We've been down in the dumps for so long electorally, I can't even remember the last time a Republican took a Democrat seat here.

Anyway, congratulations to Steve for running an obviously effective campaign. I'll be interested to exactly know how he did it, so that we might be able to duplicate the results in the future!

Plus Steve Coaty overcame a name recognition double whammy: Mr. Cicilline had been involved in Newport politics for many years. And he has the same name (it's his nephew, right?) as the Mayor of the Capitol City, which accrues a certain amount of statewide press.

let's hope this is a bellwether of the public's desire to have a 2-party system in this state and not just a no-confidence vote against anyone named Cicilline.

A small victory. We've got a long, long, long way to go.

Nevertheless, congrats to Mr. Coaty, with the hopes that he won't be a go along to get along guy like most of the GOP in the statehouse.

Some of this victory is clearly attributable to the name Cicilline being identified in the last five years with corruption and cronyism, mismanagement and ineffectiveness, crime and perversion.
How fitting that this defeat occurs on the same day yet another Sissyline employee is indicted on corruption, to a near complete media blackout.
This victory will hopefully scare the suburban Democrats into not raising taxes and instead gutting the union/welfare kleptocracy. It will be a several years process but this session should be "Fun, Fun, Fun" for us-not for Jerzyk, Brewster, Donnis and the rest of the "Moscow Faction".
12 Days and counting!
"If you "broaden" taxes you "narrow" you're re-election chances"!

Kudos to Coaty - sounds like he got out there and outworked Cicciline.
As long he realizes the Democratic good old boys are a bigger threat than the so-called "Moscow Faction" (man, victory as only made the rhetoric more desperate), it's good to see the GOP number grow.

Perhaps the natives, er marks, are finally getting restless!

Paging Dr. Montanaro! Paging Dr. Brewster! Paging Dr. Montanaro! The patients are getting ready to revolt! woo woo woo woo woo

I figure Coaty's victory resulted from one of three things:

a.) He outworked Cicilline and benefited from a low turn out.

b.) He took advantage of shifting demographics in the East Bay/Aquidneck Island areas. It seems like quite a few GOP state legislators now come from that area of the state.

c.) He benefited from the overall dissatisfaction with the state's direction.

It's definitely a wake up call to incumbent Democrats in suburban areas.

Congrats! Whatever was done here needs to be done STATEWIDE next year. One small step for the RIGOP, one giant leap for RI-kind!

>>One small step for the RIGOP, one giant leap for RI-kind!

That's good! I wish that I'd thought of it!

Hi!
In a strict historical sense Mr.Coaty is the first Republican from Newport to be elected to the General assembly since the 1960's, so the vote was historic. I understand Mr. Coaty had the endorsement of The Newport Daily News. Other Republicans have represented Newport in the Rhode Island General Assembly in recent decades, but they came from other communities.
Regards,
Scott