Sen. Jessica de la Cruz (R-North Smithfield), the second-ranking Republican in the Rhode Island Senate, joins Political Rountable this week, along with reporter Steph Machado from WPRI-TV, Channel 12, and URI professor emeritus Maureen Moakley.
Here’s an edited transcript of the conversation:
Ian Donnis: Let’s start with the big news of the week in Rhode Island. That’s the confirmation of Governor Raimondo as U.S. Commerce Secretary and the moving up of Lieutenant Governor Dan McKee as governor. Sen. de la Cruz, what are your hopes for the biggest differences you will see from Governor McKee in comparison to Governor Raimondo?
de la Cruz: I’ll start right with the whole Zambarano issue — we had reached out to the governor to really gather some information about what was happening to the hospital. Six months went by, we still heard nothing. And with Governor Dan McKee, within three days, we had a meeting with him, and we were already discussing Zambarano, and I think that’s going to be a big difference is his ability and his willingness to, to communicate with us.
Donnis: Maureen, what are your hopes and expectations for Governor Dan McKee?
Moakley: Well, I think he’s in a very good place, because he’s fortunate enough to be at the part of the vaccine, where we have now the vaccine — Johnson & Johnson has just kicked in, we received it, we’ve finally got in the capacity to administer it. There might be some short term problems with the system with the teachers coming in. But all in all, I think that’s going to be a win for him. Certainly a win in terms of the fact that the if things go right, we won’t have a budget shortfall, if this bill passes at the federal level. And I think that’s going to be a great asset to him as he goes forward. There might be pressure to open up business, but I’m encouraged that he’s doing this. He’s doing this with a consortium with Connecticut and Massachusetts. So he is reaching out. His big issue is going to be education. The charter school debate is not going away. Many in the minority community are really conflicted about this. There is real tension — by the way, opportunities for Republicans — and he’s got to support the reform of the schools. So he’s got some good, you know, he’s starting off well, but he’s got some big problems down the road.
Donnis: Steph, Governor Raimondo obviously has now been confirmed as U.S. Commerce Secretary, overseeing an agency with a $9 billion annual budget about 47,000 employees and 12 separate bureaus, including the Census Bureau. What is your sense of what kind of impact we will see in Rhode Island from her new role?
Machado: I just think having the former governor of the smallest state being in such a powerful position could be a good thing for the state. She’s obviously paying attention to what is happening here, but the Census in particular is going to affect Rhode Island greatly. It’s not complete yet, but we understand that we may lose a congressional seat as a result of the census. And there’s frankly a lot of concern about there being a potential under count because of the way the Census was handled under the Trump administration and concerns about both the pandemic Census-taking and and what have you. Going back to Governor McKee, I I agree with Maureen that education is going to be a major topic to continue to watch. He has been a big charter school proponent thus far, but he’s also trying to stay on the good side of the teachers’ unions when he attempts to run for re-election next year. And we’ve seen that with his push to vaccinate teachers, in addition to the other reasons, of course, that he stated for that. So that is one of the really big things to watch for him.
Donnis: Let’s continue with some questions for our guest, state Sen. Jessica de la Cruz. Senator, I’d like to start with some of the fallout from the presidential election in November because we see how that’s still very much impacting things in Washington. Do you agree that Joe Biden won the election fair and square last November?
de la Cruz: Joe Biden won the election. He’s the the president. And I would like to say I don’t usually comment on national politics, because Rhode Island has plenty of its own issues and they’re issues that Trump is not responsible for. But I also don’t dodge questions, either. And I would also say I’m not a Trump apologist. I know that a lot of people complained about him and begged him to get off Twitter. And they got their wish — he’s off Twitter now. However, you know, I feel like the longer president is no longer in office there, the higher their approval rating usually gets years down the road.
Donnis: I appreciate where you’re coming from in that, yes, we do have plenty of our own problems in Rhode Island. Nonetheless, it is concerning, I think, to all of us how there’s a situation in America now, where there are a large percentage of Trump supporters who kind of believe in an alternate reality. We see that polling shows that. And I don’t know if anyone has an easy solution for this, but what are your thoughts on how we as a country move past a situation where a significant percentage of Trump supporters don’t believe that Biden won the election and they kind of believe in their own alternate reality?
de la Cruz: you know, I knocked on thousands of doors in my district. I think I knocked on every door, came very close to every door that was a voter, Democrats, Republicans, unaffiliated voters. And, you know, afterwards when people will reach out to me, I would say they likened it to when the hanging chads with Al Gore, you know, Al Gore wanted to have a recount. And so they granted him that recount. And, you know, I think when, when Republicans are Trump supporters, look at what happened. They just want, they want to be heard. And they want to make sure that when something is brought to light, say to the Supreme Court that they have due process.
Machado: Senator, the Rhode Island Senate is becoming increasingly progressive, election after election. And while the leaders of the chamber remain moderate, or what some would call conservative Democrats, they certainly have a caucus that is more to the left. And they’ve shown that with their support for things like legalizing marijuana this year, and potentially raising taxes on high-income earners. I’m wondering in that environment of a Senate that’s moving to the left, how do you as a Republican in the minority stay relevant and have your ideas continued to be considered?
de la Cruz: I think all ideas are relevant. And I think what our issue is, is that Republicans are under-represented in the Statehouse. And that’s something that we’re working on. I think our message resonates with voters. I’ll say this, that I’ve had conversations with, again, with anybody, anybody that will have a conversation with me, I’ll chat with them. And a true story. One person said to me, I’ve never met a Republican like you. And I said, you just haven’t met enough Republicans, because we’re very similar. And so I think that’s going to be our, has been our hurdle. And we have to overcome that is getting our message out so that that narrative isn’t written for us, but that we’re able to, you know, get our message out
Machado: Do you think that President Trump’s reputation has harmed Republicans in Rhode Island? Because I know you say you don’t love to comment on national politics, but he was the leader of your party while you’re trying to get more traction in Rhode Island.
de la Cruz: We were all re-elected. So I don’t think that it did. And I can only go off of what happened in my district. And I had, you know, like I said, I got 66 percent of the vote. That means that I had to have unaffiliated and Democrats vote for me. And I’m thankful that they have placed their trust in me to represent them there at the statehouse.
Moakley: I just want to follow up shortly on your answer to Steph. You are aware, of course, that after the January 6, when people looked at registration, a lot of Republicans disaffiliated. You lost some of your base. How does that fit into your position that Trump doesn’t matter?
de la Cruz: So it’s interesting in Rhode Island, because, you know, I’d knock on a door and I have information about who the voter is, if they’re Democrat or Republican. So I kind of have an idea that I might be welcomed at the door or maybe get a door slammed in my face, right? And sometimes I would knock on the door. And, you know, I think, Okay, this individual’s a Democrat, might be difficult conversation, but then I’d be welcomed at the door and say, oh, my goodness, ‘I’m so glad you knocked on my door.’ And you know, and I would be surprised, but the thing is, is that Republicans sometimes and Democrats do this too, will disaffiliate become an unaffiliated voter and then vote in primaries in, you know, for Democrats or Republicans. So I just don’t know if that’s coincidental or if that’s just what happens after election time, people disaffiliate for that purpose.
Donnis: Senator de la Cruz, let’s come back to Zambarano. That’s a health care facility in northern Rhode Island, part of the Eleanor Slater. And the Raimondo administration on the way out kind of started decreasing the patient census there. That sparked concern from officials like yourself in northern Rhode Island. At the same time the Eleanor Slater facilities have been plagued by large deficits. So how can those two concerns be balanced, the financial concerns and the concerns that adequate health care be offered?
de la Cruz: That’s a great question. And, you know, as a Republican, I hate wasteful spending. My motto is always needs before wants. And Zambrano is a need. There is no other place for these individuals to go. And so when we look at needs versus wants, again, Zambarano in need. When I spoke to a physician just recently retired. He was 20 years the director of the facility. And he said that for 10 years, the federal government has really sounded the alarm for the hospital, saying that they need to have electronic records, because at the moment, they have paper records. And in order to receive funding, they needed to transfer over to electronic records. But the hospital did not make that transition. And so now we’re in a bind, because we’re not going to receive federal money for the hospital. So we need to immediately make those changes so that we can start billing patients and so the hospital isn’t underwater.
Machado: Senator, next year the Republicans are going to be looking for a candidate for governor. Two-part question. Part one, are you considering being that candidate?
de la Cruz: No, I am running for reelection Senate District 23, Burrillville, Gloucester, North Smithfield.
Machado: And then the second part is, with Governor McKee being a little bit more moderate than Governor Raimondo. Does that hurt Republicans at all and trying to field a really strong candidate, knowing that he’s the incumbent next year?
de la Cruz: I don’t think so. No. I, I don’t know who’s going to run for the Republicans. But I don’t think that that will be an issue.
Donnis: One final question for you, Senator de la Cruz. There are some parts of Rhode Island that are more hospitable terrain for Republicans, such as yourself — certainly your district based in North Smithfield. There are other parts that are a tougher climb for Republican candidates. What do you think Republicans need to do differently to build their representation in the General Assembly?
de la Cruz: You know, I think we’ve gotten a bad rap. Like I said, we need to get our message out there. Because we are for school choice. And if we look at, you know, the people that testified in the education committee, not my committee, but I sat through the four hours of testimony; people testifying in Spanish because of the desperation that they felt for their children. An 11-year-old boy, I think, testified and so we need to get our message out that we are for the disadvantaged, for school choice. I think our values as Republicans line up with a lot of the minorities. They’re very conservative, they’re family-oriented, and I think that they fit with in the Republican Party.
