6 Questions with John DeLuca and Republican Chairman Brandon Bell

August 7, 2015 6:55 am

By News Staff

Reporting by John DeLuca

jdeluca@abc6.com

The struggles of the Republican Party in Rhode Island are well documented, and decades of dominance by the democrats has essentially turned RI into a one-party-state.

Now, the republicans have a new chairman. He's been on the job for about four months, and while he isn't promising to end the dominance, he is promising a new vision and a new message for the party so that voters have a real alternative in the voting booth.

John DeLuca sat down with Brandon Bell Thursday night for six questions.

Not long after meeting Bell one might notice that he's full of energy and optimism, and as the new chair of the Republican Party in Rhode Island–he'd better be.

"The party needed new leadership… needed some enthusiasm. I have a little bit of that, some optimism, and I felt it was time to bring that to the table," he says.

The 43-year-old Providence attorney knows all too well that republicans in Rhode Island have been going up-hill, into the wind on election days, like a cruel political version of the movie "Groundhog Day." The same results cycle after cycle–regardless of obvious missteps by Democrats.

"For too long, Democrats in this state have controlled everything, and it's time that they don't control the conversation," Bell explains.

As chairman, which is a volunteer position, he and his staff know they need to recruit legitimate candidates, and of course, they need money.

The first question John asks, "Where are you in recruiting and funding?"

"The only thing second to oxygen in politics is money and we need money. We're going to hold fundraisers, we're going to seek out people who have two people in the position. We're going to be hosting recruitment classes… campaign education," says Bell.

Next, John asks what the ideal Republican candidate looks like, "What's a profile of, or what you would see as a successful Rhode Island Republican? What would the make up of this person, he or she, what would it be? Where would they stand politically on most issues, someone who you could say, 'if we had somebody like this, we could get him or her elected?'"

"Candidates who care about small business. Candidates who care about business-friendly initiatives, not taxing healthcare, not taxing vacation rentals. These are the types of candidates that we're looking for," Bell explained.

When this interview aired, Bell was in Ohio watching the Republican Presidential candidates in their first debate, including the current front-runner, bombastic billionaire, Donald Trump.

"He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured," said Trump about Senator John McCain's military history in a recent interview.

"I hope Donald Trump tones it down a bit. I don't think it's the most horrible message in the world, and someone asked me today, would I welcome him to Rhode Island for fundraising, or for some other reason? We're a big tent. We're not going to say no, because there are a lot of people that agree with a lot of his positions," said Bell.

Bell also told John that the party's number one focus for 2016 is the General Assembly. When asked for specifics on the number of people recruited so far, Bell could not say–which probably means none or not many.

As for Cranston Mayor Allan Fung and his recent problems with the police department, when Bell was asked whether Fung's political career is now over, he said he did not want to speculate.

If you're interested in running as a republican of if you're just looking for more information, visit their website at www.ri.gop.