When Sarah Mogensou competed for a seat in an open parliament on Rhode Island, she had to answer an old question in American politics. Did you really come from here?
Not just her.
A leading Republican candidate for the Senate in Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and has lived in New Jersey for many years.Just two years before running, Oz invited People magazine Photographed in his 9,000-square-foot mansion overlooking the Manhattan skyline.He has insisted since then His home-in-law on the outskirts of Philadelphia According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, as his residence.
Other Out-of-State Candidates — David McCormickOz’s Republican main rival in Pennsylvania, and Herschel Walker Georgia — We are facing similar scrutiny this year.
Mogenso, a lawyer who quit his best job at the Commerce Department to run for Democratic Party, has a relationship with Rhode Island. She grew up in Boston and New York, Video announcing her candidacy Married to her husband in the backyard of the Morgentau family’s summer villa in Saunderstown, a village north of Narragansett. “Work has drawn us elsewhere, but Rhode Island is a place that remains constant in all of our lives,” she says.
On paper, Mogenso is an impressive candidate.
she Impressive resume: He holds a degree from Barnard College and the Columbia Law School and holds senior-level positions at the Peace Corps, the Department of Homeland Security, and the private security company Nardello & Company.
And an impressive family: her mother, Ruth International Political Scientist and Advisor to President Jimmy Carter.. In 1988, Ruth Morgentau ran for Democratic Party in Rhode Island and was defeated by Republican Claudine Schneider.
Sarah Morgenthau’s uncle was Robert Morgenthau, a well-known district attorney in Manhattan. Her grandfather Henry Morgenthau Jr. was President Franklin Roosevelt’s Treasury Secretary. Her great-grandfather, Henry Morgenthau Sr., recorded the Armenian genocide as the US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
Due to his family ties, Sarah Morgentau urged the Biden administration to admit the Armenian genocide. This is the initiative that won her. Articles of praise by Politico April 2021.
“She was the national co-chair of Biden’s lawyer, a large fundraiser, and a volunteer in the campaign’s National Security Policy Group,” Politico reported. “She acted as a surrogate mother frequently cited in national publications about race trajectories and donor body temperatures.”
If Mogenso can’t answer that question, it may not be a problem — Did you really come from here? — To the satisfaction of Rhode Island voters.
Close political culture
Mogenso has a lot to prove months before the Democratic primary on September 13.
She needs to overcome her local favorite in the race, Seth Magaziner, the state’s general finance officer. He has already secured the support of several major unions and has outraised the rest of the field so far. Over 95% of Mogenso’s campaign donations come from outside the state and The Boston GlobeAgainst 27% of Magaziner.
Rhode Island’s political culture is famous for its isolation and doubts the perceptions of outsiders. That’s why Brett Smiley, a candidate for Mayor of Providence, who has lived on Rhode Island for 16 years, started him. Campaign kickoff speech Last month he nodded to the fact that he grew up in Chicago. “Like more and more people, I chose Providence,” Smiley said. “I have lived and worked elsewhere, but I know that what is here is special.”
In the state, it’s common to see bumper stickers that say “I’ll never leave Rhode Island.” The University of Rhode Island fight song begins. “We were born and raised on Rhode Island. When we die, Rhode Island dies!”
“People are very rooted in their community,” said Rich Lucet, a longtime aide to Congressman David Siciline, who represents the rest of the state’s parliamentary districts. “There is resistance to all kinds of changes.”
It’s no wonder then that Mogenso is faced with constant questions about Rhode Island eligibility from the local news media.
When the Providence Journal asked race candidates to answer a series of trivia quizzes about Rhode Island, Mogenso gave almost the same answer as the Wikipedia entry — and the newspaper. Called her..
Then came A brutal encounter with a local TV newscaster earlier this monthKim Carnian asked if Mogenso had lived in the state for a year or if he had his children enrolled in a school there.
“I’ve been paying property taxes in District 2 for 40 years,” Mogenso replied, but she admitted that the answer to both questions was no.
Clips of exchange soared around Rhode Island’s tightly-knit democratic political class, nervously watching the race to succeed retired Rep. Jim Langebin. Langebin won the reelection relatively easily in 2020, but some Democrats may be able to help unaffiliated candidates pass seats to the Republicans in a weak year for the party. I’m afraid there isn’t.
“Being out of state isn’t always fatal,” said Jokai Azzo, a democracy consultant who ran the Hillary Clinton campaign in the state in 2016. This is very important on Rhode Island. “
Mogenso is familiar with skepticism. In her interview, she emphasized her “her rich experience in Washington” and stated that she was a person who “goes through a brick wall if I need to get things done.”
She also talked about the theme she emphasized during the campaign, “The commitment to public services that I have been planting in me since I was young at the kitchen table.”
“When people meet me, they’ll meet someone who is a problem solver who has a Rhode Island back,” she said.
Empire mental state
There is a successful playbook to run as a carpetbagger — and it was created by none other than Hillary Clinton.
In 2000, Clinton ran for Senate in New York, despite having never held an election position, grew up in Illinois, and lived in Arkansas for many years while her husband was governor. I gambled. She had some great advantages. She is a universal name recognition as a first lady, an overwhelmingly democratic voter, and a lively opponent of Republican candidate Rick Lazio.
But Clinton had never lived in New York and she knew that the lack of roots in the state was a problem. Her solution, conceived by pollster Mark Penn, was a “listening tour” of 62 counties in New York in the summer of 1999.
On some occasions, with the help of local Democratic officials, Clinton stayed overnight in a complete stranger’s house, where she was known for doing household chores.
The listening tour didn’t always go well.in the meantime Visit to an electronics factory on the outskirts of Binghamton, Protesters put up a sign saying “Hillary goes home” and “Hillary: Return to Arkansas, Carpetbagger.” Clinton, Reportedly A lifetime Chicago Cubs fan Take off the Yankees cap When the team came to the White House to celebrate the World Series victory.
Lazio tried to take advantage of this problem.Description of his campaign development in Time magazine Said “I flashed my New York pedigree almost as often as my teeth,” he said.
Clinton’s reunion was to defeat Lazio, emphasizing her familiarity with the subject matter important to the New Yorker. “I may not be used to the neighborhood,” she said. During her announcement speech“But I’m not new to your concerns.”
She also hired a team of experienced New York operatives led by Howard Wolfson and Bill de Blasio to help navigate Manhattan’s vicious tabloids.
But it was a very ridiculous northern listening tour at the time, and eventually she was able to shrug the carpetbagger accusations.
Patti Solis Doyle, Clinton’s campaign manager, said: “She said almost nothing and took a lot of notes.”
According to Solis Doyle, the event didn’t have too much drama and eventually put the press to sleep.
“In the end, they were tired of tears,” she said.
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