Beauté says her background as someone who grew up with modest means and developed a career in IT shows that she has the right stuff. But like many other CD1 candidates, she faces a challenge in getting better known ahead of the September fifth primary. So what is this congressional hopeful about, and does she have a pathway to victory?
I’m Ian Donnis and this week I’m going in-depth with CD1 Democratic candidate Stephanie Beauté.
TRANSCRIPT:
Ian Donnis: Welcome to The Public’s Radio.
Stephanie Beauté: Thank you for having me.
Ian Donnis: Tell me, why are you running for this open seat in the first congressional district?
Stephanie Beauté: I think it’s time for Rhode Islanders to elect smart leadership, who are really focused on being proactive rather than reactive to a lot of the things that we’re currently facing. And so when we talk about, you know, climate crisis, gun violence, a woman’s right, and even right now, with cybersecurity, AI and machine learning, there’s an opportunity here for us to send our best and our brightest to Congress. And I think that I’m the person for the job.
Ian Donnis: You’re a new face on the political scene. Tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you do for your day job? What town Do you live in? What’s your background?
Stephanie Beauté: Sure. So my background is in product software development, I’ve worked in that for a number of years, I don’t want to age myself too much. Everyone says I look young. And I’m gonna keep going with that works really well for me. But my background is in cybersecurity, cyber risk management, API, integration, small mobile app developments, redesigning intranet sites, and so really looking at how to kind of take monolithic tools, and break them apart and create a whole new holistic system where it can either increase productivity, boost engagement, the list can go on and go, and so forth. And so really good at solving problems. And it within product, a lot of that conversation is talking to people. A lot of people think they have the solution to things. And once speaking with me, we kind of kind of break apart those layers. And we come up with the actual proposed resolution, which has been great. I’ve lived in Rhode Island for over 25 years since the seventh grade. So I’ve been in Rhode Island and I haven’t left physically left the state and in ever, unless I’m traveling on vacation, I guess. But I think I might be the only candidate that’s lived throughout CD one, I grew up on the west end of Providence. My first apartment was in East Providence and then moved to Bristol and then lived in Newport, and then back to Bristol and then Coventry. And now North Smithfield is what I call home. I think it’s a unique perspective, because when you live on the island versus off the island on the East Bay and what that looks like and for folks on the West End, and then up in the Greater Providence area near Woonsocket, and what that looks like it’s being able to have a unique set of experiences in that space of what the community actually experiences and goes through.
Ian Donnis: I listened to your interview with Bill Bartholomew, and correct me if I’m wrong, but you were kind of describing the political process in Rhode Island as being kind of closed. But I think it’s worth noting that three of the four recent members in Rhode Island’s congressional delegation, Jim Langevin, David Cicilline, and Jack Reed all served as state lawmakers before running for Congress, Sheldon Whitehouse had a few different jobs in state government. So are you aiming too high? By running for you did run for Secretary of State last year, and now you’re running for Congress? Would it make more sense to run for city council or the legislature before running for Congress?
Stephanie Beauté: I think that’s a great question. Not necessarily No, I, what I’ve found is that folks who have worked in that particular bubble, of sorts kind of see things in a particular lens, and I present a fresh perspective. And I think it’s a unique perspective that’s necessary. And to be quite honest, I don’t want to be groomed for Congress. So I want to be able to stand out in that sense, and, and I don’t have any dead bodies or people that I owe anything to. And so I’m not beholden to a particular group who’s put me into a particular place of, of power or having some form of authority over any particular piece of legislation. So I get to come in with a clean slate and be beholden to my community, and not the folks who got me into certain spaces.
Ian Donnis: There’s a very large field of candidates in CD one, I think we’re up to about 16 or 17. Candidates potentially, how do you outflank better known better funded candidates like Sabina Matos and Aaron Regenburg?
Stephanie Beauté: I think one, I love that question. So one of the things that makes me different is Sabina Matos ran for lieutenant governor. And that is the job that she applied for and CD two had an open seat, and she didn’t go for Congress. So I think that for Rhode Islanders, we need to be mindful of one if either she doesn’t want to do that job anymore. She knows she can’t do that job. And I believe she put out a poll where it showed that she had about 22% of points of folks who kind of supported her but I think that showed to me data-wise that 80% of Rhode Islanders don’t want her in that spot and they want her to be lieutenant governor for the role that they elected her and they trusted her to do so and so usurping that office is unfortunate. With Aaron Regenburg. I think he’s an interesting personality, and he brings his experience with climate and clean energy. And I think we already have that with with Senator Whitehouse. So I believe that there’s an opportunity here in Congress to have a not only a diverse makeup from the obvious perspective, but from an intellectual perspective. And we don’t have folks who understand technology who understand the mechanics of cyber risk and cybersecurity, or machine learning and AI. And being able to present that piece is the value that I also bring, because I believe about 90% of us are already aligned on women’s rights and gun issues. And so I check off all of those boxes. But the box that they can’t beat me with is understand understanding technology and how to make sure that we’re safe.
Ian Donnis: Cost of living is a big issue for a lot of people in Rhode Island, including voters in the first congressional district, if you were the next member of Congress, what would you do to help the economic condition of your constituents?
Stephanie Beauté: I would like us to spend a great deal of our energy focusing on our small businesses, by empowering our small businesses and investing in them and not by giving them shark loans, really giving them an opportunity to succeed, we’ll find that the money within our communities stays longer, and people will be able to make amends. Another thing is raising our minimum wage, I believe it’s what 7.25 or something from a federal standpoint, when I was in college was 6.75, when I was working, and I think that that’s atrocious for where we’re at. And so there is work to be done in that regard. And so fighting for that, and also being able to remove these predatory practices with student loans. And so as you’ve seen, I don’t know, if you’ve looked into the data with a pause on student loans, a lot of folks have been able to actually purchase homes, buy cars. And once that student loan pause, absolves honestly, that becomes more so of a burden for our working class folks. Two thirds of the student loans held are by women, professional women. And so that puts what the inability to purchase a home a car or start a family, all of those things are burdening on the working class. And so canceling student loan debt is not only a economic resolution, but also a human resolution to our current crisis that we’re facing here.
Ian Donnis: You’re right to say that many of your rival candidates and you support a woman’s right to choose. I’m curious, why do you think Democrats were so ineffective in countering the Republican campaign to reshape the US Supreme Court in a more conservative direction?
Stephanie Beauté: I think that there’s been a lot of focus on fighting within the party and trying to control a particular group, instead of being more proactive on how we can resolve things. And the Democratic Party. If they’re not too attentive, they will end up losing once more, because one of the reasons why Trump was so popular was that he had no desire to kind of play the political banter. And he presented himself as someone who was more focused on the underdog. And I think that the Democrats really need to be able to present resolutions, and be more proactive, rather than reactive. And so that was an opportunity missed. And I think that there’s going to be a lot of ground to pick up there. But I think that we need to be more mindful and strategic in our approach in reaching out to our constituents and being able to make sure that we meet them where they need so that we can be effective in the courts.
Ian Donnis: I’m talking here with Stephanie Beauté, a Democratic candidate in Rhode Island’s first congressional district, one of the issues you say that’s important for you is the future of Social Security and Medicare, we know that these entitlement programs are not funded fully going forward. And what would you do to ensure the sustainability of programs like that?
Stephanie Beauté: So I, I come from technology. And so I believe in a pragmatic approach and not the fluff idea of sorts. And so I’m looking at all options. And that might not necessarily speak to a particular political group or amplify that. But I believe that having a staunch approach and being able to weigh out all options is really important. And so one of the conversations that I’m I’m wanting to address is perhaps we raise the cap from what it is now where, if you make about $140,000, I believe that’s when you start paying and your that money is allocated towards social security. And then the rest of it isn’t taxed to get to our security. And so removing the cap is an option. Another option is I know that Republicans have presented and you know, some people were probably shuttering because I said the word Republican, but I think we need to be pragmatic and being able to have conversations with folks that we might not necessarily agree with, but be able to privatize some social security. I’m not for fully privatizing for Social Security, mainly because when I graduated from college and the stock market crashed, everyone lost everything. So imagine you putting all of your eggs in one basket and it all goes haywire, and then we lose everything. So I don’t believe in taking that kind of a risk. And if you’re really good at stocks, I’m not, then you have the opportunity for it to increase right so they are the pros and cons. But another thought that I’m thinking is maybe a portion of that goes into the stock market. And then the other piece is a little bit more conservative in the way that we’re spending. And I think we need to be more fiscally responsible and look at all options. And so I don’t have a one answer for that. Because I really liked to one, the economy’s changing, but I really liked to make sure I have a lot of different aspects to solving a particular problem. And I think there, there’s multiple things, and I’m gonna keep the options open.
Ian Donnis: There’s a lot of political polarization in America right now, I’m sure that’s not news to you, what do you think we can do to become less brittle as a country?
Stephanie Beauté: I think the finger pointing is the issue. Instead of saying, it’s the Republicans or the Trump errs, we’re forgetting that they are people. And the reason why they particularly are a fan of one group over the other is because they are presenting a solution to a particular problem. And the way that we can do that is by creating solutions that meet the needs of all and not just a select few. And that’s why I’m always concerned when folks kind of get really hyper focused on labels like progressive, moderate, and conservative, I look at it as people, right. So if I can’t afford to live in my home, as a moderate, does that mean that my values are not as much of a concern to you, and you’re only focused on those progressive values? That would be a concern to me? And if I’m a progressive, and what about for the folk, you know, on the other end of the spectrum, so I think that we need to be mindful about that. And having engaging in dialogue is really, really important. I think that the dismissing of folks when speaking, and also the dehumanization of folks is also a very alarming state that we’re entering with politics, where we’re saying, if this particular group is speaking, they’re crazy, they’re nuts. We’re not going to entertain, we’re starting to dehumanize a particular group. And they will react and respond in an adverse way. And I understand why. And so I want us to remove ourselves from that unfortunate tendency in policy and politics.
Ian Donnis: Last question, what is your favorite restaurant in the first congressional district?
Stephanie Beauté: Oh, my gosh, I have so many. So if we’re Newport, it’s Zelldas, but then if it’s breakfast it is definitely the hungry monkey, because we see each other every Sunday in Newport. If we are on Federal Hill, it’s Constantinos. And then if it’s brunch, it’s definitely at freak the lounge for a colorful injection of flavor in your mouth. And then I could go on and on. And then if we’re in Bristol, it’s definitely the Hope Diner for their coffee milk. And I have a great story for that as well.
Ian Donnis: All right, we’ve got to leave it there because we’re out of time. Thank you so much for joining us. First congressional district Democratic candidate Stephanie Beauté.
Stephanie Beauté
Thank you for having me.
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The Rhode Island Political Cooperative burst on the statewide political scene in 2020 and had some early success in electing progressive state senators. But the co-op’s ambitions crashed when another run for governor by Matt Brown fell short last year and the group’s legislative candidates were mostly defeated. Now, the co-op has another challenge. You can read more about that in my weekly TGIF column, posting later today on my twitter at Ian Don or on our website at the publics radio.org
Thanks for listening to our show this week.
Our producer is James Baumgartner.
I’m Ian Donnis and I’ll see you on the radio.
