Stephen Laffey

By Katherine Gregg
Journal Staff House Bureau

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Former Republican Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey has opted against running for governor this year, despite a "Draft Laffey'' campaign by a conservative bloc within the state GOP to try to change his previously announced decision to sit out the 2010 elections.

Laffey told disappointed supporters over the weekend he was not running, and reaffirmed that in a statement issued early Monday morning that said:

"There has been quite a bit of speculation over the past several weeks as to whether I would enter the 2010 gubernatorial race in Rhode Island. This statement will put to rest any further speculation regarding my entry into the race... I am not a candidate for governor of Rhode Island and I have not changed my position.''

He continued: "To date I have not seen sufficient evidence to convince me that the majority of Rhode Islanders are in favor of the kind of fixes that I know Rhode Island needs to save it from financial collapse. Therefore, I am convinced that a campaign based on these ideas would not be successful.''

Laffey's announcement leaves the state GOP with no announced candidate for governor this year, though Republican Governor Carcieri's communications director John F. Robitaille, a one-time candidates for the General Assembly, is weighing a run, and has promised a decision early this week.

The outspoken and colorful Laffey dropped out of sight after losing his 2006 Republican primary effort to unseat then Republican U.S. Senator Lincoln D. Chafee, who ran to the dismay of Laffey's conservative backers at the Club for Growth with the financial backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

In what was seen as one of the pivotal losses that shifted control of the U.S. Senate to Democrats, Chafee subsequently lost the seat to Democrat and former U.S. Attorney Sheldon Whitehouse.

Laffey's official departure from the 2010 political sweepstakes leaves Chafee running for governor as an independent, and two Democrats in a likely primary fight: Attorney General Patrick Lynch and General Treasurer Frank Caprio. The new Moderate party has been unable to line up a candidate.

Along with his brief statement opting out of the race, Laffey issued a 19-page statement on "How to fix Rhode Island's economy.'' (Download it in .pdf format.)

It begins with a dismal assessment of where Rhode Island stands today: "highest taxes, highest unemployment, 1st into recession, last out, worst bridges and roads, high corruption, losing population, worst-funded pension system.''

"To make matters worse,'' he wrote, "our elected officials knowingly produce budgets that lead to further deficits (fraud)...They refuse to meet even in crisis; the raid the rainy day fund...and like a scene from the French Revolution, state reps take free health insurance for a part-time gig -- effectively telling us all to 'eat cake.' "

At one point in recent months, he said all of the politicians responsible for approving these bad budget decisions, including - by extension - Republican Governor Carcieri - should resign.

As a starting point, he says the state needs to end the current defined benefit pension plan for public employees, "give out checks to people who have paid into it, and switch to a 401k style retirement plan''; recertify all welfare recipients "to eliminate fraud;" eliminate unfunded mandates on cities and towns; subject school budgets to city council approval and give the cities and towns the explicit right to privatize services, create their own pension systems and "determine school class size, staffing assignment, academic calendar, hours and pupil assessment.''

An earlier version of this report was published at 9:21 a.m.