Ed Pacheco ends campaign for Congress

Cites the challenge of raising money as another reason why we need campaign finance reform

Two months ago, I announced my candidacy for Congress to fight on behalf of working families and champion important issues such as prioritizing public education, protecting our democracy, fighting for social justice, and emerging from the pandemic stronger than before. Since that time, I have been humbled by the number of family, friends and neighbors who have offered their support. 

They, like me, recognize how important this election is for the future of our state and country and that we must again send a Democrat to Washington to represent Rhode Island’s Second Congressional District.

 

While public service has always been a part of my life and I believe it is important to elect candidates committed to bettering the lives of others, I have decided to suspend my campaign for Congress. Recognizing the amount of resources necessary to run a competitive campaign, I’ve concluded it would be extraordinarily difficult to raise the money in this election cycle. 

This experience signals for me the need for campaign finance reform, leveling the playing field for everyday Americans to participate in our Democracy. Rhode Island’s future is bright because of its amazing people. Our strength comes from empowering each other and ensuring that future generations have more opportunities than the last.

 

As a lifelong Democrat and former chairperson of the RI Democratic Party, you can be assured I will do my part to send a Democrat to Congress in 2022. Fortunately, we have several talented candidates seeking the Democratic nomination. I look forward to continuing to advocate for the issues that motivated me to consider running for Congress in the first place.

 

Sincerely, 

Ed Pacheco 

EDITOR’S NOTE: When Ed led the state Democratic Party, he was a frequent visitor to Charlestown and a good friend to local Democrats and progressives. I appreciated his good humor, shrewd political insights and his friendship. I wish him well and hope this will not be the last time he tries to return to elected office.  – Will Collette

Charlestown Democrats become first to endorse deRamel for Secretary of State

CDTC repeats its 2008 choice

By Will Collette

In 2008, the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee bucked the Party establishment by backing first-time office-seeker Guillaume deRamel of Newport in his bid for the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State. 

DeRamel was running against the establishment pick, then North Providence Mayor Ralph Mollis.

Mollis eventually won the Democratic primary, but by a narrow margin, against deRamel, who handily carried Charlestown. Mollis went on to win the General Election, and by a razor-thin margin, a second term, as Secretary of State.

DeRamel has waited until Mr. Mollis ended his term-limited tenure to declare his intention to run again. When the campaign season started, he had two rivals: former Democratic State Party Chair Ed Pacheco and former director of HousingWorksRI, Nellie Gorbea, who had also served as a deputy Secretary of State. It was a tough choice since all three candidates were qualified and easy to like.

The choice became a little easier when Ed Pacheco decided to drop out of the race and endorsed deRamel. Nonetheless, town Democrats interviewed both candidates, Gorbea and deRamel, before deciding on which one to endorse. Though the committee was impressed with Nellie Gorbea, they voted unanimously to endorse deRamel as their pick for the September Democratic Primary.

That made Charlestown the first municipal Democratic committee to endorse deRamel, a fact noted in the deRamel campaign’s news release (below). Last Tuesday, deRamel told the monthly meeting of the RI Association of Democratic City and Town Chairs that since then, Johnston Democrats have voted to endorse him.

Here’s the news release from the deRamel Committee:

Making the Providence Journal relevant to South County – and Rhode Island –again

ProJo’s Dallas owners want to dump the paper – is this a problem or opportunity?

By Will Collette introducing columns from RI’s Future by Tom Sgouros and Samuel Howard

Before moving to Washington in 1978 for a 25-year exile, Cathy and I loved the Providence Journal despite the conservative politics of its crotchety East Side owners. Its news coverage was solid and it was one of the best mid-sized city papers in the country. It was one of the first newspapers to blanket its readership area with local bureaus and had an outstanding DC news team that even broke big Watergate stories.

When Cathy and I came back home to Rhode Island in 2002, the Journal was just a shadow of itself.

Its Dallas-based owners, the Belo Corp., not only infused their own brand of Texas conservatism on the paper, but they drove off or sacked their best personnel. Plus, they closed their news bureaus, including of course, their South County office. Maria Armental, one of the last to run the South County Bureau, was among those just laid off in the BeloJo’s latest round of cuts.

We stopped subscribing. For a while, we could get what we needed on-line, but even that is now sharply restricted by the BeloJo’s paywall. Great business model they’ve got – get rid of your best staff, cut back coverage, flaunt your Red State politics in the bluest of Blue States, restrict web access and then wonder where all the subscribers and advertisers went.

The news that the Belo idiots in Dallas now want to sell the Journal is, I believe, potential good news. The only way it could get worse is if the Journal simply folded.

The campaign so far, Part 2

A scorecard on the state races

By Will Collette

Click here for Part 1.

Every statewide office in Rhode Island, except perhaps Attorney General, will get a new occupant after the November 2014 election which is now just one year away.

This is a rare occurrence brought about by two officials who are term-limited from running for re-election (Lieutenant Governor Liz Roberts and Secretary of State Ralph Mollis). 

In addition, Governor Lincoln Chafee (D) read the tea leaves and the poll numbers and declared he will not run again. 

And our Wall Street land shark, General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, hopes to parlay her millions in donations from her hedge fund and Wall Street cronies into becoming Rhode Island’s first woman governor.

Each state office, except the Attorney General, has more than one Democrat who hopes to win the primary to run as the Democratic candidate in 2014.

Here is a run-down of who’s in so far, along with their latest fund-raising numbers and, SPOILER ALERT, some of my snarky, far-from-unbiased commentary.

SCOOP: Pacheco is dropping out of contention for Dem nomination for Secretary of State

Puts his young family and the non-profit group he runs first

By Will Collette

Ed brought his daughter along on  one of his many trips to
Charlestown, in this instance, a CDTC fundraiser for Senator
Whitehouse

Former Democratic State Party Chair Ed Pacheco told us he is withdrawing from the race for Secretary of State. 

Pacheco faced a three-way primary fight with Newport philanthropist Guillaume DeRamel and former HousingWorksRI Executive Director Nellie Gorbea. The race pitted three well-qualified, progressive candidates against each other for the chance to fill the office currently held by term limited incumbent Ralph Mollis.

UPDATED: Former Secretary of State candidate offers practical economic development ideas

Pacheco has two no-cost, pro-small business ideas

By Steve Ahlquist – Rhode Island’s Future. See more at: http://www.rifuture.org/ed-pacheco-has-two-no-cost-pro-small-business-ideas.html#sthash.7WwZuqxN.dpuf

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Ed announced this afternoon that he is pulling out of the race. Click here.

Ed Pacheco, Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, outlined some of his no-cost ideas for growing businesses in our state at a meeting of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats.

One is to establish a list of micro-lenders that will be able to advance promising businesses the money they need to get started, as is currently the case in New York. The other is to work out a public option so that people looking to retire from their successful, established businesses will be able to sell their business to their employees.

“We’re not only saving jobs, we’re keeping that business open,” said Pacheco, “and that would be at no cost to the taxpayers.”

Keep going to see the video.

Gemma “Bombshell” is a dud

Unsubstantiated Allegations

Anthony Gemma on his way to announce …
unsubstantiated allegations. (Photo by Bob Plain)

By Bob Plain RIFuture.org

After all that hype, there was nothing particularly game-changing about Anthony Gemma’s announcement that he found some people willing to accuse his political opponent of voter fraud. There wasn’t even anything substantiated.

I would imagine most candidates could dig up similar accusations regardless of whom their opposition is. The difference is most know not to stake their entire candidacy on unsubstantiated allegations. Gemma, though, seemingly doesn’t even realize he’s doing that! Either that or he doesn’t mind blatantly lying to the people’s faces.

Roll-back RI Voter ID law

...and voted in Jamestown, or was it Westerly?

Reps. Langevin and Cicilline sign on to protest letter

By Will Collette 

Both of Rhode Island’s members of the House of Representatives have signed on to a letter to state Secretary of State Ralph Mollis urging him not to use voter ID to inhibit voters from participating in the 2012 election.

Both Langevin and Cicilline are Democrats, as is Mollis. And the 2011 law was the only time that a state legislature with a Democratic majority has passed such legislation which has been strongly criticized by the national Democratic Party. It is also opposed by RI State Party chair Ed Pacheco. And for what it’s worth, I think it sucks, too.

Great Party Last Night

Event for Sen. Whitehouse featured great food, beautiful setting and good company
By Will Collette

Donna Walsh introduces the Senator

There was a great turn-out last night for a fund-raiser for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. The setting was the beautiful Charlestown Gallery (junction of Route One and South County Trail) - Senator Whitehouse promised to come back to buy one particular painting that caught his eye.

The Democratic Committees of Charlestown, South Kingstown and Westerly turned out the troops. So did organized labor. There was a sizable troop of members of the Rhode Island Labor History Society as well.

State Dems hire new field director

NEWS RELEASE from the Rhode Island Democratic Party

Providence - RIDP welcomes Jonathan Boucher to the RI Democratic Party. Boucher will serve as field director for the state party, building volunteer capacity, working with cities and towns on outreach and training, as well as acting as intermediary on field matters between the state party and the DNC.

State Democrats reorganize

Last night, Cathy and I trekked north of the Tower for a meeting of the RI Democratic Party State Committee. Cathy and I were elected in 2010 to serve four-year terms as state committee delegates for House District 36.

The first order of business was the re-election of state officers and executive board members. We were pleased to vote for Party Chair Edwin Pacheco for a second term. After William Lynch resigned the position in 2010 to run in the primary for Congress, First District, Ed stepped into the position, foregoing his plans to run for re-election as state representative from Burrillville, to organize the party for the difficult 2010 election.