PROVIDENCE – A sixth Democratic candidate is jumping into the race to succeed Rep. David N. Cicilline, D-R.I., in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Stephanie Beaute, a senior product manager at a software company that supplies software to the insurance industry, announced late Wednesday that is running for Congress seeking the 1st District seat in the U.S. House. Beaute is entering the election cycle for the second time in as many years. She lost to Gregg Amore last September in the Democratic primary for the secretary of state’s office.
Like the majority of candidates who have announced their respective candidacies, Beaute says she is running for Congress because of needed change in Washington, D.C. She says she is “tired” of how housing has become “an existential crisis, how seniors are struggling to afford high drug costs, how mass shootings have become the norm in the U.S. and how “the American Dream is drifting further and further away.”
“It’s time to stand up to big money influencing politics and it’s time to fight for the people,” Beaute said in a statement.
Beaute now joins a loaded field of Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, Rep. Nathan W. Biah, D-Providence, Providence City Councilor John Goncalves, Sen. Sandra Cano, D-Pawtucket, and former Gina M. Raimondo aide Nick Autiello – all Democrats who have confirmed their respective candidacies to replace Cicilline in Washington, D.C. Cicilline is stepping down on June 1 after 11 years in U.S. Congress to become CEO and president of the Rhode Island Foundation.
No Republican has yet to announce his or her candidacy for the seat.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
