3 Women with Rhode Island Ties Likely to Lose Key Congressional Races

3 Women with Rhode Island Ties Likely to Lose Key Congressional Races

Women with close Rhode Island ties played key roles in the outcome of the balance of power in Congress and it looks like all three women will lose this cycle. Two are native daughters and one is linked to Rhode Island by marriage.

 

East Greenwich Native in National Spotlight

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East Greenwich-born Sara Gideon was strongly favored to defeat incumbent Susan Collins for a United States Senate seat in Maine — the political website FiveThirtyEight predicted Gideon had a 60% chance of defeating Republican Collins.

Democrat Gideon, who was once an intern for U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell, served as the Speaker of the House in Maine.

Politico wrote in September, “The race between Gideon and Collins is one of the most critical for control of the Senate next year and has been one of the most expensive races in the nation. Kentucky and South Carolina are considered safer seats for Republicans, though Graham is facing the most expensive and challenging reelection of his career. Gideon had 54 percent support among likely voters, compared with 42 percent support for Collins, according to the poll.”

Now, Collins, the last moderate Republican serving in Congress in New England, has won 51%-42% and Gideon has conceded.

 

Kennedy Connection

Former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s wife Amy Kennedy is in the midst of a major battle for the 2nd Congressional seat in New Jersey.

With 75% of the vote reported, one of the Republican’s newest members is leading 51% to 47%

Jeff Van Drew, a Republican, is fighting to hold on to a seat that he won as a Democrat in 2018. Van Drew switched parties in 2019, saying he could not support the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

Kennedy won a close primary and faced numerous attacks for some of Patrick Kennedy’s business dealings.

 

Legendary Pilot

Martha McSally has lost her second race for the U.S. Senate in Arizona.

In 2018, Rhode Island native McSally, who served as the U.S. Representative for Arizona's 2nd congressional district since 2015, lost the Senate race to Democratic Representative Kyrsten Sinema.

This year she was beat 52% to 48% to hold the Senate seat she was named to by Democrat Mark Kelly.

Prior to serving in Congress, McSally served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring in 2010 as a full Colonel. During her 26-year military career, she deployed six times to the Middle East and Afghanistan, flying 325 combat hours and earning a Bronze Star and six air medals. She is the first woman in U.S. history to fly a fighter jet in combat and the first woman to command a fighter squadron in combat in United States history.

 

Two Other Recent Losses

These are not the only Rhode Island women who have tried to capture big offices outside Rhode Island, but were rebuked:

Barrington Native Beat in Maine

The Democratic nominee in the race to replace Maine U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe in 2012 grew up in Barrington. In 2012:

Cynthia Dill, who currently serves in Maine’s State Senate, won a four-way Democratic primary in June, but finds herself trailing both the Republican and an Independent as the race heads down the stretch.

Dill, a progressive candidate, made waves earlier this year when she announced her plans to challenge Snowe, the popular Republican who had been planning to run for her fourth term in the Senate. But Snowe, who likely would have cruised to re-election, opted to bow out of the race, citing too much partisanship as one of the leading reasons for her retirement.

 

West Warwick Tried to Go Big in Texas

Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy has won reelection against Democratic former state Sen. Wendy Davis -- a RI native -- in Texas’s 21st Congressional District.

In January of 2014, GoLocal reported how the Rhode Island native and then-candidate for Governor of Texas had admitted she has repeatedly lied about key parts of her biography.

According to a story in the Dallas Morning News, the West Warwick born Texas legislator admitted to pumping up her story and blurry details about her background.

"Wendy Davis has made her personal story of struggle and success a centerpiece of her campaign to become the first Democrat elected governor of Texas in almost a quarter-century…In an extensive interview last week, Davis acknowledged some chronological errors and incomplete details in what she and her aides have said about her life.

“My language should be tighter,” she told the Dallas paper. “I’m learning about using broader, looser language. I need to be more focused on the detail.”

Davis became a national political celeb when on June 25, 2013, Davis held an eleven hour long filibuster to block Senate Bill 5, legislation that would create new abortion regulations in Texas.

Her filibuster played a major role in Democrats' strategy. Their goal was to delay passage of the bill past the midnight deadline for the end of the legislative session.