Top Democratic Party post appeals to de Ramel political scene
BY ELIZABETH GUDRAIS, SCOTT MAYEROWITZ and KATHERINE GREGG
01:00 AM EDT on Monday, October 2, 2006
Journal State House Bureau

Call it the rumor that nobody started.

Tony Marcella, campaign manager for former secretary-of-state hopeful Guillaume de Ramel, contacted Political Scene to say that “a number of people” had contacted de Ramel to ask whether he might be interested in the chairmanship of the state Democratic Party.

There’s just one problem: The state party already has a chairman, William J. Lynch.

Contacted by Political Scene, Lynch denied any plans to cede the post and said de Ramel is “about the 20th different person” whose name has been bandied about as his successor. “Guillaume called me himself to tell me he had heard it and he knew nothing about it and he wanted to make sure I knew there was no truth to it,” Lynch said.

Political Scene made some calls to politicians around the state, and found Rep. Amy G. Rice, D-Portsmouth, willing to go on the record. “I heard that he’s interested and I wholeheartedly support his candidacy,” Rice said. “He has a lot of fresh ideas and I think he would be great. I will be supporting him, for sure.”

For the record, de Ramel, who lost the Democratic primary for secretary of state to North Providence Mayor A. Ralph Mollis three weeks ago, is interested in the chairmanship — but only, Marcella stressed, when Lynch is ready to vacate the job. “Guillaume supports Bill Lynch a hundred percent,” Marcella said.

Regardless of what happens with the chairmanship, de Ramel is “looking to play an active role within the Democratic Party within the next few years” and plans to maintain a campaign office, Marcella said.

De Ramel, a Newport native from a wealthy family, did well in the southern half of the state and in rural areas. He got more votes than Mollis did in 27 communities: Barrington, Bristol, Burrillville, Charlestown, Coventry, East Greenwich, Exeter, Foster, Glocester, Hopkinton, Jamestown, Little Compton, Middletown, Narragansett, Newport, North Kingstown, North Smithfield, Portsmouth, Richmond, Scituate, Smithfield, South Kingstown, Tiverton, Warren, Warwick, West Greenwich and Woonsocket.

But in general, Mollis won in the more populous communities, so in the end, just 12 of the state’s 39 communities were enough to carry him over the finish line. Mollis prevailed in Central Falls, Cranston, Cumberland, East Providence, Johnston, Lincoln, New Shoreham, North Providence, Pawtucket, Providence, West Warwick and Westerly.

The Republican candidate for secretary of state, Warwick City Councilwoman Sue Stenhouse, got even more votes than Mollis did — 42,495 to Mollis’ 42,385 — perhaps due to the unusually high number of voters who took part in the Republican primary. (On the Republican primary ballot, Stenhouse was the only choice for secretary of state.)

A record 63,459 people voted in the GOP primary this year, smashing the previous record by nearly 20,000. “That’s where all our votes went,” Marcella said. In the 2002 Democratic primary for secretary of state, which pitted Matt Brown against Ed Inman, 103,000 people voted. In the Mollis-de Ramel race, fewer than 80,000 votes were cast.

In the end, de Ramel trailed Mollis by 4,949 votes — a narrow margin, considering that “six months ago, no one knew his name,” Marcella said.

Despite the nastiness of the primary campaign, de Ramel is throwing his support behind Mollis in the fight against Stenhouse. “He wishes the mayor well,” Marcella said. “He’s a Democrat and he’s going to stand by the Democrats.”

RI College Poll

September 6, 2006

A survey conducted by Rhode Island College’s Bureau of Government Research and Services (BGRS) on August 28-31, 2006 found that newcomer Guillaume de Ramel leads endorsed North Providence Mayor Ralph Mollis 55 percent to 45 percent among voters who have made up their minds on their choice for Secretary of State. Nearly 2 in 3 voters who would normally vote in a Democratic Primary will either sit out this year’s primary or haven’t made a choice between de Ramel or Mollis.

The poll was based on a statewide random sample of 333 likely Democratic primary voters in Rhode Island. The sample was proportioned among the state’s geographic regions to reflect the likely voter contribution from each portion of the state. Overall, the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.35 percentage points.

If the September 12 primary is held today, 22 percent say they will vote for de Ramel, 18 percent support Mollis and 60 percent are either undecided or won’t vote in the race. A Brown University poll conducted in June had Mollis leading de Ramel by 23 to 12 percent, with 65 percent undecided.

In RIC’s BGRS poll, de Ramel leads Mollis among both Democrats and independent voters. Among independent voters who have made a choice, de Ramel beats Mollis 56 percent to 44 percent. With Democrats, de Ramel has the edge 54 percent to 46 percent.

Regionally, de Ramel is leading Mollis in all parts of the state, except the Providence Metro region. De Ramel is especially strong in Newport and Washington Counties and in Western Rhode Island. In addition to the Providence Metro region, Mollis is about even with de Ramel in Providence.

The survey was conducted at a centralized telephone bank on the RIC campus on Monday, August 28 through Thursday August 31, between 5:00 and 9:00 p.m.

The sample of 333 voters consisted of persons who identified themselves as likely Democratic primary voters. Interviewees were randomly chosen from most recent updated voting lists provided by the Office of the Secretary of State and were limited to registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters who said they planned to vote in the Democratic primary. The sample was controlled to reflect likely voter contribution by geographic region.

Survey design, implementation, and administration were supervised by Victor Profughi, director of BGRS at RIC, who has nearly 40 years of experience conducting public opinion surveys in Rhode Island. He and members of his supervisory and computer analysis team have conducted more than 1,000 surveys in the state since 1970. Overall, the current poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.35 percentage points at the 94.65 percent confidence level.

Providence Business News

By Justin Sayles , Staff Writer

Thursday, September 7, 2006

A. Ralph Mollis and Guillaume de Ramel sound strikingly similar when they talk about where they’d like to take the office of secretary of state. The Democrats, seeking to replace Matthew Brown, both talk about the need to use technology to make the office more accessible.

Both said they are looking to increase Internet-based services, engage citizens further in their government and make the electoral process and corporate filings easier to navigate. But ask each one about the other, and they no longer sound alike.

Mollis, the North Providence mayor and party-endorsed candidate, and de Ramel, a wealthy Newport resident with a Republican wife, have sparred repeatedly about fundraising and ethics. De Ramel has questioned Mollis’ solicitation of funds from town workers and his acceptance of a contribution from a known associate of organized crime. “What type of message does that send?” de Ramel said. “Frankly, as far as I’m concerned, organized crime has no place in our city government and certainly not in our secretary of state’s office. Rhode Island already has the reputation of having … corruption, and we need to change that.”

Mollis has criticized de Ramel for writing a $1,000 check for a ticket to a 2004 Bush/Cheney fundraiser, first questioning de Ramel’s party loyalty, then accusing de Ramel of breaking the law by writing the check in his name even though de Ramel says the ticket was for his wife, Molly.

“Ethics are always important,” Mollis said. “I hold my ethical standards, my integrity and my character to the highest of standards.”

But West said Mollis’ campaign has been tarnished by the fundraising issues and the mob associate’s donation. “It’s hard to see how he overcomes that,” West said.

Friday, September 1, 2006

BY ELIZABETH GUDRAIS
Journal State House Bureau

Guillaume de Ramel makes an awkward start. The secretary of state hopeful’s speeches before a microphone often begin with “I’m not good with these things.”

One on one, though, the 32-year-old political newcomer engages in easy, and lengthy, conversation with just about everyone he meets, for so long that his staffers must shoo him along to his next engagement. He is as comfortable talking about World Cup soccer as the state archives or civics education.

De Ramel’s opponent in the Democratic primary, North Providence Mayor A. Ralph Mollis, has tried to cast de Ramel’s newness in politics as a shortcoming, decrying him at every opportunity as “very inexperienced.” Mollis says his decade in the mayor’s office makes him the better qualified candidate. De Ramel’s response: “For him, it’s about a promotion. He’s paid his dues. He’s moving up to higher office. If I were a voter in the secretary of state race, I’d be looking at, who’s got the right ideas? Who’s honest?”

De Ramel can rattle off numerous ideas and, like Mollis, he pledges to serve two terms in the office if elected. His campaign platform includes finding a new home for the state archives and letting 16-year-olds preregister to vote.

Also among his talking points from a recent day on the campaign trail: Shortening the 14-year term for members of the state Board of Elections. “You can remove a Superior Court judge more easily than you can remove a member of the Board of Elections,” de Ramel says.

He also touts New York City’s 311 system – a call-in center for questions about any aspect of city government, staffed 24 hours a day — as an example of making government more efficient and offering expanded services at the same time.

He suggests cleaning up the voter rolls by synchronizing them with death certificates, which are kept by the Department of Health, so people are automatically deleted from voting lists when they die.

Though he’s made the campaign his full-time job, de Ramel is an adviser to F.H. Prince & Co., his family’s Chicago-based investment portfolio.

Mollis has tried to portray de Ramel as out of touch with average Rhode Islanders because of his wealth. De Ramel has spent more than $300,000 on the campaign already, and his wealth may be aiding him in ways other than buying advertising and pastries to serve at coffee hours. On his own and through a family charity, he has contributed to causes held dear to some of the interests that support him.

For instance, de Ramel contributed to the fund for the state’s World War II memorial, to a Woonsocket social club that sent care packages to U.S. troops in Iraq, and for a museum exhibit featuring a train car that was sent to Rhode Island full of thank-you gifts from the French after World War II — contributions the state’s veterans are sure to appreciate. The president of a nurses’ union that endorsed de Ramel attributed the endorsement in part to financial contributions the Prince Charitable Trusts, operated by de Ramel’s family, have made to health-care causes.

Asked whether he’s concerned people will perceive those donations as attempts to buy support in the election, de Ramel says he shouldn’t be penalized for supporting worthwhile causes.

Shaky starts notwithstanding, De Ramel says he’s improved his public speaking since starting the campaign — and he’s had time. He began gunning for the job early last year, just after the birth of his first child, son Charlie, now 19 months old.

A newcomer, de Ramel has surrounded himself with political veterans. His first hire was well-connected political operative Tony Marcella, whose previous employers included U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy and his father, Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. De Ramel’s campaign team includes fundraising director Malinda Howard, whose résumé includes work in the Carter White House and fundraising work for the Democratic National Committee along with U.S. Sen Jack Reed, and U.S. Representatives Patrick Kennedy and James R. Langevin.

Early on, de Ramel began courting state lawmakers over dinner, and backed up networking with policy suggestions. He attended a national convention of secretaries of state. He got himself appointed to a special House commission to study the state archives, and got a federal official to visit Rhode Island and issue a report, which described numerous deficiencies at the archives facility.

He also courted labor leaders, marching in favor of better working conditions for janitors and telephoning lawmakers to urge them to vote to ban forced overtime for nurses. He won endorsements from four major labor unions — the Service Employees’ International Union District 1199, the United Nurses and Allied Professionals, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers and the National Education Association of Rhode Island.

De Ramel sought endorsements from city and town Democratic committees. He garnered 9; Mollis got 14. Although it’s questionable how much those endorsements will help — the only one that appears on the ballot is the state party’s endorsement, which went to Mollis — Marcella says: “As a total newcomer in politics in Rhode Island, it’s significant that Guillaume got any to begin with. I think it shows that the Democrats in this state are taking him extremely seriously and actually like his message.”

De Ramel holds a bachelor’s degree from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a master’s degree in real-estate development from Columbia University. His wife, Molly, is director of media relations for Brown University and a former reporter for the Fox News Channel.

egudrais@projo.com / (401) 277-7045

SEIU State Council, African Continental PAC and Black PAC latest to endorse Guillaume de Ramel

Providence — Guillaume de Ramel, Democrat for Secretary of State, continues to receive endorsements from labor and community organizations. The latest endorsements have come from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) State Council, the African Continental PAC and the Black PAC.

“Every day, more Rhode Islanders are making a decision in the race for Secretary of State, and every day, more Rhode Islanders are agreeing with my message of change and reform for Rhode Island government,” said de Ramel. “I am excited and encouraged to continue receiving the endorsements of Rhode Islanders. My campaign keeps building momentum that will carry through September and November.”

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August 22, 2006

PROVIDENCE — The state Ethics Commission will pursue an investigation into North Providence Mayor A. Ralph Mollis.

Commissioners decided in closed session today that there is sufficient evidence to warrant a full-scale investigation into allegations that Mollis, a Democratic candidate for secretary of state, solicited campaign donations from North Providence town employees.

The commission’s next step is to schedule a probable cause hearing.

Earlier in the month, Mollis said he doesn’t see anything wrong with taking money from municipal employees, aside from a fundraising letter that went out from Mollis’ chief of staff — who is also his campaign manager — to a donor list that included many town employees.

Mollis returned some contributions he got as a result of that letter, and said he won’t solicit money from town employees anymore. But he intends to keep accepting their contributions, he said in an interview earlier this month.

– With reports from Journal staff writer Bruce Landis

by Steve Peoples of the Providence Journal | Permalink

Newport Daily News Column

Political candidates can spend tons of money in an attempt to woo voters without noticeable success and then something drops out of the sky for free, worth more than any paid ad or endorsement.

That’s how Guillaume de Ramel must feel today. Just as the Newporter was launching his television ad campaign - a feel-good introductory spot featuring Nuala Pell, wife of former U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell - his primary opponent for secretary of state, North Providence Mayor Ralph Mollis, stuck one of his size 11s in his mouth. But evidently that didn’t satisfy Mollis’ appetite, because he quickly gobbled up the other foot.
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