With Solomon Leading Democratic Primary, Smiley To Drop Out and Support Elorza
Thursday, August 21, 2014
The race for Providence Mayor took yet another bizarre twist as the second and third place candidates - Jorge Elorza and Brett Smiley -- have cut a deal to try and beat the leader in the primary - Michael Solomon.
With both Elorza and Smiley running low on cash, the two candidates have agreed to team up in an effort to try and beat Solomon.
Joint Effort Launched
On Thursday, Smiley and Elorza announced they would be holding a joint press conference Friday morning -- with no additional information provided.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHowever, multiple sources confirmed Thursday evening at that Smiley and Elorza cut a deal to take on frontrunner Solomon -- who is currently the subject of an Ethics Commission investigation for failing to disclose financial interests in multiple years of ethics filings. Long, a police officer and combat veteran who is running in Ward 1, filed a complaint on August 7 alleging that Solomon committed 25 separation ethics violations and "has displayed gross negligence in failing to to meet the reporting requirements of the [Ethics Commission]."
Solomon subsequently filed amendments to reports from 2005 to 2012, consisted of dozens of changes to the previously filed reports.
Smiley and Elorza
Smiley, who owns a campaign finance consulting business and has been a lobbyist for the City of Providence, had announced in June 2013 he was forming an exploratory committee for a run for Mayor of Providence, and formally declared his candidacy in December 2013.
Elorza, a former Providence Housing Court judge and professor of law at Roger Williams University, declared his bid for Mayor of Providence in November 2013.
Smiley, who unveiled his national-attention garnering "man with the plan" TV ad touting his organizational skills, just announced on August 13 that he had brought on $55,042 during the previous fundraising period, "more than double both is opponents combined" -- Elorza raised $23,819 and Michael Solomon raised $2,710.
Solomon has the deepest war chest of the Democratic candidates, claiming cash on hand 28 days before primary of over $400K.
Chances for Success
Rhode Island College Professor of Communications Val Endress recently broke down for GoLocal what each of the candidates needs to do to win the primary -- and now there are just two.
"Solomon argues that he was instrumental in Angel Taveras' success in avoiding the fiscal category five hurricane. But whether that message resonates beyond political junkies and new media is in question," said Endress. "Candidates are only as relevant as latest new story and the story for Solomon is not at all positive. His problems with the ethics commission may prove to be his Achilles' heel."
Of Elorza, Endress said, "Elorza may be the chief beneficiary of Solomon's missteps. One cannot underestimate Elorza's ability to capture Angel Taveras' voter base. He's running an effective campaign, has avoided the typical campaign missteps."
Related Slideshow: Questions Jorge Elorza Must Answer to be Providence’s Next Mayor
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