Giannini: Up and Coming Stars in State Government
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Although everyone seems to be concentrating on the Presidential races which will be infringing on us shortly, we should not overlook the up and coming political powerhouses in our state.
Joseph Shekarchi
I read with amazement in the newspaper the campaign war chest of state Representative Joseph Shekarchi who has reportedly $378,914.00 on hand as of March 31, 2015.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTJoseph Shekarchi, a Democrat from Warwick and an attorney was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012. He also chaired the campaign of Gina Raimondo when she won for General Treasurer in 2010 and served on her transition team last year.
Shekarchi has positioned himself to be one of the most powerful people in state government. As Chair of the powerful House Labor Committee, Shekarchi has a reputation for running a good committee and being a hard worker, which is important on this committee which deals with labor issues and the state's most powerful labor unions.
In just a few years as a State Representative, he has raised more money than most state candidates, including the Governor. He remains a close confident to the Governor and a member of the leadership team in the House of Representatives
A recent Facebook posting stated that his fundraiser recently held in March was packed and very successful. With class, he thanked everyone publicly for attending stating he was overwhelmed. He is well liked and respected by his colleagues and that's important when you are contemplating a political future.He's accessible and attends all public meetings and events. His legislation regarding a jobs creation bill is supported by the Governor and is building steam in the House.
He also was prime sponsor of the bill to eliminate the Master Lever which was passed into law last year. Representative Joseph Shekarchi is definitely on the move. His ability to work on many state levels will definitely prove to be an advantage to him in the future.
Nellie Gorbea
Another state elected official on the move is the new Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea,
As the first Latino state office holder in New England, she has certainly gained attention.
I was at a NAACP breakfast recently and watched her work the room. She came in and went to every table shaking hands, hugging everyone and saying hello.
I was impressed by her friendliness and willingness to talk to everyone. She attends many events and is very accessible. She promises to work on better lobbyist guidelines and voting laws. There is also been talk of allowing earlier voting in our state so that voters can vote in advance and changes to the voter identification law. This is one bill that the public will be watching.
We all heard the stories of voter fraud and people voting illegally. And many of those stories were related by elected officials. We need the voter identification law to continue to prevent fraud. As for voting early in this state, I have my reservations about it. I guess it would depend on how early one is allowed to vote before Election Day. Sometimes we don't decide who we want to vote for till the very end of campaign and sometimes we are given information at the end of a campaign that can change our vote. All these factors will be an issue in changing the voting laws and the public should have input in any decisions that are made.
Nellie Gorbea was deputy Secretary of State for four years and certainly has the experience to do the job. She ran unendorsed in the Democratic primary and pushed ahead of the endorsed candidate who ran twice for the office. She really was the underdog who came come from behind to win that office. She's not afraid to speak her mind and will definitely be someone to watch in the future.
Interestingly enough, both of these candidates are newcomers to holding state office and both have been constantly in the public eye. They are two fresh faces the voters have chosen to represent them. Each of them may have different ways of campaigning, different issues or different goals but one thing remains the same.
Both of these elected officials have shown the ability to reach out and touch their constituencies by being accessible and grateful. Both have displayed the ability to relate to their local voters whether it be by saying thank you on Facebook or shaking hands with them at a breakfast.
That is what is key. Never forgetting how you got there and not taking it for granted.
They have learned what many of us know to be true and that is best said in the words of the late Tip O'Neil, " All Politics is local."
Joanne Giannini served as a RI State Representative from Providence from 1994 to 2010. She has previously written commentaries for the Providence Journal and the Federal Hill Gazette. During her tenure in the General Assembly, she made appearances on CNN, Primetime News, and American Morning regarding legislation she filed in Rhode Island.
Related Slideshow: The 10 Most Politically Powerful at RI State House
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