Projo Politics Blog

Against its own lawyer's advice, the State Board of Elections voted today that the five Republican candidates appointed to General Assembly races by state GOP chairman Giovanni Cicione were not valid because the names had been filed with the Secretary of State instead of being submitted to their boards of canvassers.

Board lawyer Raymond Marcaccio had recommended that the candidates be allowed to run and to pick up their nominating papers on grounds that the relevant statute does not specify where Cicione should have filed their names.

And, Marcaccio said, weighing that ambiguity against their First Amendment rights, the Board should err on the side of First Amendment rights; letting the candidates run.

But his proposal was rejected on a 2 to 2 vote. (A tie vote is considered a defeat.) The board then voted unanimously against the GOP's appeal of the Secretary of State's refusal to issue the candidates nominating papers.

Afterward, an upset Cicione said the Board's refusal to take its own lawyer's advice showed the system was rigged by the Democrats against Republicans.

-- Katherine Gregg, Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE -- State Rep. Steven F. Smith, D-Providence, made an informal, but significant announcement on Federal Hill this afternoon when spotted outside Venda Ravioli.

The 20-year State House veteran, who also serves as the president of the Providence teachers' union, said he would not run for re-election in November, despite having submitted the necessary paperwork with the Secretary of State's office last week.

Smith said he would not return his nominating petitions with the required signatures by the July 11 deadline.

In a brief conversation, he cited mounting frustration with the direction of the General Assembly, and specifically its refusal to consider blocking tax cuts for high earners to help close a massive budget deficit last month.

Smith's decision clears the way for Providence Democrat John Carnevale to claim the Democratic nomination.

There are no other Democratic opponents. And as of today, there is no Republican challenger for the District 13 seat, although the state GOP has asked the state Supreme Court to allow five appointed challengers to run, despite opposition from the local boards of canvassers.

If the Supreme Court complies, Carnevale would face off against Republican Damien Baldino in November.

-- Steve Peoples, Journal State House Bureau

Victor Profughi is at it again.

The head of Rhode Island College's Bureau of Government Research and Services released his latest poll yesterday that reports the highest level of discontent among Rhode Islanders in recent memory.

As reported in today's Journal, a whopping 83 percent of respondents said the state was moving in the wrong direction.

But there was a lot more interesting information in the random survey of 500 Rhode Islanders taken between June 18 and 27.

The highlights include (in no particular order):

- More respondents (41 percent) blame "Democrats in the state legislature" for the state's fiscal problems than Governor Carcieri (26 percent). Twenty percent blame both.

- If the presidential election were held today, 53 percent of Rhode Islanders would vote for Barack Obama; 25 percent chose the Republican presumptive nominee John McCain.

- Approximately 59 percent said they were less likely to travel outside Rhode Island by car for on vacation this year compared to last year considering the cost of gasoline; 32 percent said they were just as likely to travel by car.

- Seventy-five percent of Rhode Islanders agree with the governor's executive order cracking down on illegal immigrants. The order, according to a vague and rather long survey question, "requires that the Federal E-Verify system be used to screen state workers and employees of companies doing business with the state and directs certain state agencies to work cooperatively with Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel in enforcing federal immigration laws."

- Sixty-six percent of Rhode Islanders are willing to pay more for electricity if it were generated by renewable resources like the sun or wind energy.

- Steve Peoples, Journal State House Bureau

>> Continue reading: RIC poll reveals R.I. takes on Obama, travel by gas, E-verify and more

PROVIDENCE -- Former Secretary of State and four-star general Colin Powell said this evening he has no interest in running for vice president should presumptive Republican nominee John McCain ask him, as has been speculated recently in media reports.

"I am not interested in political life, and I am not a candidate for any office," Powell said at a small news conference.

Nor is he ready to endorse McCain or Democratic presumptive nominee Barack Obama -- but he seemed to leave open the door to an endorsement as the campaign continues.

"Right now, my only responsibility as a citizen is to vote," Powell said. "What else I might do remains to be seen."

Powell is in Rhode Island to speak at the Providence Performing Arts Center to a gathering tonight of the 2008 U.S. Scholar-Athlete Games.

"As a citizen," Powell said, "I am going to judge the two candidates on the basis of their policies and on the basis of the vision that they have for the country and which one I think will do the very best job, which one will bring the competence to government that the American people are looking for -- and especially the economic policies that they might bring as president."

-- Journal staff writer G. Wayne Miller

Just before 4 p.m. today, state Republican Party Chairman Giovanni Cicione said the party filed a motion with the state Supreme Court seeking an emergency order to force the issuance of nominating papers to five Republican candidates now in limbo.

Yesterday, the state GOP appealed to the state Board of Elections after one community -- and then another -- rejected the Republicans that Cicione nominated as General Assembly candidates last week to fill holes in the party's election slate.

The Journal reported today that election officials in Providence and Pawtucket were rejecting the candidates on grounds the nominations should have been filed with local boards of canvassers, not the secretary of state.

Republicans asserted that arose from advice from a staffer in the office of Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis, a Democrat, but Mollis spokesman Chris Barnet countered yesterday: "We dispute that we gave them any advice at all on how to file their declaration papers."

-- Journal staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Katherine Gregg, of the Journal State House Bureau

PROVIDENCE - Facing legal challenges to at least three of the five General Assembly candidates appointed by state GOP chairman Giovanni Cicione last week, state Republicans today filed an appeal with the state board of elections.

State law allows party chairmen to appoint candidates within 24 hours after the candidate filing deadline. Under the aegis of that law, Cicione last Thursday notified the Secretary of State that he was appointing three Republicans in Providence, a fourth in West Warwick, and a fifth in Pawtucket.

This morning, however, Laurence K. Flynn, chairman of the Providence Board of Elections advised the party that the appointment letter was not properly filed. While the GOP sent a letter containing the names to the Secretary of State, Flynn said state law requires the declarations be filed directly with the local canvassing board.

Cicione said today that the GOP was following advice from Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis' office.

But with another deadline only 24 hours away -- for candidates to pick up their nominating papers -- and anticipated objections from West Warwick and Pawtucket to his appointees, Cicione said the GOP will seek clarification by filing an appeal with the state Board of Elections today. If they don't respond by late this afternoon, Cicione said, the GOP will go to the Supreme Court and ask for an injunction.

In a telephone interview, he said the party was assured the Secretary of State's office would "issue the nominating papers at whatever point the candidate issue is resolved.'' But Cicione said it is not clear to him the Secretary of State has the authority to waive the deadline, and he fears that waiting until the other legal issues play out could leave the Republican candidates open to another round of challenges.

The Republican candidates include: John J. Clarke, seeking the seat held by Senate Finance Chairman Stephen Alves, D-West Warwick; GOP operative Lammis Vargis challenging longtime Sen. John McBurney, D-Pawtucket; Elaina Goldstein running again for the Providence senate seat held by Rhoda Perry, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.

In addition: Kofua Kulah was appointed by Cicione to challenge Democratic Sen. Paul V. Jabour for his 5th District seat, representing Federal Hill; and Damien Baldino to run against the winner of the Democratic primary between Rep. Steven Smith and challenger John Carnevale. Providence has not sent a Republican to the Assembly since 1994.

-- Katherine Gregg, Journal State House Bureau

The governor's office is in for a busy week.

In an unusual move late Friday afternoon, the Senate transmitted a whopping 201 bills -- its entire roster of legislation approved in the final days of the session -- to Governor Carcieri's desk for his signature.

Typically, lawmakers transmit their legislation piecemeal in the days after the session. But Senate spokesman Greg Pare today denied that there was anything abnormal about this year's bulk move.

The goal, he said, is always to get all the bills to the governor by the July 4th holiday.

Now the clock is ticking. The governor has until the end of this week to decide which, if any, bills he wants to veto.

John Robitaille, Carcieri's communications director said "The governor's office is capable of reviewing this number of bills within the veto deadline, considering that they are carefully followed during the session. This is mainly a final review."

That may be a good thing because when they finish with the Senate bills, they'll have another pile to tackle. The House is expected to transmit an additional 200 bills to the governor by the end of the day today, according to a spokesman.

-- Journal staff writer Cynthia Needham