The Scoop: Woonsocket Mayoral Showdown Today
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Welcome to The Scoop, the 4 p.m. report on everything politics in Rhode Island – the inside daily report exclusively on GoLocalProv.com.
Woonsocket Mayoral Showdown Today
Woonsocket voters will trim down the field for mayor and city council today in the city’s primary election.
Voters are tasked with reducing the mayoral field from four candidates to two, as well shrinking the field for city council from 15 to 14 candidates.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDespite the contested race for city council, the main attraction of today’s primary is the mayoral face off.
The four-person race features incumbent Republican Mayor Leo Fontaine, who has served as the city’s mayor since 2009; Democratic State Representative Lisa Baldelli-Hunt; Michael E. Moniz, and newcomer David Fisher.
Baldelli-Hunt, who may pose the biggest threat to Fontaine, recently accused Fontaine of trying to balance his municipal deficit on the back of the education department.
“He looks foolish. The mayor is falsely blaming the school department and doesn’t want them to disclose their finances because they have a balanced budget,” Baldelli-Hunt recently told GoLocal in regard to a gag order that Fontaine put on the education department last month.
The race's other contender Fisher, an Independent, told GoLocal that if elected mayor, his "only responsibility will be to the people of Woonsocket."
As far as how to help the people of Woonsocket, Fisher told GoLocal: “The first step to ending the dividing and corrupting influence of partisan politics in our cities, state, and country is to elect candidates that will be beholden to no one but their constituents, including those that vote for another candidate or not at all."
Fisher, who has taken no money or support from political parties, corporations, or special interest groups, told GoLocal that his campaign has been “less about who gets into the mayor’s office, and more about injecting new ideas and perspectives into the stagnant political thought and conversation in Woonsocket.”
“Whether we make it through to the general election or not, I think that we have already succeeded in this respect,” Fisher added.
The top two vote getters will face off against one another on November 5th.
Voter Information
As in true will all of Rhode Island, Woonsocket voters will be required to show a valid ID to vote in today’s primary—which includes driver’s licenses, passports, RIPTA bus passes, and school identification cards. Starting in 2014, voters will be required to show a photo ID prior to voting.
The deadline to register to vote in the Woonsocket general election has passed, but voters still have until October 15 to request a mail ballot.
For more information about today’s Woonsocket primary election contact the Secretary of State’s office at 401-222-2340, visit sos.ri.gov, or call the Woonsocket Board of Canvassers at 401-767-9223. Click here if you’re unsure where your polling location is.
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