Gio Cicione, chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Party, is in New Mexico for a gathering of GOP counterparts from around the country. Gio, who talked with me via telephone this afternoon, says the assembled state party chairs heard a short time ago from the campaign manager for John McCain.
Even more interesting, however, is what Cicione said when I asked about the recruitment of legislative candidates back here in Rhode Island.
"It looks like we have a really long list of potential candidates," he says, adding that he was surprised by the volume of prospects. Two to three people have expressed interest in competing for a number of the legislative races that went uncontested the last time around, he says -- a development that can be attributed to the state's budget woes. "I was blown away," says Cicione. "We are way ahead of where we thought we would be."
The party chair declined to specify an estimate when I asked what percentage of legislative seats will be contested this year by Republicans. The filing deadline is in June.
Cicione says the party will now focus on spending a lot of time talking to the prospects to "find out if they are quality candidates, what their intentions are, and if they're willing to work hard."