Registered Democrats and independents in Rhode Island's first congressional district - which encompasses the University and its surrounding area - will choose between incumbent Rep. David Cicilline '83, D-R.I., and businessman Anthony Gemma to be the Democratic Party's nominee Tuesday. The winner will face Republican Brendan Doherty, retired superintendent of the Rhode Island state police, in the Nov. 6 general election.
Cicilline has represented Rhode Island's first district for 20 months since defeating former state Rep. John Loughlin, R-Tiverton, in November 2010. Before his time in the U.S. Congress, Cicilline served eight years as the mayor of Providence and eight years in the Rhode Island House of Representatives.
Gemma has never held an elected office and has spent his career in the private sector, where he led his family's plumbing business for seven years. After his mother died of breast cancer in 2002, Gemma co-founded and now serves as president of the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation. Gemma ran for the Democratic Party's nomination for the first district congressional seat in 2010 but lost to Cicilline.
Gemma announced his intent to run April 15 and has since launched a constant stream of attacks against Cicilline. Both candidates have struggled to articulate significant differences between their platforms and the campaign has often revolved around personal attacks rather than policy discussions.
Gemma has accused Cicilline of several breaches of the public's trust, including claims that then-mayor Cicilline hid Providence's financial crisis from voters to bolster his campaign for Congress. And in a widely publicized Aug 22. press conference, Gemma asserted that Cicilline engaged in acts of voter fraud in his 2002, 2006 and 2010 elections.
Cicilline issued a denunciation of the voter fraud and has sought to convince voters that Gemma is exaggerating his culpability for the city's financial woes. Cicilline has maintained that he never consciously misled the public but said his remarks that the city was in "excellent fiscal condition" were "overly optimistic" and has apologized to voters.
The issue has remained a focal point of the campaign, garnering significant discussion at both debates between the candidates so far. "If history shows us anything, we can't believe a word that comes out of David Cicilline's mouth," Gemma said at the first debate hosted by Eyewitness News and the Providence Journal.
But Cicilline told The Herald that if he was going to be held responsible for his words, he also wanted to receive credit for his actions as mayor.
When Cicilline took office, the city was ailing from a $59 million budget gap and a $216 million structural deficit, a problem further compounded by a declining tax base and a dearth of contributions from nonprofits, he said. Cicilline's administration closed the budget gap, renegotiated labor contracts to save the city money and negotiated an agreement to extract payments in lieu of taxes from the city's colleges and universities, he said.
In addition to reforming the city government, Cicilline said he corrected a police department "where there was evidence that people bought jobs, paid for promotions."
Gemma has campaigned largely on the notion that Cicilline was responsible for the financial challenges that Cicilline's successor, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, has spent his first two years in office confronting. In his initial months as mayor, Taveras faced a $110 million structural deficit that he said brought the city close to bankruptcy. In a March press release, Taveras said he forgives Cicilline for his misleading comments on the city's fiscal health and endorsed him in the race against Gemma. "The challenges facing our city have many causes and were not created overnight," Taveras said. Taveras has also praised Cicilline for his role as one of the first mayors to adequately fund the city's pension system.
Gov. Lincoln Chafee '75 P'14 P'16 has also endorsed Cicilline. Chafee defended Cicilline's record as mayor, placing significant blame for Providence's financial crisis on state cuts that he said "no mayor can take," according to WPRI.
The issues
Despite holding nearly identical policy positions, the candidates disagree on the starting point for the highest income tax bracket. Gemma told The Herald taxes should be raised for individuals and families with incomes greater than $100,000 a year. Cicilline said the threshold should be $250,000 - in line with President Obama's assessment. "I have a strong belief that we should not raise taxes on the middle class," Cicilline said.
The only other real policy difference between the candidates concerns their efforts to find savings for the post office. Gemma supports ending Saturday mail delivery. Cicilline said he would keep it and instead sacrifice a federal requirement that the post office pre-fund health benefits.
Both candidates oppose all cuts to Medicare that affect benefits. They both oppose a nuclear Iran and support President Barack Obama's efforts to deny that country such a capability.
Neither Gemma nor Cicilline is in favor of permitting states to offer school vouchers to students that would allow them
to use taxpayer money to attend private school.
In Tuesday's debate, both candidates said they would vote the straight Democratic Party ticket in November, but Gemma said he would make an exception for Cicilline, who he would not support under any circumstance. Cicilline said he would vote for Gemma over Doherty.
A WPRI poll released in late August showed Cicilline holding a 12-point lead over Gemma. The same poll indicated that half of registered Democrats who support Gemma would vote for Doherty in the general election if Cicilline were the nominee. Gemma said this information indicates that he, rather than Cicilline, would be best equipped to keep the seat in the hands of Democrats come November.
Election day is Tuesday, Sept. 11, and polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Those registered to vote in Rhode Island's first congressional district can cast their ballots in Salomon Center.
