It's Election time, I own a blog, and I enjoy politics, so I figured I would offer my thoughts on some local races.  Here's a quick summary:


Governor

     For the life of me, I don't know how anyone could vote for Lincoln Chafee or Frank Caprio.  Chafee admits he will raise taxes, and says one of the first things he will do is repeal e-verify.  With Chafee at the helm, Rhode Island's taxes will go up and we'll become a sanctuary state.  Frank Caprio would also be bad, but in different ways.  He says the right things (cut taxes and spending), but I don't trust him.  He seems highly scripted, and to be honest, I'm not sure what we would be getting.  I have no doubt he would say anything to get elected.

     You might not be surprised to find out I'll be voting for John Robitaille.  We're certainly not in 100% agreement on the issues, but he does seem credible when he talks about reducing the size of government.  He also seems far more trustworthy than Frank Caprio.  Honorable mention goes to Ken Block, who would be getting my vote if John Robitaille weren't in the race.  I also give him credit for consistently bringing up the waste and fraud in the social service spending.  It's an area that certainly needs to be
addressed.


Lieutenant Governor

     I usually vote for Republicans, but this is one race where any Republican would have had to work hard to get my support.  Bob Healey is the only candidate for the Lieutenant Governor who consistently points out the lack of responsibilities for the office, and how this absence of duties cost us $1 million per year.  Think about it: Elizabeth Roberts wants to focus on health care, and Bob Venturini wants to focus on open government.  Can you think of one other job where you would apply and tell your boss what you plan on doing?  I'm voting for Bob Healey, and if we ever need him, I'm confident he could step in and govern.


Secretary of State

     This one is easy: Catherine Taylor.  This race will be much closer than a lot of people expect, and hopefully, it will end with Catherine Taylor defeating Ralph Mollis.


Attorney General

     From what I've seen and heard from Peter Kilmartin, I think he would essentially be equivalent to a third term for Patrick Lynch, which is not a good thing.  Robert Rainville hasn't set himself apart, and Keven McKenna is lacking in so many ways.  I will be voting for Erik Wallin because of his qualifications, along with the feeling that he would be a tough prosecutor.  As for Chris Little, I like what I heard from him, and he seems particularly strong on white-collar crime.  The problem for him and Erik Wallin is that they are in a five-way race for AG.  In a two-way race with Kilmartin, I think either one would be the favorite.


General Treasurer

     Gina Raimondo or Kerry King?  I plan on voting for Kerry King, but I'm not as enthusiastic about his campaign as I am about some of the other Republicans.  With that said, I believe Kerry King is more likely that Gina Raimondo to make tough decisions when it comes to handling the pension problem.


Congress, First District

     This is a tough one.  Rhode Islanders could support a man who is running Providence into the ground, turned it into a sanctuary city, didn't know about his brother's $125,000 bad check to the city, didn't know he was being paid too much, and is an ultra-liberal free-spender...or they could choose John Loughlin.  By the way, did you ever notice that when things go wrong, like John Cicilliine's bad check or being paid too much, he doesn't know?  Many people might be tempted to call him a liar, but it could also be due to gross incompetence.  Which is it Dave, incompetence of dishonesty?


Congress, Second District

     Here, we can choose between Jim Langevin or Mark Zaccaria.  Langevin was a rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi, while Zaccaria believes is limited government.  Mark Zaccaria gets my vote.


Mayor of Providence

     In this race, we have Democrat Angel Taveras and Independent Jon Scott.  I have no doubt Angel Taveras will be a continuation of David Cicilline's administration.  I'm expecting he would have little interest in budget cuts, and would be far quicker to raise taxes.  He would also drive us further down the road to sanctuary city.  

     Both Angel Taveras and Jon Scott want to give tax breaks to owners of unoccupied residential property, basically extending the homestead exemption to absentee landlords.  Here's the problem: In order to make up for that lost revenue, you would either need to raise taxes or cut spending.  I'm pretty sure Angel Taveras won't cut spending.  If cuts don't happen, doesn't that mean the exemption would be paid for by increasing taxes on owner-occupied property and businesses?  As far as I've seen, neither one has addressed
this point.

     To both their credit, each one said they would hire a public safety commissioner, but only Jon Scott said he would fire Esserman.  Both also have some rather foolish ideas. Taveras wants to expand early childhood education, which is odd considering we can't afford what we already have.  He also wants to put bike lanes on all major streets in the

city.  I have a better idea: Fix the pot holes and sidewalks!  Scott also has some odd ones, which include turning the former Perry middle School into a homeless shelter, taxing city employees who don't live in Providence, and having our financially challenged city create a transit authority.

     I think I'll cast a write-in vote for this one.


General Assembly

     Here's my advice: Vote for Republicans.  I know there are a few Democrats and Independents with common sense, but if you were too lazy to do your homeowrk before heading to the polls, this is solid advice.  I've had the opportunity to meet several General Assembly candidates over the past few months, and I'm confident the overwhelming majority would do a better job than the incumbent Democrats.


     There you have it, my picks for Election Day.  If only half are successful, the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations will be a far better place.