Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline earned the endorsement of the city Democratic Committee last week in his bid to succeed Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy.
But one of his Democratic opponents, Lincoln businessman Anthony P. Gemma, is touting the fact that he narrowly won the endorsement of the city’s Ward 5 Democratic Committee.
The committee, which represents the North End neighborhoods of Mount Pleasant and Elmhurst, voted 6 to 5 to support Gemma, who grew up in the North End, over Cicilline, an East Side resident.
“It’s quite an accomplishment,” says Ray Rickman, Gemma’s senior political adviser. “Mayors wield significant influence on their committees. Anthony Gemma was not supposed to get that endorsement.”
Cicilline campaign coordinator Richard Luchette counters that the two-term mayor has earned seven Democratic city and town committee endorsements, more than any other candidate in the 1st District Congressional race.
“He has a strong base of support,” said Luchette, who joined the campaign last week after working as the deputy press secretary for a gubernatorial candidate in Illinois.
Rickman argues that Ward 5 has been a reliable barometer for how the rest of the state votes in major elections.
“These are really solid, middle-class people,” said the former state representative, who worked on Cicilline’s first mayoral campaign in 2002.
Rickman says Gemma is determined to win Providence by focusing on Ward 5 and the East Side neighborhoods of Mount Hope and Summit in Ward 3 — two areas that he says Cicilline has not drawn strong voter support from in the past.
All four Democrats in the 1st District primary contest, which also includes former state Democratic Party Chairman William Lynch and state Rep. David Segal, are invited to what’s billed as the “first congressional debate of campaign 2010.” Scheduled July 13 at 7 p.m., the debate will be broadcast live from the Providence Performing Arts Center on WPRI 12.
Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline earned the endorsement of the city Democratic Committee last week in his bid to succeed Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy.
But one of his Democratic opponents, Lincoln businessman Anthony P. Gemma, is touting the fact that he narrowly won the endorsement of the city’s Ward 5 Democratic Committee.
The committee, which represents the North End neighborhoods of Mount Pleasant and Elmhurst, voted 6 to 5 to support Gemma, who grew up in the North End, over Cicilline, an East Side resident.
“It’s quite an accomplishment,” says Ray Rickman, Gemma’s senior political adviser. “Mayors wield significant influence on their committees. Anthony Gemma was not supposed to get that endorsement.”
Cicilline campaign coordinator Richard Luchette counters that the two-term mayor has earned seven Democratic city and town committee endorsements, more than any other candidate in the 1st District Congressional race.
“He has a strong base of support,” said Luchette, who joined the campaign last week after working as the deputy press secretary for a gubernatorial candidate in Illinois.
Rickman argues that Ward 5 has been a reliable barometer for how the rest of the state votes in major elections.
“These are really solid, middle-class people,” said the former state representative, who worked on Cicilline’s first mayoral campaign in 2002.
Rickman says Gemma is determined to win Providence by focusing on Ward 5 and the East Side neighborhoods of Mount Hope and Summit in Ward 3 — two areas that he says Cicilline has not drawn strong voter support from in the past.
All four Democrats in the 1st District primary contest, which also includes former state Democratic Party Chairman William Lynch and state Rep. David Segal, are invited to what’s billed as the “first congressional debate of campaign 2010.” Scheduled July 13 at 7 p.m., the debate will be broadcast live from the Providence Performing Arts Center on WPRI 12.
Email this page
Printer-friendly version