Morgan’s endorsement of Trillo rocks state GOP
House minority leader, ex-gubernatorial hopeful stripped of leadership post by fellow Republicans
WARWICK –– On Thursday afternoon, independent gubernatorial candidate Joe Trillo announced that he has accepted Rhode Island House Minority Leader Patricia Morgan’s endorsement for governor.
Fresh off the heels of losing the gubernatorial primary last month to fellow Republican Allan Fung, Morgan showed up at Trillo’s campaign headquarters in Warwick yesterday to announce that she has pledged her full support.
She said, repeatedly, that she believes Trillo is the only candidate who can defeat Democratic governor and incumbent Gina Raimondo in the election.
Recent poll figures show Trillo as mustering about 7 percent of the general election vote.
“She’s a woman of incredible credentials,” Trillo said of Morgan. “She’s a true fighter. We have fought together. I almost feel like we were in some division of the armed services because we were out there fighting against the odds with a Democratically controlled General Assembly day in and day out.”
Trillo referred to Morgan as “a formidable leader who has shown unwavering strength and resilience throughout the entirety of her career.”
Morgan’s endorsement was a reversal of her previous public stance that she would not endorse an independent, made during a radio debate on Aug. 29.
“I will tell you, I am not going to support any Democrat or independent,” Morgan said during the broadcast on WNRI radio.
The Republican caucus of the Rhode Island House of Representatives took the step of stripping Morgan of her leadership position in the House.
House Minority Whip Blake Filippi said Morgan’s endorsement of Trillo hurts their party’s candidates. Filippi says the post will remain vacant until after the general election.
“We’re trying to build our caucus and get more Republicans elected, and this was a distraction from that,” Filippi said.
Morgan said they’re trying to censor her opinion, but since she wasn’t running for re-election anyway, “it’s really not a big deal.”
State Republican Party Chairman Brandon Bell harshly criticized the endorsement, saying that Trillo and Morgan joined forces out of spite and they’re “trying to make themselves politically relevant” by helping Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo get re-elected.
Coventry state Rep. Robert Nardolillo, also a Republican, criticized the move as well, saying he was “disgusted & disappointed” by Morgan’s decision to abandon the GOP candidate.
“Rep. Morgan should have put her sore feelings aside and put Rhode Island’s future first,” Nardolillo wrote on his Twitter account Thursday afternoon. “Morgan showed she is completely selfish and a poor example of leadership,” he wrote.
At the press conference, Morgan and Trillo traded compliments.
You won’t get a “goalong, get-along” style with Trillo, according to Morgan, adding that with Trillo comes a great opportunity for change for the state.
“He’s not going to be taking care of insiders but instead hard working Rhode Is- landers who especially need somebody who will be their champion,” she said. “And he will be their champion.”
Morgan said the most recent gubernatorial debate made it clear, at least to her, that Trillo is the best candidate for governor. He can articulate what he believes in, she said, and he’s not afraid to do so.
“To me he is the only one who can win,” she said. “There is no one stronger on that ticket.”
In a recent poll conducted by WPRI 12 and Roger Williams University, Fung was in a virtual tie with incumbent Raimondo among general election voters.
Nevertheless, Trillo called Fung “a very flawed candidate.”
“It’s not going to be turned around by Allan Fung,” said Trillo. “The people supporting him don’t know why other than they just want to beat Gina Raimondo.”
He also said that the idea of a vote for him being a vote to help Gina is a “Fung mantra” that Fung himself has spread.
“A vote for Fung is a losing vote,” Trillo said. “He’s not going to win the election with me and he’s not going to win it without me. He’s a flawed candidate.”
Trillo has yet to announce what specific role Morgan might play in his administration if successful in November, but has said he will bring on some familiar names in state government to work as part of his team, including former attorney general Arlene Violet, John Robitaille and Ken Block. None of those figures have endorsed Trillo, however.
“I’m more than willing to help him win this election,” said Morgan. “I think it’s important that he does. The things we believe in are common sense principles — the things that will really make a difference to Rhode Islanders. I will campaign for him to make sure that message gets out.”
Asked if the Fung campaign requested Morgan’s endorsement following her recent primary loss, Morgan confirmed that she did receive a call from Fung himself but declined to comment on the specifics of the conversation other than to say “it didn’t go well.”
Trillo also outlined his plan to start a program to encourage small business growth, especially for minority-owned businesses. He said he would do this by using funds the state would otherwise spend as an incentive to get major corporations and businesses to set up shop in the state and invest that money in incubator companies — something he called ‘economic opportunity loans.’ He said there’s not enough opportunity for small business owners to build their businesses in Rhode Island’s current business climate.
“We are seriously interested in cleaning up this state from the corruption that’s been almost passed on from generation to generation and we can’t get out from under it,” said Trillo, adding that he has not and will not accept any campaign donations from PACs or special interest groups.
Asked about his degree of support for President Donald J. Trump, Trillo said he supports the president’s policies which “have led this country and our state to an economic place where it’s never been.” He declined to comment on Trump’s recent comments about the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month about her accusation of sexual assault against Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court.
“I don’t support the way he handles himself publicly,” Trillo said of the president.
Speaking of Morgan’s endorsement, Trillo called it “probably the best thing that happened to me.”