Republican Leader Looking Forward to Governor Chafee
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Come January Rhode Island will see its first non-Republican governor in 16 years—and for House Minority Leader Bob Watson that’s a good thing.
“It’s the first year we’re not going to have to deal with the complications of a Republican governor,” Watson told GoLocalProv. “It will be fun to have to sit there and not have to shut up or be obliged to defend someone.”
Watson, who was recently re-elected Minority Leader, recalled the 1994 election when Republicans presented a united front against the Providence Place Mall. But after taking office, Governor Lincoln Almond, a Republican, decided to support it. More recently, Watson has crossed Almond’s Republican successor, Gov. Don Carcieri, on the wind farm off Block Island and the $125 million loan guarantee program for businesses.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFor House Republicans, it’s been especially challenging to defend the Governor’s policies when they have so few members in the General Assembly, Watson added.
“I didn’t get elected to become any Republican governor’s apparatchik in the House,” Watson said. “I believe in the separation of powers. We’re not … agents of Don Carcieri on the House floor just because he’s the Republican governor.”
Watson says Republican lawmakers now have the “luxury” of being able to state their positions without any of the “confusion” caused by having a GOP governor. Instead, in the next session, he expects Republicans will be the lead opponents of Governor-elect Lincoln Chafee’s proposed sales tax.
“I think there’s an awful lot of opportunity for us Republicans to claim a little dialogue and have some effect and control over the debate,” Watson said.
