Sandy distracted Rhode Island for a bit, but as of this morning the election is just one week away.

What better time for a new WPRI 12 poll? Our new survey of 600 likely voters in Rhode Island will be released starting at 6 p.m. tonight with brand-new findings on who’s ahead in the hotly contested 1st Congressional District race between Congressman David Cicilline and challenger Brendan Doherty.

We’ll also have new poll results for president (Obama vs. Romney), U.S. Senate (Whitehouse vs. Hinckley) and the 2nd Congressional District (Langevin vs. Riley vs. Collins). And we’ll share the results of three other questions testing Rhode Islanders’ opinions on the state’s business climate, its K-12 education system and whether Lincoln Chafee deserves a second term as governor.

Check back at 6 p.m. for the first round of results here on WPRI.com and live on WPRI 12.

Republican Brendan Doherty’s team thinks he’s now leading Democratic incumbent David Cicilline in the 1st Congressional District. Unsurprisingly, Cicilline’s campaign strongly disagrees.

A survey commissioned by the Republican’s campaign and released Saturday afternoon shows Doherty at 45%, Cicilline at 39% and independent David Vogel at 6%, with 11% of voters undecided. The telephone interview poll of 400 likely voters was conducted Wednesday and Thursday. The margin of error is plus or minus 5.9 percentage points.

The poll was conducted by OnMessage Inc., a GOP consulting firm employed by Doherty’s campaign that previously worked for former Gov. Donald Carcieri. The question is whether it’s accurate. The OnMessage poll’s findings are far from outside the realm of possibility, but there are two reasons to be somewhat skeptical.

First, the firm didn’t release the party affiliation of its voting sample, which is a concern because its Sept. 13-14 poll may have interviewed too few Democrats to accurately capture the district. Second, the poll shows Mitt Romney winning 34% of the vote in the 1st District, which is 7 points better than his showing in the Sept. 26-29 WPRI 12 poll. It’s possible Romney has seen a significant bounce in the staunchly Democratic district over the last month, but far from certain.

The picture should become clearer when the new WPRI 12 poll is released next week. Roll Call’s Joshua Miller has more on the OnMessage survey. Separately on Saturday, Cicilline’s campaign sent out a recorded phone call with Bill Clinton endorsing Cicilline to 50,000 voters in the district. Listen here.

• Related: GOP to spend $280K on TV push (Oct. 26) | Dems counter GOP with $315K ad buy (Oct. 26)

The cost of the air war in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District jumped by more than half-a-million dollars on Friday as national Democrats moved to blunt their Republican counterparts in their push to save Democratic Congressman David Cicilline from defeat on Nov. 6.

A Democratic source confirmed Friday that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will spend $315,000 on a new round of TV commercials starting Tuesday to aid Cicilline. The Democrats’ buy was placed just hours after the National Republican Congressional Committee revealed it will spend $280,000 on a final round of commercials to help Doherty.

DCCC spokesman Josh Schwerin declined to provide specific numbers but acknowledged a new ad was coming. “We won’t let Washington Republicans’ lies go unanswered and will continue to hold Brendan Doherty accountable for supporting the extreme Republican agenda,” Schwerin told WPRI.com on Friday afternoon.

Both the NRCC and DCCC purchases are “independent expenditures,” meaning they are not being coordinated with the Cicilline and Doherty campaigns directly and will be new spots produced by the committees.

Separately on Friday, the Rothenberg Political Report changed its rating on the 1st District in Cicilline’s favor, moving it from “Toss-up/Tilt Democrat” to “Lean Democrat.”

• Related: GOP to spend $280K on TV push (Oct. 26) | Doherty has twice Cicilline’s cash (Oct. 25)

• Update: DCCC counters with $315K TV buy (Oct. 26)

Republicans have said for weeks they don’t believe the hype that Democratic Congressman David Cicilline is pulling away from GOP challenger Brendan Doherty. Now they’re putting their money where their mouths are.

The National Republican Congressional Committee confirmed Friday it will spend $280,000 on a final round of television commercials to air during the closing week of Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District race, enough to buy 1,000 gross rating points. The ads will air Oct. 30 to Nov. 6.

“We think Brendan Doherty is in a very strong position, and this expenditure demonstrates our financial commitment to holding David Cicilline accountable for his record, which is wrong for Rhode Island,” NRCC spokesman Nat Sillin told WPRI.com on Friday.

The national GOP’s decision to go up in the 1st District during the homestretch shows Doherty won’t suffer the same fate as John Loughlin, who lost to Cicilline in 2010 by only six points but never received significant support from the NRCC.

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Republican Brendan Doherty headed into the final three weeks of the general election campaign with a big financial advantage over incumbent Democratic Congressman David Cicilline as the two candidates’ spending passed $3 million combined.

Doherty’s campaign had $328,060 on hand as of Oct. 17, while Cicilline’s campaign had only $153,281 left, according to Federal Election Commission reports the candidates filed Thursday evening.

Cicilline raised more money than Doherty from Oct. 1 through Oct. 17, though not by much. The Democrat’s contributions totaled $121,058 while the Republican’s totaled $97,104, the FEC filings show.

Doherty’s campaign outspent his opponent’s during those two and a half weeks, however, spending $278,860 to Cicilline’s $208,739. Cicilline has spent $2.03 million since the start of 2011 fighting to keep his seat, while Doherty has spent $1.1 million in his bid to defeat the freshman lawmaker.

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The air war continues in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District.

Democratic Congressman David Cicilline debuted a new television commercial on Tuesday morning called “Outrageous” that pushes back on charges his Republican challenger Brendan Doherty made in the tough “No Surprises” spot that began running last week. Cicilline’s new ad was apparently finished in the last 24 hours: it quotes a Monday Roll Call article saying “Republicans have gone nuclear on Rep. David Cicilline.”

“When it’s time to push that button, we’ve seen campaigns take one of two tactics: a testimonial from a sexual assault victim criticizing the opposition candidate, or, as in this case, both Republican and Democratic candidates have accused each other of harboring sympathies for pedophiles,” Roll Call’s Abby Livingston wrote in an analysis of Doherty’s latest ad.

A Republican source said Cicilline’s campaign is spending $162,000 on TV commercial time from Tuesday through Sunday. Cicilline’s spokeswoman declined to comment on the record. The new ad is a coordinated buy partly paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

In an email to supporters Tuesday, Cicilline campaign manager Eric Hyers blasted the Republican attacks as “vile.” He also said the company raised significantly more in recent days than the $40,000 goal set by Cicilline in an email appeal he sent supporters last week.

Doherty has reserved $202,000 in TV advertising time for the final two weeks of the race, but campaign manager Ian Prior said last week Doherty will increase that if the Republican beats his fundraising goals. Federal filings show the National Right to Life PAC spent $3,544 on a mailer backing Doherty.

A WPRI 12 poll last month showed Cicilline at 44%, followed by Doherty at 38% and independent David Vogel at 6%, with 10% of voters still undecided. Doherty had more than twice as much cash as Cicilline on Sept. 30. The candidates debated live for the first time a week ago on WPRI 12.

The Cook Political Report has joined a chorus of other forecasters in Washington, D.C., by changing its rating on Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District race from tossup to “Lean Democratic.”

“Like Lazarus, Cicilline appears to have risen from the ranks of the political dead,” Cook editor David Wasserman wrote Thursday. He cited the district’s strong Democratic tilt and the unorthodox campaign of Anthony Gemma, whom Wasserman described as “unstable,” as factors helping Cicilline.

“It’s still not over, but Republican strategists are increasingly pessimistic,” Wasserman concluded.

Election analysts at the Sabato Crystal Ball, Roll Call and National Journal have also upgraded Cicilline’s chances in recent weeks. The rating change by Cook comes on a busy day in the 1st District, following a WPRI.com report that Doherty has pared back his TV ad reservations and an appeal from Cicilline to his supporters for an additional $40,000.

A WPRI 12 poll last month showed Cicilline at 44%, followed by Doherty at 38% and independent David Vogel at 6%, with 10% of voters still undecided. Doherty had more than twice as much cash as Cicilline on Sept. 30. The candidates debated live for the first time Tuesday on WPRI 12.

• Related: Cicilline seeks $40,000 to fund ads | Doherty pares back TV reservations (Oct. 18)

Democratic Congressman David Cicilline is putting all his cards on the table.

In a notably direct email appeal to supporters Thursday afternoon, Cicilline said he needs to raise $40,000 to keep airing television advertisements as he battles Republican Brendan Doherty.

“Asking for money is the hardest and worst part of this job but unfortunately it is absolutely critical,” Cicilline wrote. “I am sure you’ve been getting a lot of emails asking for help this election season; I know I have.”

“But my Republican opponent has double the resources and will continue to flood the airwaves with vicious attacks against me over the next 19 days,” he continued.  “I know I have asked a lot, but this race is close and it’s important that we have the resources to respond effectively.”

Doherty had a significant financial advantage over Cicilline as of Sept. 30. Campaign finance filings show the Republican’s campaign had $510,219 on hand, while the Democrat’s had $240,962. The Cicilline campaign began airing a new TV ad on Thursday.

• Related: Doherty scales back TV ad buy for campaign’s final weeks (Oct. 18)

Tim White contributed to this report.

• Update: Cicilline tells backers he needs $40,000

Republican Brendan Doherty’s U.S. House campaign may not air as many television commercials as it had originally planned during the last two weeks of the race.

A Democratic source told WPRI.com Doherty’s campaign has cut his TV advertising reservations for the final stretch from $326,000 to $202,000. Doherty campaign manager Ian Prior confirmed a cut had been made but declined to provide specific numbers.

Prior said the commercial time was originally reserved last spring. “We reserve based on best-case scenarios,” he said. “We can certainly still go back and buy. … We’re operating off our cash on hand, being conservative and building it back in as we continue to raise money over the next three weeks.”

“Every campaign does a little bit of this at the end,” Prior said. “For us we have enough money to pay for our plan through the end, and to the extent we out-raise our goals, we’ll throw more into TV at the end.” He emphasized the campaign is spending more money on TV ads than originally budgeted overall, but said some of the money was spent earlier than originally planned.

“We do expect we’ll add some more,” Prior added.

(more…)

• Related: Watch the TV debate | Analysis: Two debates on one stage (Oct. 16)

• Related: Watch the Web debate | Analysis: Two debates on one stage (Oct. 16)

Voters in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District watched two debates on Tuesday night: Brendan Doherty versus David Cicilline, and David Cicilline versus U.S. House Republicans. Which message will resonate?

Congressman Cicilline, the Democratic incumbent and the smoothest talker in Rhode Island politics, worked to bring every answer back to the policies of the House GOP majority and reminding voters of his longstanding support for core Democratic priorities – a potent appeal in a district that already elected him once and has gotten more Democratic since.

But Doherty, the former state police colonel, held his own and grew stronger as the 90-minute exchange wore on, displaying a familiarity with federal issues that was in stark contrast to his first major television interview, a botched appearance on Newsmakers last March. The Republican cast himself – if not his political party – as moderate and reasonable.

WPRI 12 political analyst Joe Fleming gave Cicilline “a slight edge” because he hammered his talking points more frequently – Fleming suggested Cicilline referenced House Republicans at least 30 times – but also said Doherty’s policy fluency beat expectations and he had a number of “good moments” where he challenged Cicilline. It was far more civilized and less personal than Cicilline’s bitter battle with Anthony Gemma in August. (more…)

Republican Brendan Doherty entered the final weeks of his challenge to Democratic Congressman David Cicilline with significantly more in the bank than the incumbent.

Cicilline’s campaign had $240,962 on hand as of Sept. 30, according to a Federal Election Commission report filed Monday night. Doherty’s campaign had more than twice as much cash on hand: $510,219 as of Sept. 30.

Cicilline raised $266,982 from Aug. 23 to Sept. 30 and spent far more – $498,350 – as he successfully fought off a primary challenge from Anthony Gemma and then began his general-election campaign. Doherty raised $213,787 and spent $312,949 over the same period.

Ciciline’s latest group of donors included San Francisco Mayor Calif. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pandora Media CEO Joseph Kennedy and Providence Equity Partners’ Paul Salem. Doherty’s donors included Alan Shawn Feinstein, Providence Equity’s Jonathan Nelson and the Koch Industries PAC.

Cicilline has raised just shy of $2 million since this election cycle began, while Doherty has raised $1.25 million, according to their FEC filings; Cicilline has spent $1.8 million and Doherty has spent $797,118.

Cicilline led Doherty by six points in a WPRI 12 poll released earlier this month. The two candidates meet for their first debate at the Providence Performing Arts Center and live on WPRI 12 Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

• Related: DC Republicans attack Cicilline; Dems’ new TV ad hits Doherty (Oct. 11)

The charges are flying fast and furious in the 1st Congressional District.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm, launched a new campaign on Thursday it calls “Cicilline’s Secrets” that plays up Democratic Congressman David Cicilline’s career as a defense attorney and his votes on various controversial bills.

NRCC spokesman Paul Lindsay accused Cicilline of “choosing violent criminals and child molesters over victims” and said the campaign is aiming to reach 200,000 to 300,000 Rhode Islanders using automated phone calls, online ads, emails and a website. The NRCC blasted text messages on Thursday that linked to the new site and said: “David Cicilline tried to keep child molesters out of jail.”

Cicilline campaign manager Eric Hyers argued the Republicans were trying to distract voters from Doherty’s positions, saying they “have had to dig back 20 years to his time as a private attorney to attack him because they know people in Rhode Island do not support their policies and want a representative who will continue to stand up for the middle class.” Hyers also noted that the NRCC’s allegation about Megan’s Law was rated “Mostly False” by Politifact in 2010.

Separately, the Cicilline campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee began airing a new television advertisement criticizing Doherty for supporting the repeal of President Obama’s health care law. The ad aired Thursday morning during the “Today” show. Doherty has said recently he wouldn’t vote to repeal the law unless some of its provisions were preserved, including one that lets children stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26.

This post has been updated and expanded.

A second independent poll now shows Democratic Congressman David Cicilline has built a six-point lead over Republican challenger Brendan Doherty in Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District.

A Brown University survey released Wednesday morning shows Cicilline at 46%, Doherty at 40% and independent David Vogel at 7%, with another 7% of voters undecided. Brown’s findings mirror the results of last week’s WPRI 12 poll, which showed Cicilline at 44% and Doherty at 38%.

The survey also shows Democratic Congressman Jim Langevin ahead by 18 points in the 2nd District. Langevin is at 49%, Republican Michael Riley is at 32% and independent Abel Collins is at 5%, with 14% undecided. Incumbent Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse has a 29-point lead for U.S. Senate, with Whitehouse at 59%, Republican Barry Hinckley at 30% and 12% of voters still undecided.

Brown said the telephone survey of 496 registered Rhode Island voters was conducted over 10 days, from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points on statewide questions. Brown said the survey sample for the races included 236 likely voters in the 1st Congressional District and 235 likely voters in the 2nd District, with a 6.3-point margin of error for district-only questions.

(more…)

The Washington Post is doing an interesting investigative series called “Capitol Assets” which looks at the personal finances of members of Congress, many of whom are, well, rich. On Sunday, The Post reported the wealthiest members of Congress “were largely immune from the Great Recession.”

As part of the series, the paper crunched the numbers for each member of the House and Senate to see where their fortunes comes from. Since their financial disclosures use broad ranges, The Post took the midpoint as each asset’s value. The disclosures don’t include personal homes or non-interest-bearing bank accounts, which don’t have to be disclosed.

Three of the four members of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation are wealthier than their colleagues, with U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse having four times more money than the median senator; U.S. Sen. Jack Reed is the exception. Click the links for a breakdown of each man’s financial profile.

1. Sheldon Whitehouse: $8.9 million ($7 million more than the median)
2. Jim Langevin: $2 million ($1.3 million more than the median)
3. David Cicilline: $966,001 ($266,001 more than the median)
4. Jack Reed: $568,521 ($1.3 million less than the median)

A good week for David Cicilline keeps getting better.

In the wake of a new WPRI 12 poll showing the congressman with a six-point lead over Brendan Doherty, two national outlets on Thursday upgraded the freshman Democrat’s chances of holding onto his 1st Congressional District seat.

National Journal moved the 1st District down 12 slots on its list of the nation’s most competitive U.S. House races, shifting it to #27. “Doherty has a steeper hill to climb,” the Beltway magazine’s Scott Bland wrote.

Hours later, Roll Call changed its rating on the 1st District race from tossup to Leans Democratic. “Cicilline seems to have rebounded and looks to be in much better shape than he was a few months ago in this very Democratic district,” the Capitol Hill newspaper’s Lauren Whittington wrote.

The Sabato Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics made the same move last month, changing its rating on the race to “Leans Democratic.” One holdout that’s still rating Cicilline-Doherty as a tossup is The Cook Political Report, though its editor is also considering a change.

Still, the incumbent is far from out of the woods. Cara Cromwell, who managed John Loughlin’s campaign against Cicilline in 2010, noted during a Friday taping of Newsmakers that he’s only polling 44% in the new poll despite widespread name recognition, which could mean Doherty has more room to build support.

By Ted Nesi

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Congressman David Cicilline has engineered a remarkable eight-month turnaround in his re-election race against Brendan Doherty, rebounding from a 15-point deficit to take a six-point lead, according to an exclusive WPRI 12 poll released Monday evening.

Read the rest of this story »

• Interactive: Check out the complete WPRI 12 poll results

Coming up at 11 p.m.: Whitehouse vs. Hinckley, Langevin vs. Riley.

The dynamic is shifting in the 1st Congressional District.

Doherty’s campaign went on the air Monday with its first TV attack ad of the campaign, “The Truth About David Cicilline,” a 30-second spot that shows anonymous people criticizing the congressman. “I voted for David Cicilline the last time, and that is not gonna happen again,” the last speaker says.

The new commercial was released nearly three weeks after Cicilline’s campaign began attacking Doherty on air as a “Romney Republican” and amid mounting evidence the race has tightened significantly since February, when the Republican had a 15-point edge over the freshman Democrat.

Three polls released by Cicilline and his allies have showed the congressman ahead, while Doherty’s own internal polling showed him with a slim lead. The new WPRI 12 poll by Joe Fleming – the first independent survey done in the Cicilline-Doherty race since February – will be released at 6 p.m. Monday.

(more…)

There are an estimated 2 zillion campaign commercials on the airwaves in Rhode Island right now – and yet you’re still not seeing all the ones that are featuring Rhode Island this election season.

First we have Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown discussing how he helped pass a law to curb insider trading by members of Congress, earning a “Good job!” from President Obama at the signing ceremony. Congressman Cicilline was at that ceremony, too – you can see him near Obama and Brown around 0:19:

And here’s a new Obama ad that uses Newport’s historic mansion The Waves as a stand-in for the millionaires whose taxes he wants to raise (at 0:30 or so). One sharp viewer told me the late Sen. Claiborne Pell’s home can be seen to the left of The Waves (the little shingled cottage) – Pell was a millionaire, too:

Brendan Doherty can still beat David Cicilline, but the math is getting tougher.

Doherty’s campaign revealed Thursday it commissioned a poll last week that shows the Republican with a slim lead over the Democratic incumbent. Campaign manager Ian Prior declined to release the head-to-head results but said Doherty’s lead is within the survey’s 4-point margin of error.

Doherty’s poll of 400 voters on Sept. 13 and 14 was conducted by OnMessage Inc., a GOP consulting firm that previously worked for former Gov. Donald Carcieri. The survey sampled 52% registered independents, 32% registered Democrats and 14% registered Republicans.

The Cicilline campaign quickly pointed out OnMessage’s sample doesn’t reflect actual voter registration numbers in the 1st District or their own estimate of likely voters’ partisan makeup, which is 47% Democrats, 44% independents and 9% Republicans.

(more…)

David Cicilline is having a pretty good week.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has released two polls since last Tuesday’s primary showing the congressman ahead of Republican Brendan Doherty. Cicilline’s campaign followed up Thursday with a survey from his longtime pollster The Feldman Group giving him a 10-point edge, with Cicilline at 46%, Doherty at 36%, independent David Vogel at 7% and 11% undecided.

All three of the polls were commissioned by Cicilline or his party and in each case the full results were withheld; Republicans haven’t released any internal polling of their own to counter the Democrats.

Cicilline is also getting a boost from a neutral analyst: his chances of keeping his seat were upgraded Thursday by the Sabato Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, whose director is the prominent political prognosticator Larry Sabato.

(more…)

If you believe the polls that Democrats are paying for, Congressman David Cicilline may be getting the same post-convention bounce as Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a second survey on Wednesday showing Cicilline with a lead over Republican Brendan Doherty. The phone interview poll by Benenson Strategy Group put Cicilline at 46%, Doherty at 35% and independent David Vogel at 8%, with 11% undecided. A DCCC robo-poll last week put Cicilline at 49% and Doherty at 43%.

The DCCC released a memo [pdf] detailing the poll’s results but refused to release the survey’s full contents after more information was requested by WPRI.com.

Doherty’s campaign, which warned Tuesday about what it called “misleading” questions being asked by pollsters in the 1st District, hasn’t released its own internal polling but dismissed the Democrats’ findings. “We’ve done our own poll, we’re up, and we’re not concerned with numbers coming from misleading push polls coming from Cicilline or DCCC trying to boost his fundraising efforts,” a Doherty aide told WPRI.com.

Benenson is a respected Demcoratic polling firm that’s also done work for President Obama’s campaign and Engage Rhode Island, the Rhode Island group that backed pension changes last year. The DCCC poll also showed Obama with a 30-point lead over Mitt Romney and Democratic U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse with a 37-point lead over Republican challenger Barry Hinckley in the 1st District.

“The district’s Democratic leanings present a formidable obstacle to Cicilline’s Republican challenger, particularly in an environment where the presidential election can be expected to dominate political coverage,” Benenson’s Danny Franklin wrote in the DCCC memo.

The Benenson poll’s most interesting finding may be that 8% of 1st District voters say they’ll support the little-known independent Vogel in November rather than one of the major-party candidates, which could damage Doherty if Vogel peels off too much of the anti-Cicilline vote.

Tim White contributed to this report.

The hits just keep on coming.

House Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), unveiled a new Web ad on Thursday that declares Congressman David Cicilline one of “the 10 most corrupt Democrats of 2012″ for allegedly orchestrating “a massive cover-up” of Providence’s financial crisis.

The ad shows Cicilline’s successor as mayor of Providence, Angel Taveras, announcing at a famous press conference he’d discovered “a category five” hurricane in Providence’s books – set against the backdrop of an actual hurricane. “David Cicilline’s irresponsibility and dishonesty left Rhode Island families to clean up the disastrous financial mess he created as the mayor of Providence,” Paul Lindsay, the NRCC’s communications director, said in a statement. “David Cicilline can no longer be trusted.”

The NRCC ad echoes comments made by Republican Brendan Doherty on Wednesday, the day after Cicilline won a decisive primary victory over Anthony Gemma. Cicilline campaign manager Eric Hyers has characterized the GOP charges as “tired, vicious and personal attacks.”

“Doherty is a Romney Republican who is on the wrong side of virtually every issue important to Rhode Islanders,” he said in a statement earlier this week. “He wants to continue giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, is pro-life while David is pro-choice, and wants to raise the Social Security eligibility age for working men and women in our state.”

Update: The Cicilline campaign has begun airing its own TV ad attacking Doherty for supporting Republican policies. Watch the 30-second spot here.

By Ted Nesi

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Republican Brendan Doherty kicked off the fall campaign Wednesday morning with a broadside against incumbent Democratic Congressman David Cicilline, accusing him of deceiving voters and bending the truth, as Democrats prepared for an eight-week dogfight.

Read the rest of this story »

Let the general election begin.

Brendan Doherty and his Republican allies in Washington will launch a fusillade of attacks against Democratic Congressman David Cicilline on Wednesday, hoping to put the freshman lawmaker on the defensive over Providence’s problems and remind 1st Congressional District voters why they gave him a Nixonian approval rating just months ago.

At the same time, Cicilline and his Democratic allies are increasingly confident he can survive the storm by tying Doherty to Paul Ryan, John Boehner and GOP policies that have little support in this staunchly Democratic district. Their self-assurance was bolstered Tuesday by Cicilline’s resounding 32-point primary victory over Anthony Gemma.

The Republican onslaught starts Wednesday morning with the launch of Doherty’s first TV commercial, a 30-second spot filmed in Woonsocket where the former state police colonel introduces himself to voters and scoffs at assertions that Congress can’t find wasteful spending to cut. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he declares.

(more…)

By Ted Nesi

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WPRI) – The atmosphere was more like a family reunion than a campaign event Monday morning when Congressman David Cicilline and his predecessor Patrick Kennedy stopped by Leon Mathieu Senior Center to appeal for votes.

The event’s big focus wasn’t even there: Kennedy’s baby boy, four-and-a-half-month-old Owen Patrick Kennedy. Senior after senior, mostly women, asked Kennedy to pull out a well-worn printed photograph of the smiling infant. “He’s got those Irish eyes,” a beaming Kennedy declared.

Kennedy told WPRI.com that during a visit Sunday to Woonsocket’s John F. Kennedy Manor he promised voters there he’ll bring Owen along when he’s back in town to campaign for Cicilline – a little “October surprise” just in time for the November election.

And what if Owen someday decides he wants to go into the family business and run for office himself? “Well, God bless him,” Kennedy said. “I think politics will look a lot different by the time he’s on the ballot.” There’s plenty of time: Owen only just learned to roll over on his side.

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