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June 20, 2008
South Kingstown Ready for an Active Campaign Season
Rhode Island Future's Matt Jerzyk recently placed Democratic State Representative John Patrick Shanley of South Kingstown (District 35) on his list of state legislators who "may not be seeking re-election". According to Liz Boardman of the South County Independent, Rep. Shanley still hasn't made up his mind…
At press time, Shanley said he was focused on the state budget, not on whether he would run for re-election.Either way, James Haldeman, the Republican candidate in District 35, is preparing for a contested race…
The Committee for Haldeman announces that on Tuesday June 24, Jim Haldeman will be filing his intention to run for the House of Representatives in District 35. The campaign is proceeding according to design and financial targets have been surpassed....Candidate Haldeman has laid out his reasons for running in an South County Independent op-ed…“Lessons learned in 2006, along with the increased balance in the campaign account, will guide a comprehensive campaign targeting the more than 7,500 active voters in District 35", [said campaign co-chair Sean O'Donnell]. "Our early campaign has brought in money and volunteers that simply did not exist at this point in the last election cycle.”
For generations, the single-party dominance that exists in the House and Senate of Rhode Island has pushed our state to the brink of disaster....It is time for this to stop. The monopoly has simply demonstrated an inability to manage the $7 billion that passes through Providence. In so doing, it has jeopardized all the stakeholders of state government. Taxpayers are threatened with losing more of their money. Public employees wonder about their future. Beneficiaries of rich social spending, enhanced to win votes when Rhode Island had money, are now faced with the reality that they must wean themselves off the dependency created by the generous welfare system. All groups are pitted against each other in trying to hold on to theirs.Meanwhile, next door in District 36 (which also includes New Shoreham, as well as parts of Charlestown and Westerly, as well as parts of South Kingstown), it looks as if there will be a three-way race between one-term incumbent Donna Walsh, former-Democrat-turned-independent Matt McHugh (who previously represented District 36, until defeated by Rep. Walsh in a primary in 2006), and current South Kingstown Republican Town Committee chairman David Cote. Again, from Liz Boardman in the Independent...
Coté said health care and improving education and the business climate would be among his top priorities. He harkened back to his work with the trash haulers last summer, as they fought South Kingstown’s bid to establish single-hauler trash and recycling system. In the end, the Town Council decided the single-hauler plan was not cost effective.It certainly doesn't look as if politics will be Rhode-Island-business-as-usual in South County this fall.“Working with the trash haulers, and talking to business people in South Kingstown, I hear this state, and this town, are anti-business,” Coté said. “The farms in South County are treated poorly as well.”
He said he was putting together a proposal that would improve the climate for farmers and business people.
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It certainly doesn't look as if politics will be Rhode-Island-business-as-usual in South County this fall.
Andrew,
If by that you mean the Republicans will pick up seats in House numbers 35 and 36, you are dead wrong. Haldeman has run and been thrashed in South County before and Cote hit his level of incompetence when he tried to advance beyond the Cub Scout leader level.
Again, the only thing that makes the Rhode Island Democrats look good is the Rhode Island Republicans.
Posted by: OldTimeLefty at June 20, 2008 4:47 PMOldTimeLefty
JP Shanley was the bozo who gave that long winded lecture against voter initiative in 2006. It was very obvious that he was just a stooge doing the bidding of the statehouse leaders.
Shanley should have retired from politics years ago. He is an old POL in the tradition of the Chicago, New York, and Boston ward bosses.
He is a nobody and contributes nothing, in my opinion.
Posted by: Citizen Critic at June 21, 2008 12:34 AMJerzyk recently had a post on RIF that I found interesting.It was about the Mayoral Academy issue that was voted into the budget.He threw a lot of people under the bus based on their vote.Check the names-some of his "progressive" legislative friends were there.
Posted by: joe bernstein at June 21, 2008 12:46 AMI found this odd because that vote was the weirdest one in recent history-party affiliation and right or left ideology went out the window.
Apparently it doesn't take much to fall out of favor with the ruling junta at RIF.
Joe,
Repeat after me:
It's not about the children learning ... it's all about the teacher's unions.
It's not about the children learning ... it's all about the teacher's unions.
It's not about the children learning ... it's all about the teacher's unions.
PS From what I understand from a reliable Dem source, Shanley will stay around if they don't have a specific Dem in line to run for his seat. Apparently, they are having a problem with that, so he might try for another term. I hope he runs again, because he's going to lose.
Posted by: Will at June 21, 2008 2:04 AMPat Shanley is dead wood and the South County voters need to "prune him out."
He has been a tool for the RI Dems in keeping their hegemony, but, for the people, Shanley is a waste.
Shanley just takes up space.
Posted by: Citizen Critic at June 21, 2008 12:47 PM"JP Shanley was the bozo who gave that long winded lecture against voter initiative in 2006."
Really. I had forgotten that little item. Thanks, CC.
Posted by: Monique at June 21, 2008 3:35 PM"Again, the only thing that makes the Rhode Island Democrats look good is the Rhode Island Republicans."
OldTimeLefty
Oh yeah...the dems in this state have done a fine job, Mr. Lefty! Excellent. We are three steps away from becoming a nanny state, two steps away from becoming a sanctuary state, and one step away from being banmkrupt.
Posted by: Donna C at June 22, 2008 12:05 PMKudos to the Democrats......
"Kudos to the Democrats......"
I think his point was that the ONLY thing worse that the Dems are the useless Republicans that haven't been able to mount a successful challenge. Of the few successful individual Republicans, most of those have only succeeded because they ran as Democrats (eg now-at-least-independent Matt McHugh).
This should be the easiest state in the Universe to move the needle on, but it never seems to happen...
Posted by: Carl at October 27, 2008 6:47 PM