Before they appear on the ballot for a Democratic Primary on Feb. 5, House of Representatives candidates Richard Ruggiero and June Speakman appeared together during a District 68 forum held Monday, Jan. 28, at the Bristol Statehouse.

While the more traditional Mr. Ruggiero of Bristol and the progressively-driven Ms. Speakman of Warren had their differences throughout the night’s forum — hosted by the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island and moderated by East Bay Media Group’s Christy Nadalin — the pair shared some similar ideologies as they battle for the seat left open by the departure of Laufton Ascencao in December.

“You told me that the most important thing is for our elected leaders to be honest and transparent,” said Ms. Speakman during her opening statement. “I hear you, and I am with you.”

Mr. Ruggiero, in his opening remarks, echoed her words, vowing to embody three simple traits if elected: Honesty, integrity and transparency.

Answering questions from the audience as relayed by Ms. Nadalin, the two candidates sought to flush out their platforms on a wide range of topics, including:

Legalizing marijuana
The most contested topic of the evening was one not even intended to be open for discussion. After Ms. Speakman shared her plan for how she would handle the opioid overdose crisis, Mr. Ruggiero steered the conversation toward another drug issue — the legalization of marijuana.

“I just think it’s ridiculous we would even be talking about that at this time,” he said.

Already unconvinced of its medicinal benefits, he additionally feared that by making the drug legal, it would be easier for the community’s youth to gain access to it.

Ms. Speakman, on the other hand, believed the exact opposite; after watching how medical marijuana helped her father while he was battling cancer, she stated she would be a proponent of its responsible and informative legalization. As for Mr. Ruggiero’s claims that the move would make regulation of the drug much harder:

“I work at a university campus, and I can tell you that marijuana already is in the hands of young people.”

On transparency
As they acknowledged in their opening statements, transparency is a major concern for both Ms. Speakman and Mr. Ruggiero. How they planned to accomplish that, however, is where they differed. Ms. Speakman favors a more active approach, vowing to hold regular meetings at the Bristol and Warren public libraries, sending monthly newsletters and maintaining a presence on social media.

“It’s a personal commitment that I have to let the people who elected me know what I’m doing,” she said.
Mr. Ruggiero, meanwhile, said he would lead by example and maintain an open-door policy.

“I think you have to take care of yourself, and you have to be available to the voters.”

On their qualifications
Both candidates have been involved extensively in their respective communities over the years, Mr. Ruggiero with his nearly two-decade tenure on the Bristol Town Council and Ms. Speakman with her 14 years serving on Barrington’s.

“I think the voters are lucky that they have two candidates who have lots of experience making legislative decisions,” Ms. Speakman said.

On reducing gun violence
“I would get an F from the National Rifle Association, and I’m fine with that,” said Ms. Speakman, a proponent of banning military-style weapons, high capacity magazines and guns in schools.

Mr. Ruggiero felt similarly to his opponent.

“Trying to be sensitive to people’s Second Amendment rights I think is very important, but I also do believe that we need to set some limits as to what we allow people to be able to buy.”

On their top priorities
For Mr. Ruggiero, it centered around quality: Quality education for students, quality housing for seniors and quality healthcare for all.

Education was a number one topic for Ms. Speakman as well, and while she felt that affordable housing for seniors was a necessity, she believed that same luxury should extend toward young families, too. The passing of the Reproductive Health Care Act was additionally high on her list, which, if accomplished, would protect the abortion rights of women at the state level.

As Ms. Speakman left voters with all of the other items on her agenda she supported — renewable energy, a line-item veto, repealing the Social Security tax, Mr. Ruggiero vowed to spend his first two years in the General Assembly learning as much as he possibly can in order to best represent the needs of his community. While he maintained that he would represent both towns equally, he appealed to residents to consider one simple fact before Tuesday’s primary.

“I firmly believe that because Bristol makes up 70 percent of the district, I think a Bristol person should be elected.”

Voters will choose between the two next Tuesday, Feb. 5, when they head to the polls for the Democratic primary. Warren residents in District 68 will vote at Kickemuit Village; Bristol voters in District 68 will cast their ballots at the Quinta Gamelin Community Center.