Independent Wins Upset Victory to Rhode Island State Assembly

Blake Filippi, a progressive attorney and independent candidate for Rhode Island state assembly, has won a monumental upset victory against incumbent Representative Donna Walsh. According to the Rhode Island Board of Elections, Filippi has won 60% to Walsh’s 40% with all precincts reporting in the District 36 race.

Walsh was first elected to the state house in 2006. She previous served in the Rhode Island State Senate from 1996 to 2002 and from 1997 to 2002, she served as Deputy Majority Leader.

Filippi won 3,229 votes to Walsh’s 2,179 votes, check here for updates.

Elsewhere in Rhode Island state house races, independent Karin Gorman won 47.5% and independent Richard Fagnant won 47.2%.

More about Blake Filippi from his campaign site:

Blake Filippi is an Independent candidate for State Representative in District 36, serving Block Island, Charlestown and parts of South Kingstown and Westerly. A Block Island family business owner, organic cattle farmer and civil rights lawyer, Blake was born and raised in Rhode Island, and holds a BA in history from the University of Arizona, and a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law.

Blake and his family operate Ballard’s Inn of Block Island – an Island-institution for over 125 years – as well Ballard’s Farm, an organic cattle ranch in Lincoln, R.I. Having worked in both businesses since childhood, Blake knows the daily struggles faced by small businesses. The requirements of running a family farm also instilled a deep sense of environmental stewardship. These experiences are central to his perspectives and will be useful in the General Assembly.

During Law School, Blake conducted prosecutions for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, and then served as a Law Clerk in the Rhode Island Supreme Court Law Clerk Department. Now as an attorney in private practice, Blake dedicates much of his time to Constitutional issues.

The son of a prominent civil rights leader, Paul A. Filippi, owner of Providence’s famed Celebrity Club and one of the first integrated music venues in the United States (right here in Rhode Island!), Blake has carried on his family’s legacy of public service by serving as legal counsel to the Tenth Amendment Center — a nationwide civil rights think tank. There, he works with organizations across the political spectrum to safeguard our most fundamental rights, including free speech, due process and individual privacy. Most notably, Blake has been instrumental in the nationwide efforts to reject indefinite detention without trial of domestic U.S. citizens, the domestic use of drones by law enforcement without a warrant, and the NSA’s dragnet surveillance programs.

Working in this field and achieving real and tangible results taught Blake that we citizens hold immense power over our government – so long as we exercise that power. By doing so, we preserve for future generations precious freedoms that others can only envy.

Blake’s candidacy for State Representative is an effort to bring his knowledge of individual liberty and his ability to work with diverse coalitions to the Rhode Island General Assembly. He is committed to the idea that future generations can live free and achieve in Rhode Island.

In his free time, Blake likes to trek, bike, swim, fish and read.