Letter: On three former Democrats running as Independents

Posted 7/14/22

To the editor: Last week's Phoenix contained an article regarding candidate filings for the upcoming November elections, and while there were very few surprises, there was one thing that really stood …

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Letter: On three former Democrats running as Independents

Posted

To the editor:

Last week's Phoenix contained an article regarding candidate filings for the upcoming November elections, and while there were very few surprises, there was one thing that really stood out to me, and that was the decision by three long-time Democrat politicians to leave the party and run as independents in the races for Bristol Town Council and Rhode Island State Senate.

While one of these candidates made a diplomatic statement in last week's Phoenix regarding his reasons for leaving the party, I have a very strong opinion that the decision by these three candidates to abandon the Democrat party points to a much larger issue, and that is the long running feud between the Bristol Democratic Town Committee and so-called "old guard" Democrats.

As someone who has voted straight democrat for the past 42 years, I'm very disappointed in these three individuals leaving the party, but I'm well aware every candidate has the right to run under any party label they choose. And while I wish we could go back to the old days of strictly Democrat vs. Republican, unfortunately it seems to me the new battle in Bristol politics will be between the "Modern Democrats" and the unofficial "traditional family values" party.

In any event, we won't know until November if these three former Democrats overplayed their hand by leaving the party, and in the meantime, I'll do everything in my power to see that only those candidates endorsed by the Bristol Democratic Town Committee are voted into office.

Mike Proto
245 Chestnut St.

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