Political Scene by Cynthia Needham, Steve Peoples, Katherine Gregg and Scott MacKay
The special election to replace Rep. Peter T. Ginaitt, D-Warwick, may not have garnered much media attention, but it’s caught the eye and the checkbooks of House leaders.
Chief among them is Majority Leader Gordon D Fox, D-Providence, who bucked the trend of party leaders, overlooking endorsed primary candidate Edgar N. Ladouceur to contribute $250 to Frank G. Ferri.
Speaker William J. Murphy, meanwhile, gave $300 to Ladouceur.
Ferri breezed to victory in the primary. He will face Republican Jonathan Wheeler and independent Carlo Pisaturo in the special election on Nov. 27.
Fox says he’s been in contact with the Ferri campaign “working on some strategies” leading up to next week’s special election and says he’s donated more money since the last round of campaign finance reports was filed.
“Frank and I have worked together on a lot of issues and I know him quite well. He’s a very decent person. He’s likable, he’s articulate and he’s the guy I’d like to see replace Peter Ginaitt at the State House,” Fox told Political Scene.
Ferri, best known for his role as the head of the gay-rights group Marriage Equality RI, was a familiar face at the State House in the days of last year’s gay marriage bill, which Fox co-sponsored.
Ferri, like Fox, is openly gay.
Fox said he’s also worked with Ferri on health-care issues, the centerpiece of the Ferri’s campaign.
What of going against the party leadership to support an unendorsed candidate?
“I’m the Democratic majority leader so when you have an endorsement process go forward, you always wonder, do you want to go with the endorsed candidate? That means something to me, so I don’t take it lightly that I support the unendorsed candidate,” Fox said.
But in the end, he said, Ferri seemed like the best man for the job.
The Ferri campaign was quick to add it’s also captured Murphy’s support in the days since the primary victory. House spokesman Larry Berman confirmed that.
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The Governor and the legislature need to start beating some new drums to raise employment. Technology, healthcare, education and financial services companies will be reducing employment in the state not increasing their numbers according to recent polls.
All four areas are subject to substantial rises in offshoring/outsourcing not just to India and other parts of Asia but to other states who have more in the way of both building/office and training resources. CT and MA are way out ahead of RI on all fronts. Businesses seeking to move out of downtown Boston need only drive 10-15 miles out to find excellent office space at half the price of RI.
Numbers in the RI fin services sector have declined (both reported and unreported reductions), and the principal employers are largely headquartered outside of RI (B of A in NC, RBS/Citizens in CT/NY etc). The insurance run-off provisions are meaningless as they could be cloned overnight in the states where the insurance companies are currently located. There have been fin services disasters in RI, and the outside world remembers fully how bad the state and its government acted and reacted.
The Governor is a highly capable person; he needs to re-do the whole economic and jobs development strategy with new people and new ideas.
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