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June 13, 2008

R.I. GOP chooses new party leaders

Rhode Island Republicans have new leaders.

The Republican state Convention, meeting in Lincoln Thursday evening, chose Rep. Carol Mumford, R-Scituate, as the party's national committee woman. Mumford succeeds GOP grand dame Eileen Slocum of Newport. Slocum, 95, has been a party fixture for decades both in Rhode Island and at the natiional level. She has had health problems of late and recently resigned her post. Mumford's election makes her an automatic delegate to the Republican National Convention, which meets in September in St. Paul, Minn.

The delegates meeting at Kirkbrae Country Club ousted incumbent national committee man Robert Manning of Charlestown, an ally of former Cranston Mayor Stephen Laffey. Rep. Joseph Trillo, R-Warwick, defeated Manning to become the new GOP national committee man. Trillo won the position in a multiballot race after Warcick Mayor Scott Avedisian dropped out of the contest and endorsed Trillo.

Ballotting ran past midnight. About 220 GOP delegates and other party leaders attended the convention. Giovanni Cicione, GOP state chairman, said he wss heartened by the turnout and the fact that the GOP found candidates to fill all three federal offices held by Democrats. Robert Tingle of Westerly, a conservative party activist, was endorsed to take on Democratic incumbent Sen. Jack Reed of Jamestown. Mark Zaccaria, a former North Kingstown town council member, will run against Democratic U.S. Rep. James Langevin of Warwick in District 2. Jonathan Scott of Providence is the candidate against Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy of Portsmouth.

Scott ran against Kennedy in 2006 and Tingle lost to Reed in 2002.

The Democrats will be heavily favored in the races for federal offices, Cicione acknowledged. The GOP candidates have not raised much money and the Democrats all have healthy campaign war chests. ``These are really tough races because of the money issues,'' said Cicione.

For example, Reed has about $3.5 million in campaign cash, while Tingle has not raised any serious money so far.

"But our candidates are credible, they are really smart people and they know the issues,'' said Cicione.

Posted by Scott MacKay  at 8:34 AM | Permalink

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