Former RNC Chief Hopes to Turn Around RI GOP

Former RNC Chief Hopes to Turn Around RI GOP

Ken McKay helped the GOP bounce back from Obama's wave of popularity in 2008. After November's elections were swept by Democratic candidates, can he do the same in Rhode Island?

McKay, former Chief of Staff of the Republican National Committee, announced this week that he will run for chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Party. Though the GOP does not hold a single statewide office and holds only a few seats in the legislature, McKay said that he "humbly believes that if we all pull together against liberal, Democrat policies and leaders we can win elections [in Rhode Island]."

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McKay will run for the unpaid position against Cranston resident Patrick Sweeney, who was deputy campaign manager for Republican John Loughlin in his failed run for the 1st Congressional District seat last November.

"I've been encouraging Ken to get into the race, and I'm pleased that he has made the announcement," said current Party chairman Giovanni Cicione, who has held the position since 2007, but announced last year that he will not seek a third term. "However," he continued, "I should note that the party will not be formally endorsing a candidate for a couple of weeks--early March I think." The vote will be held during the party's convention, tentatively scheduled for March 19.

McKay, a Rhode Island native, is a lawyer and independent campaign consultant who lives in North Kingston with his wife and three sons. Before the RNC he served as Chief of Staff for former-Governor Carcieri during his first term as well as managed Carcieri's two successful gubernatorial campaigns in 2002 and 2006.

Top Position at RNC

McKay resigned from the RNC in April, 2010 amid a scandal involving reimbursement of a GOP consultant for $2,000 spent at a bondage-themed nightclub in Los Angeles. McKay did not attend the nightclub nor was he involved in planning it, but accepted responsibility as head of the party.

Under McKay's leadership, the GOP raised $100 million in the year following Obama's election, as well as won four statewide elections where Obama had won the year before. It remains to be seen if he, or Sweeney, can have a similar impact in Rhode Island.

"In my opinion, Republican ideas represent the majority opinion in Rhode Island," said McKay. "Liberals and Democrats continue to take us in the wrong direction. We must organize the like-minded majority, identify our vote, and turn them out on election day -- if we do, we will find ourselves in the majority and in control of our destiny."

McKay has spoken out against Governor Chafee's proposal to impose a 1% sales tax on items currently exempt from RI's 7% sales tax, as well as legalizing gay marriage and relaxing E-Verify requirements on state hiring. In a letter to "fellow Republicans," he calls for "smaller, more effective government and bold, conservative solutions."

McKay: RI shows how bad Democratic rule can be

McKay's plan of action highlights several steps toward putting more Republicans in state offices:

- identify and organize "like-minded" Rhode Islanders
- research and communication to establish a "first class get-out-the-vote" effort
- build necessary coalitions to fulfill voter turnout programs
- establish ties and communicate with potential major donors via "direct marketing techniques like mail and the Internet"

"[M]oney alone, without the courage to stand up for conservative principles, will not get us anywhere," McKay concluded. "We are on the front lines of a national war over the future of our country. If America wants to see how bad long-term Democrat party rule can be, they need only to look at Rhode Island... [w]e simply must gain seats in our state legislature."

"It is past time for another direction and we can show the way," he concluded.