Political Winners & Losers for 2012
Monday, December 24, 2012
As the clock winds down on 2012, GoLocalProv breaks down the political winners and losers from the past year.
Winners
David Cicilline: The first-term Democratic Congressman pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in the country in 2012, recovering from approval ratings that were in the teens to pick up a relatively easy victory over Republican Brendan Doherty. Cicilline clearly benefited from having President Obama and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse above him on the ballot, but he also ran a near-perfect campaign that focused on the issues while his opponents relentlessly attacked his character.
Angel Taveras: The Providence Mayor continued cleaning up the financial mess he inherited upon taking office in 2011 and surged to the top of the polls statewide when it comes to approval ratings. Taveras is widely considered a favorite to run for Governor in 2014 and after getting off to a rocky start with organized labor, he now appears to have won the unions over by sitting down and reaching a settlement on pension reform.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTGordon Fox: The House Speaker overcame lots of questions about his role in the 38 Studios debacle and an intense challenge from Independent Mark Binder to hold on to his seat and his leadership post in 2012, which all but ensures he will be able to leave Smith Hill on his own terms. Fox also won back his base with a pledge to bring same-sex marriage to a vote in his chamber by the end of January 2013.
Allan Fung: While the Republican Party was decimated across the board during the 2012 elections, the Cranston Mayor only improved his stock among voters and now appears to have the inside track on becoming the GOP nominee for Governor in two years. Mayor Fung has indicated he’ll make a decision on his future soon, but many believe he is the Republicans’ best chance to win statewide in 2014.
Gina Raimondo: Even with her reform efforts tied up in court, the General Treasurer continued to garner nation attention for the state’s pension overhaul and managed to grow her campaign war chest to over $1 million in the process. Money isn’t everything and Raimondo clearly has problems with the public employee unions, but she remains one of the most popular politicians in the state and appears to be a lock to run for Governor in two years.
Progressives: A combined effort from organized labor and groups such as Planned Parenthood, Marriage Equality RI, Ocean State Action and Clean Water Action somehow helped make Rhode Island even more blue during the 2012 elections. These liberal groups once again proved to be a force to be reckoned with, particularly when it comes to legislative races.
Losers
Lincoln Chafee: With unemployment stuck at 10.4 percent and Rhode Island ranked near the bottom of every business ranking, the Governor’s continues to face an uphill battle when it comes to his re-election prospects in 2014. And despite inheriting many of the problems from his predecessor, Chafee hasn’t helped his image with his handling of the 38 Studios fallout and by getting by getting bogged down with social issues.
Anthony Gemma: No politician had a worse year than the Democratic Congressional candidate, whose claims that his campaign would “positively impact the political, economic, and cultural fates of Rhode Island and, by extension, the United States of America for the foreseeable future” quickly became fodder for political observers across the state. Rather than running a traditional campaign, Gemma largely avoided Congressman Cicilline for much of the summer before attempting to link him to a voter fraud conspiracy that relied largely on claims from a group of less-than-credible individuals who had longstanding beefs with the Congressman.
Brendan Doherty: The Republicans believed they had a winner in the squeaky clean former head of the State Police, but Brendan Doherty couldn’t overcome having an “R” next to his name with President Obama on the ballot. Doherty pledged to be a Scott Brown Republican, but he met the same fate as the Massachusetts Senator on election night.
Rhode Island Republican Party: With its federal candidates consistently being linked with an “extreme” national agenda and its local candidates being outspent and tied to the tea party, the State GOP took it on the chin during the 2012 elections. Now the party enters 2013 on life support, occupying just 11 seats in the 113-member General Assembly.
Curt Schilling: The former Red Sox star ran his video game company into the ground less than two years after receiving a $75 million loan guarantee from the state and attempted to pin the company’s bankruptcy on Governor Chafee. Schilling wanted more handouts from state in the form of tax credits, but Chafee maintained he was unwilling to offer anymore tax dollars to a guy who simply couldn’t raise enough money to keep the company afloat.
Don Carcieri: The former Governor mostly flew under the radar in 2012, but Democrats were quick to remind the public that he helped push for 38 Studios to come to Rhode Island in the first place. Now his legacy is tied to a $75 million deal gone bad.
Dan McGowan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @danmcgowan.
