw his hat in the ring, his friend Avedisian is likely to sit the election out. That means Chafee may now have a ticket back to the political big leagues as the governor’s race remains largely open. After all, somebody’s got to take the job.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (31) | Leave a comment
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George| 4.10.09 @ 7:58AM
Please note that this race started in politically active RI in January 2007 when the current Governor won re-election in 2006 and started his final 4 year term due to term limits. Cicilline at that time had good poll numbers and decent record but during 2007 and 2008 his administration had major problems including an ongoing state police investigation into its tax office and the mayors interference and favors as well as the mayors brother and former law partner going to federal prison for payoffs. The mayors polls numbers are very weak and he was trailing state treasurer Caprio in the polls and fundraising by large numbers. It was no surprise he decided to try to keep his mayors seat and pass on governors race. As to the other democrats they all trail Caprio in fundraising by wide margins and its getting late and its not an easy environment to raise money. Caprio has over $1.2 million on hand and the next closes democrat Lynch has about $500 thousand on hand. All the other democrats have little or no money and no possible way to catch up with RI's low limits of only a max contribution of 1000 with personal donations. The GOP is a joke so waste no time there. Chafee is exploring and will probably have to self fund. His first steps have been weak however naming a person to head his exploration committee who it came out a day later is the son of the owner of the infamous Foxy Lady strip club in Providence. This got a lot of attention and caused the Chafee camp to go into hiding. Please do better research for future RI articles Mr. Mark. Also you spelled Weygand's name wrong.
Crusader| 4.10.09 @ 8:45AM
What is the Italian per capita ratio of RI? Holy smokes is there a non-Italian in office up there?
Michael L. Hauschild| 4.10.09 @ 8:49AM
Sounds to me like RI is representative and suffering from the upcoming "none of the above" selection process.
Anthony| 4.10.09 @ 9:05AM
Nice to know that Chafee is still walking and talking after all those kicks to the head during his horse farrier days. But according to poster George, Chafee apparently appointed the son of a strip club owner to head his exploratory committee. Maybe Chafee did suffer one too many kicks to the head afterall. This guy makes Joe Biden look like a senior member of MENSA, without the make believe stories.
Curly Smith| 4.10.09 @ 9:11AM
It's amazing how often the first two items are connected to the third:
1) much of Rhode Island is mostly a string of aging industrial towns where the economic bottom has fallen out.
2) Unemployment in Rhode Island is second-highest in the nation, at 10.5 percent in February, behind only Michigan.
3) overwhelmingly Democratic Rhode Island
I'm sure it's just a coincidence and not a reflection on Democratic economic policies...
iknownothing| 4.10.09 @ 9:49AM
Lets not forget that back in 2005, when the Republicans still controlled the Senate, Chafee was one of the "moderate Republicans" who voted down drilling for oil in ANWAR. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I remember reading that one reason he gave for that vote was that "I have a perfect rating from the Sierra Club, and I did not want to spoil that". Now I may have the wording of that quote incorrect - I am just going from memory. But it is just breathtaking to me that a politician when put the opinion of radical environmental activists above the national security needs of our nation, and let us be more dependent on the oil from Hugo Chavez and the Saudi Royal Family. I never want to see Chafee - that craven hack - anywhere near the levers of power again; I don't care if it is in the office of dog catcher
Bob Cole| 4.10.09 @ 10:54AM
First off, it's "Rhody" not "Rhodie" and second, Frank Caprio HAS NOT declared his candidacy for Governor. Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story, however.
Mike Novak| 4.10.09 @ 3:18PM
A Quayle-like spelling comment: it's "demur," not "demure."
Michael Tomlinson| 4.10.09 @ 3:43PM
Rhode Island like the rest of New England is a liberal oasis of ignorance, high taxes, moral bankruptcy, organized crime (both governmental and private sector) and anti-American bigotry. It's too bad we can't give it back to the British crown or some other dying Euro-trash nation that is ready to embrace the neo-fascism of Barack Obama.
sestamibi| 4.10.09 @ 4:00PM
Crusader, you got a problem with that?
Anthony| 4.10.09 @ 4:58PM
A photo of Chafee always reminds me of the movie, the first "Planet of the Apes". You might recall that Taylor sees one of his former astronauts that the apes did brain surgery on. The guys bald head has a huge horseshoe scar from the surgery. I wonder if Chafee auditioned for the part?
c. j. acworth| 4.10.09 @ 8:08PM
Sign at the border of RI reads " Welcome to Rhode Island, the Ocean State. Keep your smart remarks to yourself".
r. henk, prof.| 4.12.09 @ 2:53AM
I have only once been in Rhode Island and very much enjoyed my visit there, so I will toss my name in the hat as a candidate for governor. I would choose to run as a classic liberal, as in "get the government off our backs and out of our pockets." As for qualifications, I have always been under budget in personal and business affairs. I would opt to run as a democrat. I propose less invasive government and more efficient government, not anarchy.
My platform:
1. Set a schedule to sunset all laws that are not explicit in the state constitution and that do not already have a sunset date. All laws passed since the year 2000 will expire October 2010. All laws passed since 1970 will expire October 2011. All laws since 1900 will expire October 2012. All excess laws since the establishment of the state in 1789 will expire October 2013. This will allow the state to reinstitute only the laws deemed essential to the running of the state, simplify the tax code, and help make the government transparent.
2. Automatically veto all bills over 3 pages in length. By forcing the legislature to keep bills concise, each state representative will know exactly what they are voting about and earmarks will vanish. State citizens will also be able to hold their representatives and governor more accountable.
3. Do my utmost to make Rhode Island the state most friendly to families of US military veterans, in terms of housing, medical care, and venture capital for small businesses. I want to draw many of our nation's highest quality citizens to the state.
4. Uphold and enforce the state constitution.
5. Expend time to negotiate an independent state for all Palestinians in land donated by one of our allies, either Iraq or Saudia Arabia. Either nation could donate a portion the size of Rhode Island for the Palestinian state. The Palestinians would be free to pursue their own prosperity and peace with their new neighbors.
6. With any excess time, initiate negotiations with Russia to purchase a portion of Kamchatka to be annexed by Rhode Island. This could be mutually beneficial, since the region appears to be neglected by Moscow. Ideally enough area would be purchased to make Rhode Island the 2nd largest state, and Texas the 3rd largest state. Set a schedule to move the state capital and Brown to the new region.
7. Grant all candidates for governor in any state permission to adopt portions of this platform into their own.
Jim| 4.13.09 @ 5:18PM
The very last thing the USA needs is the return of that dummy Lincoln Chaffee.
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