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CUMBERLAND, R.I. (AP) — Despite his party label, Democrat Dan McKee wasn't expecting any labor endorsements in his bid to be Rhode Island's next lieutenant governor.
The Cumberland mayor's longstanding support for charter schools, including the so-called mayoral academy network in his home town, has made him a target, rather than an ally, of unions.
"Change has its enemies," said McKee, a self-described "new Democrat" who beat the party-backed candidate, Secretary of State Ralph Mollis, in September's three-way primary.
The race to replace outgoing Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts has upended traditional political alliances in more ways than one. Both of the state's teachers unions endorsed McKee's opponent, Republican Catherine Taylor, the former state director of elderly affairs under Gov. Lincoln Chafee.
The Rhode Island AFL-CIO is also backing the Republican, the first time it has done so in 20 years. Some of the organization's delegates got up and walked out while McKee was making his pitch for their support at the Rhode Island Convention Center.
Taylor attributes her support from labor in part to her push for raising the pay and status of direct-care health workers and the "dialogue and respect" she had with union employees while she ran elderly affairs.
Larry Purtill, president of National Education Association Rhode Island, even noted in the group's endorsement that Taylor was once a union member herself, saying she "knows and appreciates their worth." To help pay for college at Yale University, she worked two union jobs, in the dining hall and as a custodian, she said.
Taylor, who narrowly lost a bid for secretary of state against Mollis in 2010, said her experience in the health and human services area would be critical as the state's incoming governor tries to rebuild the flagging economy. She wants to do more to keep seniors in the state, calling it an economic issue.
She also said Rhode Islanders are tired of discord and dysfunction and attributed many of the state's problems to the lack of a strong two-party system in Rhode Island, where Democrats have a lock on the General Assembly.
"There's such a supermajority of one party there, that that's toxic. That just leads to total unaccountability," she said in an interview Tuesday, adding that she wants to help build a viable Republican Party in the state.
In another odd twist, McKee has tried to link Taylor and her old boss, Chafee, in an ad that depicts the two as peas in a pod. The 30-second commercial says that "after years of Lincoln Chafee, we need a change" and calls Taylor a "Chafee insider."
Chafee, a former Republican, was elected governor in 2010 as an independent but later switched to the Democratic Party; his statewide approval ratings are low. Former Chafee spokesman Mike Trainor is McKee's campaign manager.
Taylor called the ad childish.
"That ad kind of sums up the risk of actually truly being bipartisan," she said.
In September, McKee launched a "39 Cups of Coffee" tour, stopping at diners and coffee shops in each of the state's cities and towns to highlight his focus on small business and improving the state's business climate.
"The whole theme is a better Rhode Island. I believe we can have one: better economy, better job opportunities and better schools," he said in a recent interview. "Four in five people here in Rhode Island can't say that we're headed in the right direction, and it's time that we actually listened to them."
He touts his work improving Cumberland's finances and regionalization strategies that have helped municipalities reduce their health care costs. He rejects Taylor's suggestion he's running for lieutenant governor to be a "second education commissioner."
"I'm going to try to do the same thing I did with education with small business — really make it a priority in everybody's mind," he said.
He wishes labor had sat out the race, rather than endorse Taylor. Asked if he thinks their opposition is personal, McKee said: "I guess they can explain how personal it is."
He added: "Let's put it this way: It takes two people to have a fight, and I haven't picked a fight."
Also running are Libertarian Tony Jones, who wants to abolish the office, and the Moderate Party's William Gilbert, who calls himself Rhode Island's "favorite Republicrat and Democan."
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