Whitehouse & Hinckley Battle Over Who’s More Rhode Island
Friday, August 10, 2012
The back and forth political bickering between Republican Senate candidate Barry Hinckley and incumbent Senator Sheldon Whitehouse continued Thursday with the Hinckley campaign accusing Whitehouse of spending the majority of the first 30 years of his life outside of Rhode Island.
The finger pointing came two days after GoLocalProv first reported that Hinckley registered to vote in Florida in 2010 before ultimately moving back to the Ocean State and voting. It was the first time he voted in Rhode Island.
“It's unfortunate that Senator Whitehouse would make residency an issue in this election when he's spent 30 years outside the state,” said Hinckley campaign manager Patrick Sweeney. “While Barry Hinckley's sole focus is getting Rhode Islanders back to work, it's apparent that Senator Whitehouse's only focus is saving his own job.”GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
The Whitehouse campaign has attempted to paint Hinckley as political opportunist who is only running in Rhode Island because he considers it a “cheap seat.” The campaign has also criticized Hinckley for a speech he gave several years ago where he stated that running for office is a good public relations move.
Whitehouse campaign manager Tony Simon disputed Sweeney’s accusations.
“Senator Whitehouse has lived and worked in Rhode Island for decades,” he said. “As evidenced by his voting record, Republican Barry Hinckley only moved here two years ago and immediately started running for office.”
Whitehouse holds a significant advantage in the fundraising department over Hinckley was ahead by more than 20 percentage points in a WPRI poll released earlier this year. Neither candidate faces a primary and the two are expected to debate ahead of the November election.
Sweeney said he couldn’t understand why Democrats were labeling his candidate a carpetbagger and suggested that Hinckley wanted to move his software company to the Ocean State, but his partners would not let him.
“Regretfully, Senator Whitehouse would like to get in the weeds over non-issues but Barry is adamant about making sure that Rhode Islanders can pay their mortgage, fill their tank, and put food on the table,” Sweeney said.
Dan McGowan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @danmcgowan.
