Steve Frias
Steve Frias (Republican Party) ran for election to the Rhode Island House of Representatives to represent District 15. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Frias is the national committeeman of the Republican Party of Rhode Island.[1] He served on the Rules Committee of the convention in July 2016.
Career
After receiving a bachelor's degree from Brown University and a law degree from Suffolk University, Steve Frias began working as an attorney with Zizik, LaSalle and Power. He then moved on to work in Rhode Island's Public Utilities Commission, first as the department's senior legal counsel. Frias then served as the executive counsel for the commission and as legal counsel to the Rhode Island energy Facility Siting Board.[2]
In addition to his work as an attorney, Frias writes a twice-monthly column for the Providence Journal. In 2015, he won the Coolidge Prize for Journalism for his piece "A tax we'll all pay someday." In the piece, he argued that a 2015 tax increase on "non-owner-occupied residential properties valued at a $1 million or more" appeared to be a tax on the wealthy but would affect all in reality. He concluded, "he luxuries of the wealthy are the livelihood of workers. A tax on the few today can become a tax on the many tomorrow. When you hear about a tax on the wealthy, be leery, for eventually, it will be a tax on you and me."[3]
Campaign themes
2016
Frias' campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
Repealing the new tolls The recent legislation enacted to impose tolls on trucks must be repealed. Lower Rhode Island's tax rate below neighboring states Setting Rhode Island’s sales-tax rate, corporate-income-tax rate and highest personal-income-tax rate at 5 percent would give Rhode Island lower tax rates than its neighboring states, and might cause Rhode Island to leap up to near the top 10 states in business-tax climates. To help spur innovation, Rhode Island should enact the equivalent of Proposition 2½ and reduce the top income tax rate to 5 percent. Lower taxes helped high-tech industries revitalize Massachusetts’ economy a generation ago; it could do the same for Rhode Island today. Term limits for State Legislators About 15 states have term limits for state legislators. Term limits can help break the cycle of corruption and bring a diversity of people and fresh ideas to the General Assembly. Reduce General Assembly's budget The General Assembly’s budget must be reduced. Rhode Island spends approximately $43 million on the General Assembly’s budget. Meanwhile, New Hampshire, which has a slightly larger population than Rhode Island and four times as many legislators as Rhode Island only spends about $18 million. Enact a line item veto A line item veto currently exists in about 44 other states. A line-item veto could be used to stop wasteful or corrupt spending, and will check the power concentrated in the House Speaker.[4] |
” |
| —Steve Frias[5] | ||
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Rhode Island House of Representatives District 15
Incumbent Nicholas Mattiello defeated Steve Frias in the general election for Rhode Island House of Representatives District 15 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nicholas Mattiello (D) | 52.3 | 3,464 |
 | Steve Frias (R) | 47.3 | 3,135 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 29 | ||
| Total votes: 6,628 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Rhode Island House of Representatives District 15
Incumbent Nicholas Mattiello advanced from the Democratic primary for Rhode Island House of Representatives District 15 on September 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Nicholas Mattiello | 100.0 | 867 |
| Total votes: 867 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Rhode Island House of Representatives District 15
Steve Frias advanced from the Republican primary for Rhode Island House of Representatives District 15 on September 12, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Steve Frias | 100.0 | 891 |
| Total votes: 891 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2016
Elections for the Rhode Island House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 13, 2016, and a general election would have taken place on November 8, 2016, if no candidate had won a majority of votes in the primary. The candidate filing deadline was June 29, 2016.
Incumbent Nicholas Mattiello defeated Steven Frias and Patrick Vallier in the Rhode Island House of Representatives District 15 general election.[6][7]
| Rhode Island House of Representatives, District 15 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Nicholas Mattiello Incumbent |
49.20% | 3,611 | |
| Republican | Steven Frias | 48.04% | 3,526 | |
| Independent | Patrick Vallier | 2.75% | 202 | |
| Total Votes | 7,339 | |||
| Source: Rhode Island State Board of Elections | ||||
Incumbent Nicholas Mattiello ran unopposed in the Rhode Island House of Representatives District 15 Democratic primary.[8]
| Rhode Island House of Representatives, District 15 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Nicholas Mattiello Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Steven Frias defeated Shawna Lawton in the Rhode Island House of Representatives District 15 Republican primary.[9]
| Rhode Island House of Representatives, District 15 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Steven Frias |
79.63% | 477 | |
| Republican | Shawna Lawton | 20.37% | 122 | |
| Total Votes | 599 | |||
This candidate ran in one of Ballotpedia's races to watch in 2016. Read more »
2016 Republican National Convention
- See also: Republican National Convention, 2016
RNC Rules Committee
- See also: RNC Rules Committee, 2016
Frias was a member of the RNC Rules Committee, a 112-member body responsible for crafting the official rules of the Republican Party, including the rules that governed the 2016 Republican National Convention.[10]
Appointment process
The convention Rules Committee in 2016 consisted of one male and one female delegate from each state and territorial delegation. The Rules of the Republican Party required each delegation to elect from its own membership representatives to serve on the Rules Committee.
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Rhode Island House of Representatives elections, 2018
- Rhode Island House of Representatives
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Republican National Committee, "Rhode Island Leadership," accessed April 1, 2016
- ↑ Keegan Werlin, LLC, "Steven Frias," accessed July 1, 2016
- ↑ Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, "Steven Frias: 2015 Winner of the Coolidge Prize for Journalism," October 26, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Frias for Rep., "Platform," accessed September 30, 2016
- ↑ Rhode Island Secretary of State, "2016 Candidate Search," accessed October 5, 2016
- ↑ Rhode Island State Board of Elections, "2016 general election results," accessed January 19, 2017
- ↑ Rhode Island Secretary of State, "2016 Candidate Search," accessed June 30, 2016
- ↑ Rhode Island Secretary of State, "2016 Candidate Search," accessed June 30, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia's list of 2016 RNC Rules Committee members is based on an official list from the Republican National Committee obtained by Ballotpedia on June 24, 2016
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