Despite Matos’ Campaign Problems, No Obvious Alternative in CD1 Race, Says Lawless
Despite Matos’ Campaign Problems, No Obvious Alternative in CD1 Race, Says Lawless
In February, now-former Congressman David Cicilline announced that he was stepping down from his seat in Congress to take over the position as the head of the Rhode Island Foundation and collect a salary of $650,000 for the group dedicated to supporting those in need.
“I don’t think that the press conference helped her in any way, shape, or former - and I say that completely believing she had no idea what was going on,” said Lawless, who chairs the Political Science Department at the University of Virginia. “It doesn’t seem like there’s any evidence to suggest that this was some orchestrated attempt on the part of the Matos’ campaign with Sabina Matos at the head saying, ‘let’s try and skip the line and just get some fraudulent signatures so that we can get on the ballot and move this thing along.’”
“That said, I’ve always believed the candidate is the person whose name is on the signs and that’s the person who is ultimately responsible and during that press conference, she didn’t take responsibility, and in the week following the press conference, she hasn’t taken responsibility as far as I know,” she added.
Despite the significant issues facing the Matos’ campaign, Lawless said none of the other candidates in the race has emerged as a clear alternative to Matos, who Lawless said back in June had the "edge."
“I think the other candidates have not run campaigns that allow them to portray themselves as the obvious alternative — there is not a very clear second choice,” said Matos. “As a result, first of all, they’re blowing the opportunity because they’re not highlighting that, and second, they’re not really differentiating themselves from one another in a way that will be obvious to voters who aren’t paying much attention.”