University student makes bid for R.I. Statehouse seat

02/26/08 - Most University of Rhode Island students learn about campaigning in a classroom. But junior Chris Frappier is living it.Two weeks ago Frappier, a political science and history major, declared his candidacy for the Rhode Island House of Representatives. Running as an independent, Frappier faces one-term Democratic incumbent Nicholas Mattiello, and a possible Republican challenger in the race to serve as the representative from District 15 in Cranston.

During the next few months he will be planning all the campaign moves, including fund-raisers, door-to-door canvassing and interviews with the press. Along the way he'll campaign on a platform that calls for the state to tighten its fiscal belt and close state deficits projected at more than $430 million. But unlike the Republican governor, Frappier, 21, wants the legislature to cut out special interests and stop targeting state workers and higher education.

"The General Assembly keeps spending all our money on special projects, pork-barrel, when we really should be cutting back," he said yesterday.

Frappier said he is particularly concerned about the state's continued cutbacks to higher education funding, both as a student and citizen. Gov. Donald Carcieri has proposed trimming $12.1 million from the University of Rhode Island's coffers during the next two years and the school estimates state funding will decrease to zero by about 2020 if nothing is done to reverse the trend.

"I think higher education is one of the few areas in the budget that could not withstand a budget cut," Frappier said.

Frappier said the state needs to do more to keep its educated citizens here. And while he acknowledges he doesn't have a silver bullet, Frappier said he believes he could make a difference on Smith Hill.

"I really felt the state was going in the wrong direction and the state legislature is the closest thing to direct democracy," Frappier said.

But getting there is hardly direct. Frappier and his mostly young, entirely unpaid staff - that range from 17 to 55 - will need to weave through campaign finance laws, election requirements, scrutiny from reporters and an opponent entrenched in the state's dominant political party.

Frappier's campaign headquarters is a Cranston garage - complete with a ping-pong table, he noted - and his campaign manger is his best friend's dad. He's also asking anyone that will listen for policy advice. He is slowly building the underpinnings of a candidate that will need to find a niche somewhere between the dominant Democrats and the minority Republicans.

This will not, however, be Frappier's first foray into politics. During Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse's successful campaign for U.S. Senate in 2006, Frappier served as a volunteer and later as an intern. Today, he interns for the state attorney general's office, helping to prepare court dockets at Kent County Courthouse in Warwick.

"[Running for state representative] is not for everyone but it's definitely the next step after volunteering," Frappier said.

If elected in November, Frappier would join Rep. Edwin Pacheco, who was elected to a seat in 2004 while a senior at URI. Across the rotunda, he may bump into Sen. Daniel DaPonte, who was propelled into a seat in 2000 while a junior. Along the way he'll find elected officials and staffers who graduated from the state's only public university.

And while officially neutral, the university's Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs Andrea Hopkins said the school is always looking for support in the legislature, particularly during trying economic times.

"We certainly like to be represented by our current students and alumni because we feel they understand the university and its needs," Hopkins said.

For his part, Frappier said he wishes more of his peers would take an active interest in the university's needs and the larger issues affecting the state as whole.

"I think anyone that knows me as a friend knows I have encouraged them to be active, even just voting," Frappier said. "I really hope me just running will encourage other students to get involved.