Remember the last Gubernatorial election when Ashley Kalus moved to Rhode Island seemingly ten minutes before announcing her candidacy? At that time and leading up to the 2024 election, it seemed like there were numbers of similar occurrences of ‘Republican Plants’ throughout the country. At least around here this ploy didn’t work.
This election cycle, particularly in the primary’s, candidates ran / are running as Democrats or Independents who, up until this year, have a history as registered Republicans. That info is public and free to look up.
Locally, it’s interesting to note where a town council candidate puts their lawn signs. In a small town like Warren some residents “know too much” about other residents. For instance, if a candidate running as a Democrat or Independent has a lawn sign in front of a house known to be a supporter of this current regime, one makes inferences. Is this candidate actually aligned with the views of the homeowner where the sign sits? Where MAGA signs sat only a year and a half ago?
The issue is that some of us don’t know these candidates. We don’t know where they stand on important issues. We can only make inferences based on what we see. The Times-Gazette does a good job of printing Q & A’s each week, but there’s so much more a voter needs to understand about a candidate before choosing them to lead our town for the next several years.
What happened to the old days when town council candidates would go door-to-door to meet their constituents, listen to their concerns, and put a face to the name on the signs? So far this cycle, I’ve had only one of the five folks running come to my door and I've spoken with only two of the five candidates, the other of which I approached on the street when I saw them handing out paraphernalia in front of the Post Office.
Now, I am aware that it would be nearly impossible to visit every household in town, but I live on Child Street, pretty close to uptown, and a short walk from town hall. I am active within the community, own a shop uptown and, maybe most importantly, I am not affiliated with either party, so one would think I’d be an important constituent to chat with.
With the election forum coming up this Wednesday (7pm at Town Hall), it would have been helpful to personally talk to the other candidates, maybe ask a few questions that are important to me, before listening to them regurgitate rote answers. But that’s just me, I care about this town.