Democratic challenger to Rep. Langevin visits Block Island

Block Island - Jennifer Lawless, the 30-year-old Democrat and assistant professor of political science and public policy at Brown University who’s challenging incumbent James Langevin for the 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, came to Block Island Wednesday, Jan. 25, as part of her 12-day walking tour of the district.

Lawless began her trip Jan. 17 in Glocester. Block Island was her 19th stop, and Friday, she concludes her tour of the district, in Narragansett. The 100-mile hike has generated a good deal of press coverage around the state, which Lawless hopes will help give her the advantage in the state’s Democratic primary in September.

After the young candidate got off the ferry at noon with her campaign manager, she stood in the weekly Silent Vigil for Peace and Justice (a non-partisan organization) on Water Street, met people at the Red Bird Liquor Store and Town Hall, and hung out at Juice ‘n Java before taking the 2:30 p.m. boat back to Point Judith.

While sipping a coffee Wednesday afternoon, Lawless said that the four areas of focus in her campaign are “education, jobs, healthcare and reproductive freedom.”

Today, “It’s becoming very difficult for working families to make ends meet,” she said, mentioning rising housing costs, education costs, and fuel and gas prices. One of her top priorities, therefore, is to have a “responsible tax policy that rewards working families, and not the rich,” she said.

Healthcare is “a basic human right,” she said, and universal healthcare is an important goal of hers.

Rhode Island needs a better transportation infrastructure, she added, and more publicity about and incentives for producing energy from renewable and alternative sources.

Abortion is also a major issue in Rhode Island, because the state is “in the bottom third of all the states in terms of reproductive freedom,” she said. “Our policies are not in sync with the preferences of people who live here,” considering that “two-thirds of Rhode Islanders are pro-choice.” It appears that some people have gotten her pro-choice message — The National Women’s Political Caucus and the Women Under 40 Political Action Committee endorsed her candidacy. Langevin is pro-life.

Lawless said she’s making an effort to run an energetic campaign, and the long journey so far “has been worth it. I’ve met a lot of great people.” She wants people to see her as an approachable candidate who, if elected, “will help people understand how government works and how it can help you on a day-to-day basis.”

Langevin is serving his fourth term in Congress since being elected in 2000; despite his success so far, Lawless argues that his chances of winning this time around aren’t as certain, because he hasn’t had to face “a serious challenger” until now.

Before moving to Rhode Island to teach at Brown University, Lawless was a grant writer for the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation in New York City. She was born and raised in upstate New York.

Lawless didn’t want the United States to go to war with Iraq two years ago, and today, she advocates establishing a plan to withdraw the troops. According to her web site, www.lawlessforcongress.com, she has called for more Head Start funding, tax incentives for education and small businesses, prescription drug benefits for seniors, strengthening the Clean Air Act and opposing drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

This article, written by Abby Fox, appeared on January 28, 2006, in the Block Island Times.