Students who are 18 years of age and have been registered to vote in Rhode Island for at least 30 days are eligible to vote in tomorrow's primary elections. Registered Democrats and Republicans are eligible to vote only in the primary for their party. Unaffiliated voters can vote in either primary and retain their independent status by signing a disaffiliation form after they vote. The state has 365,658 independent voters, 236,665 Democrats and 68,874 Republicans, according to the secretary of state's office. About 1,000 Brown students are registered to vote - not including those who choose to register at off-campus addresses other than their University addresses at 75 Waterman St. There are no primaries this fall for governor, general treasurer and attorney general.
U.S. Senate Democratic Primary
Carl SheelerCarl Sheeler, a veteran of the U.S. Marines and father of five, has centered his campaign on strong opposition to the war in Iraq and those who support it. Though his anti-war message has resonated with many Rhode Islanders, Sheeler has had difficulty competing with Whitehouse's widespread media campaign.
Sheeler, who identifies himself as an "outspoken, 1970s-style Democrat" and is a former Republican, first drew attention with his call for President George W. Bush's impeachment on Feb. 1.
"If we as men and women are expected to obey the law of our land (so should our president)," Sheeler said.
Sheeler said the United States should pull out of Iraq as soon as possible.
As the only Senate candidate with military experience, Sheeler said he believes 10 years with the Marines give him an unmatched insight into military policy and international affairs.
He said he is running for office to reverse "what affluent elected officials have done for us in the Senate."
He has not received the backing of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, but he is endorsed by the Rhode Island chapter of Progressive Democrats of America, a national organization committed to supporting progressive politics and politicians in all elected positions.
Sheldon WhitehouseSenate Democratic primary favorite and former Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse is unconcerned about the upcoming primary.
His communications director, Alex Swartsel, said Whitehouse is "targeting all of his ads toward the general election, which is one of the big reasons you don't want a primary challenge."
Whitehouse originally faced a challenge from Secretary of State Matt Brown, who left the race because of allegations of campaign finance wrongdoings and a shortfall of campaign funds.
Rhode Island's Senate election has ramifications for the whole nation. The election of a Democrat to Rhode Island's Senate seat in the Nov. 7 general election could give control of the Senate to Democrats if five other Republican incumbents lose.
The former attorney general's major campaign issue is to change the leadership in Washington D.C. He ends all of his television advertisements with the phrase "finally a Whitehouse in Washington you can trust."
Recently, Whitehouse has expressed his opposition to the war in Iraq and has said the United States should engage in a full and immediate pullout, though he has softened his call for a deadline for the United States to withdraw.
Though he has not outlined specific plans, Whitehouse has said he supports health care reform that will reduce costs and improve insurance coverage.
Whitehouse's support stretches throughout the whole state. He has received the endorsement of almost every town Democratic committee.
Christopher Young Democrat Christopher Young has been splitting his time between running for both the U.S. Senate and to become mayor of Providence. Young's dual candidacy is also a protest of a recent Rhode Island law banning candidates from running for more than one local office and one statewide office.
The South Providence native is an electrical engineer by training and activist and perennial political candidate by practice. His defeat in a 2000 race for the U.S. Senate and a 2002 mayoral race has not deterred Young from his current bid.
Young has chosen to not accept campaign donations and has not paid for statewide advertising, opting instead to rely on word of mouth and participation in a half-hour Democratic Senate primary debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island.
Election reform is a topic Young has supported throughout his unsuccessful political career. He said widespread voter fraud is an endemic problem in Rhode Island, alleging that deceased residents continue to be included on the state's voting rolls.
U.S. Senate Republican Primary
Lincoln Chafee '75Incumbent Sen. Lincoln Chafee '75, R-R.I., is a moderate Republican known for bucking his party's line and the policies of President Bush. He faces a contentious primary against Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey, whose campaign has received support from the Club For Growth.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee, one of Chafee's largest supporters, recently announced it would not support Laffey if Chafee were to lose the primary.
Compared to Laffey's poor polling numbers against Whitehouse, Chafee is well-matched against the Democratic frontrunner.
Chafee's position on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations bolsters his argument that he can best serve Rhode Island's interests because of his experience and seniority.
In the Senate, Chafee has emphasized environmental issues and, most recently, energy independence. His detractors, including Laffey, contend Chafee has yet to accomplish much in the halls of the Senate and characterize him as a quirky loner.
In addition to holding a fundraising event at the Providence Biltmore Hotel that featured Laura Bush, Chafee has been endorsed by national fixtures John McCain, R-Ariz., the Sierra Club and NARAL Pro-Choice America, among others.
Stephen LaffeyCranston Mayor Stephen Laffey has mounted an unlikely campaign against incumbent Chafee that has received national attention.
In an unprecedented move, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has announced that it will not support Laffey and concede defeat to the Democratic candidate if Chafee does not win the primary.
After graduating from Harvard Business School, the Cranston native moved out of the state and worked in finance for 15 years. In 2000, he moved back to Rhode Island and was elected mayor of Cranston in 2002.
Laffey has largely campaigned on his record as mayor of Cranston, a city that was in financial disarray when he was elected. He plans to bring his financial experience to the Senate.
His strong opposition to "pork-barrel spending" and the influence of interest groups and their financial backers has brought Laffey support from the Club for Growth and National Review, the conservative journal.
Articles demeaning homosexuals that Laffey authored while an undergraduate at Bowdoin College have recently come to light.
U.S. House of Representatives District 1 Democratic Primary
Patrick KennedyU.S. Rep Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., is running uncontested.
U.S. House of Representatives District 1 Republican Primary
Edmund Leather '60Edmund Leather '60, a resident of East Providence, was formerly a foreign service officer for the U.S. Department of State and a U.S. history professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. His campaign platform calls for an end to illegal immigration, and he has said tuberculosis and leprosy were unheard of before "illegal aliens" entered the United States. Leather has said he would have voted in favor of authorizing the use of military force in Iraq.
Jonathan ScottJonathan Scott graduated from Moses Brown School and the University of Rhode Island and has worked in the past as a counselor for a state-contracted group home provider. Scott, who was endorsed by the state Republican Party, supports President Bush's tax cuts and has said part of his attraction to the Congressional race was challenging an incumbent with the Kennedy name.
Lieutenant Governor
Current Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty cannot serve again because of term limits. He is running against Republican incumbent Gov. Donald Carcieri '65 in the November gubernatorial election. Winners of the Republican and Democratic primaries for lieutenant governor will face Robert Healey Jr. in November. Healey is a member of the Cool Moose Party, which believes the lieutenant governor's office is useless and should be abolished.
Lieutenant Governor Democratic Primary
Spencer DickinsonSpencer Dickinson, who refers to himself on his Web site as the "Common Sense Democrat," served as a state representative from 1972 to 1980. He graduated from Harvard in 1966 and worked briefly for Prudential and Citizens Bank before starting his own home building business, MB Construction.
Dickinson's platform includes five priorities: affordable health care, better quality jobs, affordable home ownership, improved education and the relief of the property tax burden by shifting more education costs to the state budget. Job growth depends on affordable health care, Dickinson says, which will enable employers to provide jobs with benefits.
Even in light of the recently passed health care legislation, Dickinson has said "there's been no real headway" in making health care affordable to Rhode Islanders.
Elizabeth Roberts '78Five-time State Sen. Elizabeth Roberts '78 is the running mate of current Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty. In the State Senate, she has worked on energy, the environment and particularly health care issues such as affordable health insurance, youth obesity and smoking.
Roberts has endorsements from the Rhode Island Democratic Party and EMILY's List, a political network that supports pro-choice Democratic women running for office.
She said she is running for lieutenant governor in order to be able to address issues on a statewide platform and because the lieutenant governor can work relatively independently from other elected officials.
"I sometimes think about (a lieutenant governor) as being almost like a think tank where you can be an advocate for Rhode Islanders," Roberts told The Herald in an interview earlier this year.
Lieutenant Governor Republican Primary
Reginald CentracchioFormer R.I. National Guard Adjutant General and West Warwick native Reginald Centracchio emphasizes his 48 years of military experience - he enlisted when he was 17 - and experience in emergency preparedness as he campaigns for the upcoming primary. If elected lieutenant governor, he says, he will focus on developing state emergency responses and ensuring the port security of Narragansett Bay.
When the Homeland Security Advisory System was formed after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Centracchio was appointed by then-Gov. Lincoln Almond to be security adviser for the state.
Kernan KingKernan "Kerry" King, a retired insurance executive, made the biggest public splash for his campaign for lieutenant governor when he filed a lawsuit Aug. 31 demanding that more than 10 state lawmakers reimburse the citizens of Rhode Island for what he calls a "corruption tax."
"The waste, influence peddling, self-interested deals and bribery that has infected the otherwise conscientious and honorable membership of the General Assembly robs the citizens of Rhode Island of their constitutional right to open and honest government and has created a de facto corruption tax," in the lawsuit King explained.
Secretary of State
Current Secretary of State Matt Brown will not seek re-election. He ran an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate and ended his bid officially in April. The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Sue Stenhouse in November.
Secretary of State Democratic Primary
Guillaume de RamelPolitical newcomer Guillaume de Ramel grew up in Newport, R.I. As secretary of state, he wants to find a new home for the state archives, allow 16-year-olds to pre-register to vote and shorten the 14-year term for members of the state elections board.
De Ramel has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood and four major labor unions, including the National Education Association of Rhode Island, which represents over 11,000 public school teachers, higher education faculty and staff and state and municipal employees. His wife is Brown Director of Media Relations Molly de Ramel.
A. Ralph MollisA. Ralph Mollis has been mayor of North Providence for the last 10 years. Mollis has been an outspoken advocate of property tax relief throughout his campaign and testified before the state Senate Finance Committee in June in favor of limiting property tax growth and imposing spending caps. If elected, Mollis says he also hopes to improve high school civics education. Unlike de Ramel, who advocates verifying voter rolls with public death records, Mollis has said he would do so by integrating voter registration with real estate closings. Mollis has been endorsed by the state Democratic Party and several key labor unions, including the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals.
Rhode Island House of Representatives District 2 Democratic Primary
Students who registered to vote with their campus mailing addresses will not be able to vote in the District 2 Democratic primary, but the district does include off-campus student residences in parts of Fox Point, in addition to the Downcity, Wayland and Jewelry District neighborhoods and part of East Providence. District 2 State Rep. Paul Moura is not seeking re-election.
David SegalDavid Segal, a native of Washington, D.C., and current Ward 1 City Councilman, graduated from Columbia University in 2001. He became the youngest person ever elected to Providence's City Council in a closely contested 2002 race, emerging with just 38 percent of the vote in a win that arguably would have been impossible without Brown students. Though he was elected to the council as a Green Party member, Segal announced this summer he would run for the District 2 State Rep. seat on a Democratic ticket.
Segal has been a major supporter of progressive politics in his four years on the council, and his platform for the District 2 race reinforces those politics.In addition to tax code reforms, redistribution of school funds and electoral reforms he says will be best addressed at the General Assembly, Segal stresses affordable housing, progressive taxation, universal health care, bringing jobs to Rhode Island communities and undertaking sustainable environmental policies. As councilman, Segal was a strong backer of the First Source ordinance, renewable energy and inclusionary zoning. Following the University's divestment from Sudan last spring, Segal introduced a similar resolution to the City Council that was ultimately adopted, making Providence the first city in the nation to divest from Sudan on account of the genocide in Darfur. Most recently, he introduced an ordinance that would prevent the mayor from spending money in the city's trust fund for affordable housing on anything other than affordable housing.
Richard Pacheco"I've lived in District 2 longer than (local candidates David Segal, Ethan Ris '05 and Seth Yurdin) combined," says Richard Pacheco of his history in the district of Providence he hopes to represent in the General Assembly.
Pacheco, who was born in Fox Point, says lack of representation and high taxes with no return are the two main reasons he is running in the primary for the District 2 State Rep. seat. Pacheco also highlights education as one of his primary concerns.
"In plain English - we have dumb kids graduating from high school," Pacheco told The Herald, adding that high schools in Providence "might as well be daycares." He expressed frustration with the different factions that exist within the various neighborhoods of District 2, specifically the Fox Point Citizens Association.
"I am truthful, I call a spade a spade, and I don't kiss ass to get your vote," Pacheco said.
Mayoral Democratic Primary
David Cicilline '83 After serving four terms in the state's House of Representatives, David Cicilline '83 was elected mayor in the wake of Operation Plunder Dome and former Mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci Jr.'s conviction for racketeering and subsequent resignation. Promising major changes in the conduct of city business and an effort to include the city's many diverse residents within its structure, Cicilline swept the 2002 general election with 84 percent of the vote.
Cicilline was a political science concentrator at Brown and a classmate of John F. Kennedy Jr. '83. He is the first openly gay mayor of a U.S. capital city and has garnered favor with many residents of Providence as the city experiences a wave of major development, particularly downtown. The Providence Department for Arts, Culture and Tourism was started under Cicilline, and the mayor has been a major advocate of making Providence a cultural destination.
Christopher Young(See Young's entry for the Senate Democratic primary race)
Mayoral Republican Primary
Daniel HarropDaniel Harrop is a practicing physician and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the University. He is treasurer of the Providence Republican City Committee and has run twice in the past against District 3 State Rep. Edie Ajello, a Democrat.
David TalanDavid Talan is a computer systems analyst and the current president of the Providence Republican City Committee. He last ran for mayor in the 2002 election.
CITY COUNCIL
Providence is divided into 15 wards, each of which is represented by a seat on the City Council. The council is vested with the power to pass legislation for the city and adopt the city's annual budget. Ward 1 includes parts of Fox Point and Wayland neighborhoods and College Hill south of Waterman Street. Ward 2 includes much of College Hill and Brown's campus north of Waterman Street. Brown students who registered to vote with their campus mailing addresses are registered in Ward 1.
Ward 2 Democratic Primary
Rita WilliamsRita Williams, who is seeking her fifth term on the council, has been representing Ward 2 since 1990 and has not faced a primary or general election opponent since 1998. The former teacher and school social worker has served as deputy majority leader of the City Council and chair of the Ordinance Committee. Recently, she worked on the Ethics Commission and Pension Reform Committee. She is an active participant in numerous neighborhood associations, including the College Hill Neighborhood Association.
Williams stresses the improvement of the educational programming at Nathan Bishop Middle School, the public middle school in Ward 1, as one of her highest priorities. She has also pledged to keep the waterfront from becoming overdeveloped regulating the city's zoning ordinance.
Cliff WoodCliff Wood was formerly founding director of Providence's Department of Art, Culture and Tourism under the administration of Mayor Cicilline. Prior to that, Wood said he played a leading role in the effort to rebuild downtown Providence during his five years working for Cornish Associates, a development firm.
Before moving to Providence in 1997, Wood obtained his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Albany and worked as a strategy coordinator for the U.S. Climate Action Network.
Wood has made education one of his major campaign issues, noting that the East Side pays a heavy tax burden to the city but does not always enjoy the services provided by the city. If elected, Wood has said he will fight to pass an ethics ordinance and expand the council to include at-large seats.
Metro Editor Anne Wootton and Senior Political Writer Jon Herman contributed to this article.
