Representatives like Joseph McNamara need challengers

Posted 4/30/15

To the Editor:

I would like to see more Rhode Islanders run for office in 2016. 

With an insignificant amount of money, no name recognition, I managed to bring in almost 40 percent of the …

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Representatives like Joseph McNamara need challengers

Posted

To the Editor:

I would like to see more Rhode Islanders run for office in 2016. 

With an insignificant amount of money, no name recognition, I managed to bring in almost 40 percent of the vote against U.S. Rep. David Cicilline in 2014. The campaign was difficult, especially because we had so few resources, but it was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. 

Rhode Island is in dire need of new leadership. We are hemorrhaging young people yearly, and the current democratic leadership seems incapable or unwilling to make any changes to make our state more competitive. 

A good first step would be challenging the current chair of the Democratic Party, state Representative Joseph McNamara. His tenure is nothing short of sad. First elected in 1994, while during his time in the General Assembly, our state has consistently ranked last or near last in almost all categories related to business. The unemployment rate has only dropped because more and more people are leaving our beautiful state and wanton corruption is pandemic. 

To fill absence of anything substantive, McNamara typically regurgitates generic statements about fighting for the middle class and job creation. However, the truth is: he is a vapid, out of touch man that reeks of stagnation and champions obsolete ideas that should have been thought nearly a decade ago. 

What better statement to make than challenging the chair of the party that has a monopoly on our political system?

We need more people to run for office and challenge these incumbents who have worn out their welcome. Democracy means choice. Only around 50 percent of our state representatives were challenged in 2014, and people like McNamara ran unopposed. That is a tragedy.  

Give it a try, and please give us a choice. 

Remember all you need to run for state representative is 50 signatures.  Please think about it. 

Matt Fecteau 

Pawtucket 

Matt Fecteau (MattforRI@gmail.com), of Pawtucket, lost to U.S. Rep. David Cicilline in last year’s Democratic primary. He is a former White House national security intern and captain in the Army Reserve with two tours to Iraq.

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