Guest MINDSETTER™ Matt Fecteau: RI Campaign Tales and Trails 2014

Guest MINDSETTER™ Matt Fecteau: RI Campaign Tales and Trails 2014

I challenged Congressman David Cicilline for the Democratic nomination of Rhode Island’s first congressional district.  This was a difficult, but worthwhile and even fun endeavor. In fact, I recommend everyone run for office at least once. We need new leaders in this state – at least, that was the message my supporters resoundingly sent me.

People were fed up with the same old political players.  However, because few Rhode Islanders had yet to even hear of me, I constantly had to elaborate on my history.  They wanted to make sure I wasn’t crazy or an in-the-closet Neo-Nazi. Even then, some people called me a Nazi, such as in Woonsocket, on WNRI’s The John Dionne Show. Why was I called a Nazi? At least according to them, because I supported expanded background checks, and yes, I disagree with that characterization, just slightly.

I was often asked what made me a different candidate and my answer was: “Unlike my opponent, I am not a member of the establishment.” In addition, I supported several unendorsed, refreshing candidates such as Seth Magaziner.  As a state, we cannot afford to elect the same ineffective leaders year-in and year-out and expect a different outcome. 

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At times, I saw Gina Raimondo, Clay Pell, Angel Taveras, and Todd Giroux more than my own family. I began referring to Ms. Raimondo as Aunty Gina. As a candidate, I realized while they are public figures, behind all the grandiosity, they are regular people trying to make a difference just like everyone else.

Considering I am a regular person too, I felt the public eye hard pressed on me each day. Strangely, I fielded questions about whether I was dating Taylor Swift. Rumor had it I was secretly dating Taylor and using her millions to run for office (I was running for Congress in district one. Why would I be interested in a district two woman?).  Another name that kept popping up:  NBC 10’s Olivia Fecteau. Everyone thought she was either my wife or sister – she is neither. One senior citizen even accused me of cheating on Olivia with Taylor Swift!

For whatever reason, when I attended a jam-packed event, no one knew me, but when walking down some desolate street late at night with a date, I was always recognized by some passerby in a dark alley or from an a abruptly stopped car asking about whether I am pro-life or pro-choice (I am pro-reproductive health). Normally, after these eccentric encounters, my dates never returned my calls.

Because this was a grass roots campaign, I could not afford to skip events and went to everything. Sometimes I would be at an event in Jamestown and have to drive all the way to Woonsocket.  Every day, sometimes alone, I would attend events approaching everyone in sight. 

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.  Many of my friends told me they would support me, but when the rubber hit the road, vanished without a trace. I saw the ugliness in people who were supposed to be my friends and the beauty in people who were supposed to be ugly. I will be forever grateful to people like Jack Abramoff, friends from Washington DC, and my interns that helped me despite the odds.

Considering I was talking to roughly a couple hundred people a day, there were a number of very awkward encounters.  One lady was upset with me because when finding a woman in distress with a dog in a locked car, she said I asked her for her number and just left her there.  The full story: I asked her for her number after the firefighters arrived to unlock the vehicle.  When I was issued signing papers, during the Bristol Fourth of July Parade, one senior citizen accosted me saying it was illegal for me to ask for signatures. The police had to explain that it was not.

My Republican opponents in the race were younger than me and I found that refreshing. Stan Tran is a medical student from Brown University and Cormick Lynch is a former marine who served in Iraq. While I did not agree with them on everything, we all agreed something in this state needs to change.  Despite what the media says, I prefer idealistic, young people like Cormick Lynch and Stan Tran over establishment dinosaurs.

As for my opponent in the Democratic primary, Congressman David Cicilline, I personally enjoyed the rare moments we spent together. Despite what the Providence Journal keeps stating – this is not that hard – we did not debate; we had a forum where we could not rebut views or argue.

However, we had some rare moments of camaraderie. During a fundraiser, he served me lobster bisque and didn’t even poison it (so he says). Also, during a one Democratic committee event called ‘Meet the Endorsed Candidates,’ I sent my intern, Emily, in ahead of me.  She was immediately spotted by her classmate Doug who introduced her to Uncle David, yes, Cicilline. 

The hilarity ensued from there. Given our sparse interactions in the past, Congressman Cicilline knew immediately she worked for me and I was outside in my car, so he decided to bring me a slice of cake and napkins, even knocking on my window to hand me the cake.

When the sun set on September 9th 2014, my journey came to an end.  I looked back and although it was a bumpy road, I can honestly say that I learned to appreciate and love my state even more. While I made my mistakes and will likely make more mistakes in the future, I can say with pride and 38% of the vote: I gave it my all and it was a lot of fun.

Matt Fecteau was a Democratic congressional candidate for the first congressional district of Rhode Island, former White House National security intern, and captain in the US Army Reserve with two tours to Iraq.