Generally juicy

The pickings may be slim, but this year's General Assembly races raise some important issues

by Ana Cabrera

Aram Garabedian

The Fourth of July bunting is still hanging around, and for most Rhode Islanders, this time of year would normally mean the usual concerns: hauling out the grill and throwing on fat swordfish steaks to be washed down with beer, politics, and baseball. But 1998 is not what some would term a "normal" year.

The depletion of the swordfish population means many of us will be munching on veggie burgers. And on top of this, nobody seems to want to run for the General Assembly, as some 40 percent of the 150 seats are uncontested. So is it time to run away to a more exciting state? Not necessarily.

Rhode Island's political scene is still alive and kicking, albeit in a less traditional manner. True, the campaign scene may not appeal to political aficionados addicted to volume. But among the races that are contested, some interesting observations can be made now that the June filing deadline for candidates is behind us.

In the months to come, we also can look forward to some quirky political twists. For instance, some people are running again for offices they once held and against their former opponents, meaning that, at least in these cases, the political winds have not been knocked out of Rhode Island's sails completely. And aren't we a state that loves contests between longtime rivals, such as that between the University of Rhode Island and Providence College basketball teams?

What's also interesting is that, in some of the contests this year, everyone and their mother's name is on the ballot. Johnston's 28th Senate District, for instance, has enough candidates to boggle the noggin of any bookie. And these are not your garden-variety type. Not counting the independent candidates, who, by their very status, are in a class by themselves, six separate political parties are listed on the ballots, from Cool Moosers and Libertarians to Greens.

While some may call these non-traditional parties "tokens," an element of pride should be apparent in the pure fact of their existence, which keeps alive the spirit of Roger Williams. Out of the 150 legislative races across Rhode Island, some are worth watching for traditional purposes; others, for sheer entertainment value. Here they are, in no particular order.

House District #20, Providence

Representative George Castro is looking for a change of address at work these days. After 18 years, he is vacating his seat at the State House for one in Providence City Hall. Castro, who did file for reelection last month as a representative, says he made the decision to run for City Council "at the eleventh hour."

To fill his House seat, he supports the candidacy of fellow Democrat Joseph Almeida over Victor F. Capellan, a young Hispanic. Castro's endorsement is hardly surprising, given that Capellan nearly unseated him in 1996.

Almeida, a former Marine and retired Providence cop, also has received his party's endorsement, but insiders say he still has his work cut out for him, as Capellan has the advantage of a growing Hispanic population in this section of town. Like Republican Ed Lopez's campaign for secretary of state, Capellan's candidacy will surely test his ability to harness Rhode Island's largest minority into a political force.

Joseph Almeida

Some say that Castro, an African-American activist, actually noted this increasing number of Hispanics in South Providence and saw the proverbial handwriting on the wall -- that if he ran against Capellan again, he might lose. Still, low voter turnout in this district means that this race is up for grabs, as it may not take much for any candidate to win.

Senate District #6, South Kingstown/Block Island; House District #52, Richmond/Exeter/West Greenwich; House District #59, Lincoln

These three contests resemble the political version of the film Groundhog Day, in which the plot revolves around characters reliving the same day again and again with different outcomes. In District 6, incumbent Senator V. Susan Sosnowski is challenged by Martha Stamp for the second time. However, politically the two are on opposite sides of the fence this time.

In 1996, Sosnowski and Stamp both ran as Republicans in the primary. Sosnowski won that race and went on to defeat incumbent Democrat Edward Holland in the general election. But since then, Sosnowski has crossed party lines after being criticized by the state GOP for voting with the Democratic majority to override Governor Lincoln Almond's veto of the so-called for-profit hospital bill last year. Now Sosnowski is the endorsed Democrat running against Stamp, the endorsed Republican.

In the District 52 contest, another kind of déjà vu is occurring. Incumbent Republican Joseph H. Scott is running against Democrat Marguerite Bumpus. She is a former URI professor who won the same seat in 1994, but lost it to Scott two years later. The 69-year-old Bumpus says she wants to return to public office to pursue issues of interest to seniors.

Heading north to Lincoln, independent Derek Meiklejohn, Republican Charles McDevitt, incumbent Democrat John D. Barr II, Democrat Edward Slattery, and Reform Party candidate Robert K. Leahy, Jr. are all running against each other. But it's memory lane for McDevitt and Barr, who is "on the outs with the leadership," according to one political pundit.

McDevitt lost the seat to Barr in 1996 and says he considers the 1998 race a "bid for my reelection" with a time-out in between.

House District #3, Providence

In a state where legislators must be almost pried out of office with a crowbar, an incumbent who attracts strong opposition each time out is one to watch. Brown poli-sci professor and political pollster Darrell West says incumbent Democrat Edith H. Ajello meets this criteria because she has had strong opponents since taking office in 1992.

One reason why could be that Ajello often doesn't back the most popular bills in the state. This year, for instance, Ajello sponsored the successful repeal of the state's so-called "anti-sodomy law," scoring a victory for gay rights while incurring the wrath of prosecutors who wanted the law to remain on the books for particularly grievous sexual crimes against children.

Now, Ajello is being challenged by Seth Andrew, who will be a junior at Brown University in September and is a co-author of Secretary of State James R. Langevin's "Access Denied" report, a controversial study that graded legislative committees on how well they complied with the "letter" and "spirit" of the Open Meetings Law.

Seth Andrew

No doubt, Andrew will use this report to paint his opponent in less-than-flattering terms, meaning that Ajello, even though she has that prized home-court advantage, could find her access to the House denied in the Democratic primary this September.

Senate District #46, Warren/Bristol/Portsmouth

This primary race could be a pivotal one for the local anti-choice movement, which allegedly lost seats in the General Assembly races two years ago. The contest pits one of the pro-choice movement's most vocal advocates, Democratic incumbent Karen Nygaard, against, of all people, local Catholics.

Last year, Nygaard took a lot of heat from Rhode Island's religious majority for a speech she made in the Senate condemning opponents of an abortion procedure known as partial-birth. As a result, Nygaard, whom one political source describes as "an accidental winner the last time," is particularly vulnerable this year in the face of Catholics who have organized against her reelection.

Even worse, she failed to get the Democrat endorsement this time around. Instead, it went to dark horse Walter S. Felag, Jr., currently president of the Warren Town Council.

That Felag got the nod is no surprise to some in the East Bay, because among the members of the District Committee who gave that endorsement are the husband and mother-in-law of former state senator Helen Mathieu, who lost to Nygaard in a major upset in 1996. Mathieu and Felag are ardent anti-choicers.

Some say Felag's candidacy is designed to make an issue out of Nygaard's polemic Senate commentary, which would weaken her position to lobby on behalf of pro-choicers even if she did win again this year. That would pave the way for a Nygaard/Mathieu rematch in 2000.

Senate District #24, Narragansett/South Kingstown

Incumbent Democrat Patrick T. McDonald is wrapping up his first term in the Senate, and faces opposition from Republican Lawrence Goldberg and Democrat Sara A. Whitright, a member of the Town Council. Democratic consultant David Preston calls the Whitright/McDonald matchup "one of the few genuinely competitive races in the General Assembly this year."

McDonald, a lawyer and a former Narragansett Town Council member, agrees, if he does say so himself. "With limited Republican turnout in the races, when two of them are coming after one seat, after my seat, it's going to generate interest," he says.

McDonald wonders why local Republicans have turned up the heat on him. Pointing out how instrumental he was in the repeal of the state-mandated cap on Narragansett's share of the take at state beach parking lots, McDonald says, "I think I've done a good job for my constituents."

House District #1, Providence; Senate District #1, Providence; House District #70, North Providence; Senate District #36, North Providence

During this all-or-nothing political season, when everyone is talking about how no one wants to run for public office, some candidates apparently have found a solution to the problem -- they are running for two seats simultaneously, a scenario that once again raises the question of whether Rhode Island should adopt a law to avoid the type of predicament that will follow if these candidates win both races.

In the District #1 House race, Democrat John J. McCauley, Jr., independent Charles E. Lawrence, Jr., and independent Daniel Grzych will appear on the ballot. And Grzych's name also will pop up on the Senate District #1 side of the sheet, where he will take on incumbent Democrat Maryellen Goodwin. House hopefuls running in North Providence are Democrat J. Schadone, independent G. Richard Fossa, and Libertarian Michael J. Rollins. And Rollins is also running against incumbent Democratic Senator John J. Celona, according to Rollins's candidacy papers.

Of course, Grzych, who was unavailable for comment, has about as much chance of trouncing Goodwin, chair of the Senate's Special Legislation Committee, as most of us have of hitting the PowerBall jackpot. Ditto for Rollins's odds of toppling Celona, deputy Senate majority leader. Still, you may recall how one Rhode Island man did collect a nice chunk of change from PowerBall fairly recently. And in theory, Rollins and Grzych could cop both prizes as well, and then what?

Technically, if they won both contests, Grzych and Rollins would have to decide whether to park themselves in the House or Senate, which would leave voters to fill the resulting empty seats via a special election. According to Rhode Island law, this is perfectly legal, but the possibility leaves some political wags stunned.

Then there is Cool Mooser Robert Healey, who says that while it "is not the most efficient system," he's cool with what Grzych and Rollins are doing and says others should try it. After all, Healey's biggest goal is to get more people involved in government.

House District #23, Cranston

This one pits Democrat and lifelong Cranston resident Collen Crudele against local activist and Republican Grant Derderian and independent Aram Garabedian to replace incumbent Brock D. Bierman, who is running for mayor here. Darrell West predicts that this three-way contest will be "a noisy election" thanks to the cast of characters.

Garabedian, whose family has interests in the Warwick Mall, was a vociferous opponent of the Providence Place mall project. But he says he is not trying to get back into the House, where he served in the '70s, just to keep any more malls out of Rhode Island. He says it "bothers him" that so many races are going unchallenged, and claims that the main reason why is the hours legislators must keep. "Whoever heard of a job that runs month after month and just never ends?" he asks.

Garabedian figures that limiting the House and Senate sessions to a maximum of 60 days would open up the field to more candidates. He also supports evening sessions for the legislature, much like the meetings held at the town and city levels.

House District #86, East Providence

The most interesting aspect of this contest is that whoever wins will follow in the wake of former House majority leader George D. Caruolo, who has been at the State House long enough to qualify as a piece of the furniture. Robert D. Sullivan, a former cop and councilman, has received the Democratic Party endorsement over Steven M. Costa, a city employee. And the winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Gilbert Medeiros, a lifelong resident of East Providence, in the general election.

Political analysts, though, are eying the Democratic primary in this one, figuring that whoever wins there will ascend to the former Caruolo throne and thus score big points. Caruolo himself claims he does not understand the fuss behind all the speculation.

"If someone gets elected to my old seat, it does not guarantee them longevity," he says. What's more, Caruolo has not officially anointed Costa or Sullivan, because "I'm a Democrat," he says. "Besides, it's supposed to be up to the voters to decide and not me."

Senate District #28, Johnston

This one, like Cranston's District 23 race, has tremendous potential for turning into a chicken fight with high-decibel levels. This is simply because so many hats are in the ring. Indeed, 11 people filed papers to run for the seat now occupied by Joseph M. Polisena, who, like Bierman in Cranston, has been infected with the bug to run for mayor.

Johnston's financial woes have made headlines lately, and this sort of thing causes political postulants to come out like earwigs after a spring rain. It happened in New Bedford some 10 years ago, when then-Mayor Jack Markey stepped down after fishermen screamed about a harbor full of PCBs. At least 15 people declared their candidacy then, and the debates were a logistical nightmare.

Now, in Johnston, 11 people say they can clean up the mess there. Darrell West says the lone Republican, former Board of Canvassers member Robert R. Larrivee, has little chance of winning against the spate of Democrats, who will hash it out in the shadow of the Central Landfill in this September's primary. "With this many candidates," says West, "whoever gets 30 percent could end up winning."

Attorney Joseph R. Ballirano is the endorsed candidate among the 10 Democrats running in a race that may require Boston Marathon-style endurance from the participants. West himself wonders how anyone can make themselves heard in this type of fray. This show could turn into a free-for-all, so anyone who attends any of the debates may want to make a pit stop at Dunkin Donuts and bring a sandwich and scorecard for record-keeping.

All uncontested races

These candidates may get a free ride back to the white marble halls this time around, but according to some political analysts, the voters in these districts also might decide to perk up and really watch the doings of their representatives. Indeed, the publicity accorded to the lack of General Assembly candidates in 1998 may result in closer political scrutiny during the next two-year period. And this could mean that in 2000, like the earwigs after the rain, potentials will come out of the ground and woodwork in droves.