Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy to Stump for James Diossa in Central Falls
Monday, November 26, 2012
Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy will campaign for Central Falls Councilman and Mayoral candidate James Diossa today at Forand Manor at 5:15pm, the Diossa campaign has announced.
Diossa, who is widely considered the favorite in the race, takes on former police chief and State Senate candidate Joseph Moran III in a special election on Dec. 11. The two Democrats were the top vote-getters in a five-way primary earlier this month.
The two are running to replace former Mayor Charles Moreau, who resigned earlier this year and last week pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges. The city is emerging from bankruptcy after slashing retiree pensions and raising property taxes by four percent in each of the next five years.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn addition to Kennedy, Diossa, who won the five-way primary with 59 percent of the vote, has racked up endorsements from Senator Jack Reed, Congressman David Cicilline, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, State Senator Elizabeth Crowley and State Representative Gus Silva in recent months. The 27-year-old has raised and spent more than $33,000 this year.
Throughout his career as a Congressman, Kennedy received overwhelming support from Central Falls voters. In 2008 –the last year he ran for re-election— he picked up 86.9 percent of the vote in a three-way general election race.
In September’s Democratic primary, Moran lost to Senator Crowley, earning just 32 percent of the vote.
Kennedy has not been shy about returning to Rhode Island to support local candidates this year. During the primary, he campaign on behalf of Cicilline, who was facing a challenge from businessman Anthony Gemma. Earlier this month, Kennedy stumped for House Speaker Gordon Fox, who was running against Independent Mark Binder.
Dan McGowan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @danmcgowan.
