Tiny R.I. GOP party struggles in deep blue state

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Republican Gov. Don Carcieri occasionally jokes about being heavily outnumbered inside the Statehouse of one of the bluest of blue Democratic states.

Carcieri could find himself even more isolated after the November elections. Just 18 of the 113 lawmakers in the General Assembly are Republican, and five of them are leaving office when their terms end in January. In one race, the party has no candidate running as a replacement.

And, as often happens, the GOP could not find candidates for every legislative district. On the national level, the party is running longshot candidates against U.S. Sen. Jack Reed and Congressmen Patrick Kennedy and Jim Langevin.

"I think the Rhode Island Republican Party is an underdog, and I think we need to accept we're an underdog," said state GOP chairman Giovanni Cicione.

Among the Republicans departing the Statehouse are Rep. Susan Story of Barrington, Rep. Victor Moffitt of Coventry, Rep. Carol Mumford of Scituate and Rep. Joseph Amaral, a Tiverton Republican who did not caucus with his party. Sen. Kevin Breene of West Greenwich is leaving to devote more time to dairy farming.

While the Republicans are fielding nearly 70 candidates for legislative seats, losing an incumbent is especially painful since officeholders enjoy name recognition and fundraising advantages. The party may also support write-in candidates and some independents.

The party has suffered several stings since the last election. Former U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee quit the GOP last year after losing his re-election bid in 2006. He then bashed the Bush administration in a book titled, "Against the Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President."

Carcieri, the lone Republican in statewide office, survived the 2006 election, which swept Democrats into office across the country.

But lately, Carcieri has struggled with massive budget deficits and closed them by cutting state spending on its work force, social welfare programs and aid for cities and towns. Meanwhile, unemployment now stands at 7.5 percent, one of the highest jobless rates in the country.

Republican leaders like Cicione say the state's financial woes are an opportunity to feature his party's anti-tax and limited government platform in local races.

"Everything is underfunded," Cicione said. "I think (voters are) finally putting the blame on where it's really due, on the Democratically controlled General Assembly."

Cicione said Republicans even hope to unseat incumbents in certain races. He cites the contest between former state GOP executive director Donna Perry and Senate Majority Leader Teresa Paiva-Weed, a Democrat. Perry and conservative Democrats have singled out Paiva-Weed for opposing legislation that would have forced employers to use a federal database to check the immigration status of employees.

Perry is also running on more local concerns, for example, criticizing Democrats for allowing 24-hour gambling at Newport Grand on weekends and holidays against the wishes of opponents in Newport and Jamestown.

Paiva-Weed did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Some of the GOP messages are contradictory. For example, Cicione faults Paiva-Weed for backing a bill that limits property tax increases by cities and towns, a restriction that has caused problems as municipalities lose state funding. Those limits were prominently supported by Carcieri and other Republicans two years ago.

While Democrats outnumber Republicans in Rhode Island 3-to-1, the ranks of unaffiliated voters dwarf both parties. Brown University political scientist Wendy Schiller doubts state Republicans can succeed because party leaders have grown too socially conservative to attract independents and retain moderate Republicans.

Schiller called Carcieri an impediment to growing the state GOP.

"He's a fairly conservative Ronald Reagan-type of Republican," Schiller said. "I don't think that helps the party at all with him at the head."

Unlike Cicione, Schiller believes the state's budget problems will hurt the GOP.

"The Republicans are supposed to be the ones who know how to run a budget," she said.