Just one day after Congressman Patrick Kennedy jolted the state’s political establishment by announcing that he would not seek re-election in November, two marquee names in Rhode Island’s Democratic Party, Pawtucket resident William Lynch, the party chairman, and Providence Mayor David Cicilline, both declared that they will seek his job.

The dual announcements set up a potential Democratic primary in the 1st District that is almost certain to attract one or several more candidates as the campaign season proceeds.

Both Cicilline and Lynch say they want to go to Congress because Washington has lost touch with the needs of average citizens.

In a written statement, Lynch, 52, declared that “The partisan politics of Washington are no longer providing solutions for the taxpayers of Rhode Island. Rhode Islanders can no longer afford the partisan bickering both the Republican and Democratic parties provided last year. 

“I want Rhode Island families to know I will not participate in the rhetoric that has left all of us discouraged and disillusioned these past few years.”

In his formal announcement, Cicilline, 48, said, “I’m running for Congress to take to Washington what I know about getting hard things done. That’s what mayors do every day —solve difficult problems. We cut costs, resolve complex problems, and look an impossible challenge in the eye and just figure it out. We know how to work across party lines and build coalitions to get things done. 

“I intend to bring these critical skills and perspectives to Washington and represent this state’s urgent need to move beyond our current stagnancy and toward the economic vitality that I am so confident is within our reach,” the mayor said.

Lynch said Saturday that he gave the job of party chairman “110 percent effort, I don’t make any apologies for that.” But, he added, “I also managed, I think, to disagree without being disagreeable with most people, including most of the Republican chairs I worked with recently.

“Part of my job as party chair, just like the Republican Party chair, and the national Republican and Democratic chairs, is to be the spokesman for the opposition party. I think people will recognize that.”

Lynch says he believes he is going to be able to work with and talk with people of both parties in Congress. “I share the sentiment of complete, almost anger at this point, at what is happening in Washington. Nothing is being done. It is completely broken. It’s not accomplishing anything for anyone.

“Especially on the issue of job creation, he said, “that should not be a Democratic or Republican issue, that should be an issue everyone cares about.”

In a telephone interview, Cicilline decried what he calls the “dangerous disconnect between what Washington think will help the American people out of this incredibly serious economic crisis and what really will. It’s something I see in my job as mayor every single day.

“We need someone to go to Washington and really fight on behalf of the hard-working middle class families who have been really suffering in this economic crisis. The experience I have as mayor will give me the ability not only to convey first-hand what we see on the street, 

The “number one priority,” Cicilline said, is “creating jobs, preparing people for the workforce of the 21st century and retaining the jobs we currently have.”

He said an example of that is the work Providence is doing developing the “knowledge district” that is being opened up by the removal of the Route 195 overpass in the old Jewelry District with colleges, hospitals and the biomedical industry. “That will not only create jobs right now, but it will really put Rhode Island in an important competitive position in the knowledge economy in America and the jobs of the future.”

Cicilline also touted the proposed Metropolitan Transit System he sees serving customers from Warwick to Pawtucket to build on what we have and make the transit system more robust. That is an important quality of life issue.”

In his press release, Lynch recalled his roots in Pawtucket and the 1st District, noting that his family has lived in the district for more than 100 years, that his father, the late Dennis Lynch, was mayor of Pawtucket and that his grandfather owned a pub there.
It did not mention, however, that his younger brother, Patrick, is the state’s attorney general and is running to be governor.

 “I don’t think I need to point that out to people,” Lynch answered when asked. “He’s clearly a candidate for governor; he has been attorney general for seven years. But what I do believe is that people in Rhode Island and the 1st District are much smarter and more sophisticated voters than people sometimes give them credit for. I think that those people as this campaign develops are going to make a very easy and clear determination that there is a significant distinction between a U.S. Congressional race to represent the 1st District and someone else running for a statewide race here in Rhode Island. I don’t think that’s going to be as big an issue as some people, apparently my opponents, would like people to think.” 

Both men say the prospect of a large primary field does not affect the way they will run their campaigns.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Lynch said. “Once I made a determination that this is an area of public service that I can be effective at, whoever else runs didn’t factor into my decision at all.  Anytime you run for office, I don’t know of any candidate who says gee, I hope I have a primary, but if I have one here, that’s fine, I’ll be successful and we’ll go on to challenge the Republican and talk about the important differences between the two parties and the candidates leading up to November.”

Cicilline said, “This is a really important moment in the history of our state and the history of our country and I believe I can make a contribution to be a forceful and effective advocate for Rhode Island in Congress. In the next nine months I will be going out to make my case to the people in the 1st District. I know there will be other people in the race who will presumably do the same thing. The people of the district will make that choice but I will make my case that my skills and experience make me the right person for the job.”