Two Primaries On Tap In GA Races
Five candidates, including three Republicans, are vying for House Dist. 30; three candidates, including two Democrats, in race for Senate Dist. 33 race.
The signatures have been counted, the candidates are decided, and for East Greenwich voters, anyway, there two primaries to be waged for the three General Assembly seats apportioned to our town.
The obvious race up for grabs is for House District 30, the seat long held by Bob Watson, who announced he would not seek re-election in June. Five candidates have submitted enough signatures to be on the ballot – three of them are Republicans, so there will be a primary in the Republican race on Sept. 11.
Bob Bolton, Emil Fachon, and Antonio Giarrusso will have to battle it out in the primary. Bolton has run twice before for the seat, first as a Republican, then two years ago as an independent. Fachon and Giarrusso are newcomers to the political scene. Fachon is the GOP-endorsed candidate.
The Republican who triumphs in the primary will go on to face Democrat Mark Schwager and independent Kevin McDonough.
East Greenwich is divided into two state Senate districts: District 33, which is primarily in Coventry but includes the western part of EG, and District 35, which is primarily in North Kingstown but includes most of EG as well as part of Narragansett.
In the District 33 race, two Democrats are vying to unseat incumbent Glen Shibley, a Republican. One of those Democrats, Leo Raptakis of Coventry, held the District 33 seat since 1996, but gave it up two years ago to run for Secretary of State. He lost in a primary race to A. Ralph Mollis, the current Secretary of State. Dave Gorman, the other Democrat, is the endorsed candidate.
That race has already heated up, with Raptakis raising the issue of Gorman's landscaping company owing back taxes.
Republican Glenford Shibley, the incumbent, won the seat in 2010.
The race for Senate District 35 will not have a primary, but it does have three candidates: incumbent Dawson Hodgson, a Republican from North Kingstown; Democrat Winter Hames III, of Narragansett; and independent Harvey Cataldo, of Narragansett.
Hodgson was elected to the seat in 2010, following the retirement of Mike Lenihan.
Chuck Barton
12:15 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Mr. Fachon has not been endorsed by the East Greenwich Republican Town Committee for the House seat. The officlal endorsement that he received comes from the District 30 Republican committee. The district committee is composed of five people recommended by Bob Watson, current state representative, and appointed by the state Republican party chairman. The East Greenwich Republican Town Committee cannot provide an official endorsement but could choose to support another candidate, even if the candidate was not "the endorsed candidate." The same is true for the West Greenwich Republican town committee, as District 30 includes sections of that town that border East Greenwich. While Mr. Fachon is a worthy candidate, I think it should be clear that his endorsement comes from a small group of people chosen by Bob Watson rather than from the larger and more broad-based East Greenwich Republican Town Committee or from the state Republican Party.
Elizabeth McNamara
1:45 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
Thanks Chuck. I amended the story to reflect GOP (not town committee) endorsement, but this explanation helps a lot!