The residency case involving state Rep. John Carnevale has resulted in an open seat in the House of Representatives.
Three Democrats are running for the chance to represent House District 13, which includes parts of Providence and Johnston. There are no Republican or independent candidates in the race. So the September 13 primary will determine the next state rep from District 13.
Candidate Ramon Perez shows off the inside of a Winnebago parked in the driveway of his home in the Hartford section of Providence. Filled with flyers and maps of the District 13, the RV is a mobile office for Perez’s campaign for the state rep seat being given up by Rep. Carnevale.
“We try to do a mailing, and this is our paper we been passing out now,” Perez explained.Listen to the audio version of the story on the primary race in House District 13.
Perez and his two rival Democratic candidates got a boost when Carnevale dropped his re-election campaign last month. That came after the the Providence Board of Canvassers ruled Carnevale was not a legal voter in the district he represented since first winning election in 2008.
Even before Carnevale dropped out, Perez said he was planning to run for state rep. As a newcomer to District 13, Perez said he learned on his own how Carnevale did not live at his stated address in Providence: “I went knocking doors around to see what people say, and people even, they told us, ‘oh, yeah, our representative used to live there.’ It was like that – he used to live there. I found out the first week I started knocking doors.”
Perez said he did not speak out about this before Carnevale folded his campaign because he didn’t think it was his place to do so.
Perez is 45 and a native of the Dominican Republic. He came to Rhode Island 10 years ago, and in 2009, made his first of four runs for the General Assembly. Perez said he ran for Smith Hill because of a big spike in taxes for his small cab company; he felt his viewpoint was not represented when the issue was decided at the Statehouse.
“After that I say, ‘well, if those people don’t really worry about their people in the district, I’m going to try myself,’ ” he recalled.
Perez said he wants to cut the car tax, possibly through higher taxes on cigarettes and alcohol, and promote a higher police presence in low-income Providence neighborhoods.
He said he’s pleased by how his Democratic campaign is being managed by a leading Republican activist in Providence, David Talan.
“Since I met David in my first run, when I run for state rep District 10, we know each other and we come to be good friends,” Perez said. “And I help him in his campaign once and now he offered his help for me. You know, David is a smart guy. He knows everything about politics.”
Perez’s alliance with Statehouse Democrats may prove more helpful. He’s running as part of an informal coalition with state Senator Frank Ciccone, who faces a challenge from Latina opponent Doris de los Santos. Perez also has the backing of the powerful House speaker, Nicholas Mattiello.
Across District 13, in the Silver Lake section of Providence, rival candidate Lisa Scorpio said she doesn’t want the support of establishment Democrats like Speaker Mattiello. The first-time candidate said her many years as a community activist show how she has the right stuff to be a state rep.
“This is a natural progression, because I’ve marched, I’ve rallied, I’ve started 501-c3s,” Scorpio said. “I’ve done all this stuff. The basic thing is, it’s in me. I can’t live without doing that.”
Scorpio grew up in Providence as a granddaughter of Italian immigrants. She has been a secretary in the Providence schools for close to three decades. Scorpio, who puts her age at north of 50, said her community activism took root about 10 years ago.
“So that’s when I just started going out to the streets and going to events, and started speaking,” she said. “And then I started helping people. It was all a really slow thing that happened, and before I knew it, I heard someone once say, ‘Lisa Scorpio, the community activist,’ and I was like, ‘oh, that’s me.’ ”
Scorpio co-founded a group called 300 Women, which helps women in the need. Among other things, she’s led discussion groups for girls, served on the Providence police advisory board, and supported efforts to reduce gun violence.
Scorpio said she’s running because she’s tired of political corruption and since she thinks she can do a better job. She calls for lowering taxes for the working class by eliminating tax breaks for the rich. Scorpio also favors tighter gun restrictions – and says House leadership’s strong support for gun rights can be overcome.
“If the public votes and enough of us win, we can change these laws,” she said. “And that’s the whole point of it because we can’t be stuck with politicians that won’t do what the public wants. My district wants these things, the state wants these things. I don’t understand why the politicians don’t.”
Like Ramon Perez, Scorpio is taking her campaign to voters by knocking on doors across heavily Latino District 13. She’s used a volunteer Spanish translator to help her make the pitch in the district, which includes a slice of Johnston and parts of the Hartford, Silver Lake, and Olneyville sections in Providence.
There’s a third candidate in the race for the seat being vacated by John Carnevale, 21-year-old Anthony DeFilippo. But it’s unclear if DeFilippo is actively campaigning. Rhode Island Public Radio made repeated efforts to interview him, but DeFilippo didn’t make himself available ahead of the deadline for this story.
The voters will have their say on September 13.
Note: It was initially reported in this story that Scorpio’s translator was hired to work for the campaign. The campaign said the translator is a volunteer.
