Political Profile: Alex Kithes, Candidate for the House of Representatives, District 49
GoLocalProv Political Team
Political Profile: Alex Kithes, Candidate for the House of Representatives, District 49
1. What do you think is the biggest political issue this campaign season in Rhode Island?
I believe our biggest political issue is how strongly candidates are willing to fight to build the world we want and protect our people on the state level, as the far-right SCOTUS erodes our hard-fought civil rights and liberties, and the federal government remains in gridlock, unable to solve our biggest problems.
2. What do we need to do to improve Rhode Island's economy?
The best way to improve Rhode Island’s economy is by investing in our communities and our people. That means a historic investment in high-quality, green, affordable homes and capping rent increases to 4% annually; shutting down polluters and creating good-paying union jobs with a state-level Green New Deal; passing the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act; fully funding our public schools and public school teachers - especially in underserved districts like mine - which includes a minimum teachers’ salary of $60k; creating a state Medicare-for-All program that includes mental, dental, hearing, vision, and compassionate overdose prevention; implementing a $19/hour living wage, including for tipped workers; and expanding public and private sector unions and worker-owned cooperatives and making it easier to form them.
3. What is the greatest challenge facing Rhode Island as a state?
The balance of power in the General Assembly. If our representatives and senators were truly empowered to bring forth and vote on the big legislation - that would massively improve the lives of their constituents - we would be way more equipped to solve our big problems. Right now, leadership is too powerful, and they stand in the way of that.
4. Why are you running for office? What makes you uniquely qualified?
I was born and raised in Woonsocket. As a lifelong resident, and a young, queer, working-class son of Greek immigrants, I feel deep ties to my neighbors and our shared struggle for a better life.
I was educated in Woonsocket’s struggling public schools, and had my first experience in political organizing when the city uncovered a huge budget deficit in the schools in 2009. I was one of the student organizers who stood alongside our teachers as we fought against the city’s attempts to cut our education.
This experience taught me that people in power often sell out their constituents for the benefit of big corporations, lobbyists, and state house leadership. And it set me on a path to organize, over the past 12 years, for local food and environmental justice issues, good government reform in the state house, climate justice (with Sunrise and Climate Action RI), and housing justice as part of #SleepOutRI, and to fight for my community on the Woonsocket City Council.
The big crises we face have hit my community particularly hard. I have a proven record of being willing to fight to solve these problems. I'm excited to run for this seat in order to bring that fight to the General Assembly.
5. Who is your inspiration?
Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Bio:
Alex Kithes was born and raised in Woonsocket, RI, to a working-class family of Greek immigrants. He is a proud graduate of Woonsocket High School (2010) and has degrees from Boston University and Brown University. His work as an organizer started in high school, fighting alongside his classmates and teachers against education cuts and an assault on Woonsocket’s public schools. Over the years, he’s become deeply involved as a climate justice, housing, social justice, and good government activist. As a young organizer and proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, he’s involved with Sunrise Providence, the BLM RI PAC, the RI Queer PAC, the RI Political Cooperative, and local community and mutual aid organizations, served a term on the Woonsocket City Council, and was one of the core organizers in the 2021 SleepOutRI protest. He also co-founded and serves as the Executive Director of the grassroots organization Rebuild Woonsocket.
Contact Info
Phone: 4012165136
Email: kithesforri@gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/alexkithes
Instagram: instagram.com/alexkithes
Twitter: twitter.com/alexkithes