More Meetings

I was walking my dogs Wednesday afternoon when I noticed a short, blonde woman in her forties on the sidewalk by Washington Park. What caught my eye was the distinctive blue of a set of Nomination Papers. It was State Senate Majority Leader Teresa Paiva Weed, who also happens to be my representative in the State Senate. I showed her my own Nomination Papers, which I had on a clipboard attached to my belt, and pointed out that we were on the same errand. I explained what seat I was running for, and she offered to sign my papers, until I pointed out that she didn't live in the right district. I offered to sign her papers until she pointed out that the papers she was carrying were for Jamestown. Then we wished each other luck and went on our ways.

Back in 2002, during the Great Contraction, Paiva Weed found that the redistricting put her in the same senate district as her Democratic colleague J. Clement "Bud" Cicilline. There was nothing for it but for Paiva Weed and Cicilline to face each other in a primary election, and Paiva Weed won. Cicilline retired from public life until last year, when he ran for the special election for the 75th. As noted below, he lost the special election to Republican Steve Coaty, who is now the incumbent that Peter Martin and I are running against.

Cicilline called me on Tuesday and said he'd like to meet me. I agreed, and we met at the Newport Creamery on Bellevue Avenue. Cicilline explained that he had already met with Peter to talk about his plans for the election, and that in all fairness he felt he ought to meet with me to do the same. I explained about the issues I was interested in and told him about this blog, and he gave me advice about how to meet with potential voters and gain some attention (because, let's face it -- politics is all about getting peoples' attention). He happened to be carrying Nomination Papers for Jack Reed, and I happily signed, but I'd forgotten to bring my own. A pity.

If nothing else, running for this seat is serving as an introduction to the local political shakers and movers.