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Paul Pence
Paul Pence (Republican Party) ran for election for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island. He lost in the Republican primary on September 13, 2022.
Elections
2022
See also: Rhode Island lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022
General election
General election for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
Incumbent Sabina Matos defeated Aaron Guckian and Ross McCurdy in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sabina Matos (D) | 51.2 | 180,909 |
 | Aaron Guckian (R) | 43.1 | 152,458 | |
 | Ross McCurdy (Independent) | 5.5 | 19,507 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 608 | ||
| Total votes: 353,482 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Keith Harrison (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
Incumbent Sabina Matos defeated Deborah Ruggiero and Cynthia Mendes in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island on September 13, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sabina Matos | 47.1 | 50,704 |
 | Deborah Ruggiero | 33.1 | 35,620 | |
 | Cynthia Mendes | 19.8 | 21,304 | |
| Total votes: 107,628 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Larry Valencia (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
Aaron Guckian defeated Paul Pence in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island on September 13, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Aaron Guckian | 67.7 | 13,427 |
 | Paul Pence | 32.3 | 6,396 | |
| Total votes: 19,823 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
Incumbent Daniel McKee defeated Paul Pence, Joel Hellmann, Jonathan Riccitelli, and Ross McCurdy in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Daniel McKee (D) | 61.9 | 226,528 |
| Paul Pence (R) | 29.1 | 106,505 | |
| Joel Hellmann (Moderate Party of Rhode Island Party) | 3.1 | 11,332 | ||
 | Jonathan Riccitelli (Independent) | 2.7 | 9,866 | |
| Ross McCurdy (Independent) | 2.6 | 9,408 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 2,513 | ||
| Total votes: 366,152 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Zachary Ward (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
Incumbent Daniel McKee defeated J. Aaron Regunberg in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island on September 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Daniel McKee | 51.1 | 57,983 |
 | J. Aaron Regunberg | 48.9 | 55,517 | |
| Total votes: 113,500 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
Paul Pence advanced from the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island on September 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Paul Pence | 100.0 | 25,388 |
| Total votes: 25,388 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Karl Wadensten (R)
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Paul Pence did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Paul Pence participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on September 7, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Paul Pence's responses follow below.[1]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | I have only one priority – to create conditions for Rhode Islanders to flourish in the most amazing state in the Union. To create these conditions within the constraints of the office of Lt. Governor requires using the access, exposure, and administrative freedom of the office to identify and facilitate the elimination of red tape, waste, ineffectiveness, and poor customer service throughout the functioning of state government, starting with the highly visible inefficiency of the DMV Registry and progressing through the much more important processes of DCYF and the state’s Human Services operations. This will set the expectation that all of our state government functions will be efficient, effective, and customer-focused, driving further changes, reducing taxes, simplifying regulations, and making Rhode Island the place that businesses and families want to call home.[2][3] | ” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | While the Lt. Governor does not set policy or pass legislation and my platform is based on reform of our administrative processes, I still feel passionately about many topics. Foremost of them is the safety and welfare of the state's children. The state's Human Services bureaucracy has demonstrated its inability to protect our children, reducing critical head-counts among social workers, setting artificial goals, and failing to follow through with support systems to ensure the safety of children who have been returned to potentially-hazardous households. This is completely unacceptable and should outrage all Rhode Islanders.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[3]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Paul Pence answered the following:
What qualities do you possess that would make you a successful officeholder?
| “ | The unique role of Lt. Governor demands a set of skills different than most political positions. The Lt. Governor has no direct authority, so to be effective the Lt. Governor needs to be a facilitator to have any chance of accomplishing any worthwhile goals. To succeed in the polarized political atmosphere of the Rhode Island statehouse, to get cooperation the Lt. Governor needs to be willing to give others credit and demonstrate independence of thought and purpose. To fulfill Rhode Islanders' expectation of fixing problems, the Lt. Governor needs experience uncovering root causes of problems, building cases for resolving them, and driving them to conclusion. I bring those important qualities and will use them well in making the Lt. Governor role one that brings value to the state of Rhode Island.[3] | ” |
| “ | While the RI Constitution describes a limited responsibility for the Lt. Governor, there is more to the position than simply awaiting a vacancy in the Governor's office. Just to fulfill that duty, the Lt. Governor must be deeply involved in the functioning of the government functions. This makes the Lt. Governor administrative more than executive. There are also responsibilities assigned by law -- the Lt. Governor assigns, sits on, or chairs 25 councils and advisory boards including ones related to small business and long term care. The Lt. Governor may be assigned specific tasks by the Governor through executive order. There are traditional roles for the Lt. Governor, such as being a representative for the state and serving as ombudsman for constituents. And finally, because the Lt. Governor has the administrative freedom, the Lt. Governor has the opportunity to build a case for additional responsibilities to fulfill the needs of the state.[3] | ” |
| “ | I would like RI citizens to demand that every Lt. Governor candidate in future elections demonstrate up front how they will bring true value to the position, not just use the position as a 4-year vacation for a career politician or as a bully pulpit for pushing their own political agenda.[3] | ” |
| “ | The Lt. Governor office, while not a blank slate, is unique in its position outside of the normal political ebb and flow. It sits at the right hand of the governor and has access throughout the government, but because it does not set policy or pass legislation it is independent of normal political considerations. It is the ideal position for someone who can build consensus within government to get things done.[3] | ” |
| “ | While some political experience might be useful, if only to know the players and processes of political decisions, that same political experience would be a tremendous hindrance to driving change. Change isn't easy; resistance comes from all directions and a history in politics creates even more resistance. Even the knowledge that a person has political aspirations after the term in office brings doubts about the impartiality and motivation of everything that a politician touches. Change is needed in the operations of state administrative functions, but that change can't happen if the Lt. Governor comes with the baggage of a career in politics.[3] | ” |
| “ | I've made a career of uncovering problems, building a case for resolving it, find the root cause of the problem, and driving permanent corrective actions so that the problem never comes back. I've done this as a facilitator, getting the cooperation of people by showing them why the problem is important, why it's important to them, and how it can be fixed. I come with the skill set to understand the operations of complex human processes and to build systems that are robust and effective. When I am asked about my qualifications and need to be brief, is say "I am an engineer. And engineers fix things."[3] | ” |
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Paul Pence's responses," September 7, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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