David Cicilline, the former Mayor of Providence and current Democratic congressman from my home district RI-01, is in deep electoral trouble because he lied about Providence’s abysmal finances during the 2010 congressional race. He has apologized for lying.
With Providence on the verge of bankruptcy, Cicilline is way behind in the polls versus Republican Brendan P. Doherty, former Superintendent of the State Police and someone with a sterling law enforcement reputation..
But first, Ciciline needs to defeat Demoocratic challenger Anthony Gemma. That is not a given:
Congressman David Cicilline holds a slim lead over his Democratic primary opponent Anthony Gemma with less than four months to go before voters will decide which man should face Republican Brendan Doherty, an exclusive WPRI 12 poll released Wednesday evening shows.The new survey of 302 likely Democratic primary voters in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District puts Cicilline at 40% and Gemma at 36%, with 20% undecided. Cicilline won the four-way 2010 primary with 37% of the vote, ahead of Gemma with 23%, and David Segal and Bill Lynch with 20% each.The poll shows the Sept. 11 party primary will be competitive, WPRI 12 political analyst Joe Fleming said. “Brendan Doherty is the big winner,” he said. The Republican can “sit back and let David Cicilline and Anthony Gemma spend a lot of money” beating each other up, giving the winner less than two months to take him on alone.
Cicilline is a shameless politician who in 2010 ran a Scare Grandma tour of senior citizens centers frightening the elderly into thinking they would not receive their social security checks. I do not underestimate Cicilline in the least, he is a shameless campaigner (but I repeat myself).
In a heavily Democratic district, Cicilline is just what Doherty needs. In a contest between generic Democrat and generic Republican, the Democrat wins. So I hope that Cicilline wins the primary.
In a contest between admitted liar Cicilline and former State Police Superintendent Doherty, this seat may flip.
This race is on the Operation Counterweight list. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce already is running ads in support of Doherty, a sure sign that this race is in play. It will be devastating to Democratic hopes to take back the House to lose a “safe” district like RI-01.
You can support Doherty here.
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