Q+A: David Quiroa Sr. Discusses Running Against Own Son

Politics can turn friends into foes, turn neighbors into rivals, or in this case; father and son into political candidates - running for one seat, from the same household.

This week, WBOB’s Tyler Salk was joined by David Quiroa Sr. to discuss his campaign for State Representative in District 73 - where he is running against: David Quiroa Jr. -- his own son. The elder Quiroa will need to not only defeat the current incumbent, but will also have to best his son in pursuit of the Aquidneck Island post.

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Tyler Salk: David, thanks for speaking with me today. Please tell me a little about yourself. Who are you, and why are you running for office?

David Quiroa Sr.: Tyler, thank you for the opportunity to be on your site. I’m a father of 5, David Jr. (22), Andre Javier (19), Jean-Carlo (15), Sophia Michelle (13), and Bella (11). The rock of our family is my wife Iris Quiroa and we have been married for 23 years.

In contrast with many other politicians, I have a unique perspective on how to deal with the major issues we face in Rhode Island. I’m a global citizen, an American with a world-view of how to position our great state of Rhode Island to succeed. I was born in Manhattan and soon after moved to Guatemala City and returned to the US when I was 8 years old. At age 12, I returned to Guatemala and landed in Newport, RI back in 1989 and have lived in Newport since.

I’m not only bilingual (English/Spanish) but also bi-cultural, these aspects of my persona give me a competitive advantage over my political opponents in the sense that I can think in a 3D way and see where we as a State can set a path to be players in the region, national, and international business sectors.

We have been under 80 years of Democrat Party control at the State House. It is time to create real healthy political opposition and elect more Republicans to represent us at the State House. I hope to be one of those Republicans that gets elected this November.
I’m currently the Assistant Director at the Cranston Department of Senior Services in the City of Cranston. I served as Interim Executive Director for 2 years per the request of Mayor Allan Fung. I been with the Cranston Department of Senior Services for 14 years.

TS: From Governor Raimondo, down to the rest of the state government, how would you evaluate the performances of the current leaders of Rhode Island?

DQ: Again, 80 years of government by the Democrat Party has created a bloated government apparatus full with duplication and totally against economies of scale. This 80 year old Democrat Party model of government is the main reason we are not the Israel of the 50 states. We have the potential to be a major hub for innovation and invention. As the statement made by Lord Acton, a British historian of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries says: Absolute power, absolutely corrupts. This is where we are with Governor Raimondo and the rest of the Democrat Party leadership. We are engulfed in very subtle corruption of placing unqualified people in jobs that required top skills to make systems work, for example we have the Unified Health Infrastructure Project (UHIP) disaster at Rhode Island Department of Human Services (DHS). We need to balance power in RI and elect more Republicans to office and I hope to be part of that balance of progress.

TS: Talk to me a little bit about the current incumbent, Marvin Abney. How has he done representing the district? If he were to be elected again, what would it mean for the people of Rhode Island?

DQ: The reality is that Representative Abney only represents himself and District 15 in Cranston (the Speaker’s District). The irony is that Abney as the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance could do so much for District 73 but of course Representative Abney only represents the interests that of the Speaker. In 2017 when the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority ended the Free Bus Program for seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities, Representative Abney could have acted swiftly and used his power to fund the program but he did nothing for seniors, veterans, or people with disabilities and let these folks to their own peril. Seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities that depend on the Free Bus Program for a year could not make medical appointments, buy groceries, and attend soup kitchens and senior centers for at least one daily nutritious hot meal. It is truly shameful that people with power to help fellow Americans just decide to be egoist and settle in their cushy positions of power and forget of the people who have built this State and Country. I will represent District 73 and its people not other interests that betray the votes of the people of Newport and Middletown.

TS: Not only are you trying to defeat Abney in the election, you’ve got another opponent. An independent. The story of you and your son running against each other has gone viral. How did this come about? Who decided that they were running first, and how did that conversation go?

DQ: I had been thinking about running for more than 3 years. As a concerned citizen of the State of Rhode Island, I cannot seat back and watch the State go down the toilet with all the crazy spending that takes place under the control of the Democrat Party. We need a healthy balance of power at the State House. I decided to run before my son did, he decided to run when we declared our candidacies on June 26th.

My son asked me, "where are you going?"

I said, "to declare my candidacy."

My son replied, “Let’s go, then.”

TS: Can we expect a dirty campaign between you two? You definitely know some things about each other that the general public doesn’t know.

DQ: No dirty campaign at all. However, I will be very diligent getting my message out and promoting the need for balance of power at the State House.

TS: What does your family have say about the race between you and your son?

DQ: All the voters in our family have said that they will flip a coin to decide who they will vote for. If my son wins, it will be better than having a non-representative representative such as our current person at the State House.

TS: David, please complete this statement for me. When I’m elected into office, my first order of business will be ____:

DQ: My first order of business will be to work for the installation of a new Inspector General for the State of Rhode Island in order to start reversing the bad spending decisions our Democrat Party government model has done for the last 80 years. We need to end corruption now, if not, we will not be the Ocean State, instead we will be the State at the bottom of the Ocean.

TS: What are some of the other most central points to your campaign?

DQ: As follows:

• Install the post of Inspector General for the State of Rhode Island.
  
• Work on getting the power of “line-item veto” for the governor.
  
• Promote legislation to include financial and professional aid to our school systems that are impacted by migrant children that have entered the country through the process of asylum. We cannot expect for our local taxpayers to pay for the extra pupil expenses and costs created by a new load of students. Our teachers need to be recognized for the incredible work they do educating our children and those children who have recently arrived who have extra educational needs such as instruction in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL).
  
• Initiate a review of how to end duplication of services across the Cities and Towns.

TS: Where can people find out more information about you and your campaign? (Social Media, website, etc. Please post links for us if you have them, and we’ll hyperlink it if you do not know how) Do you have any appearances or events coming up where our readers can meet you in person?

DQ: Folks can reach me via email at: [email protected]. Also, everyone is welcome to like my Facebook page: “Vote David A. Quiroa State Representative.” Information on how to support my campaign can be found on my Facebook page.

TS: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today!

DQ: Tyler, thank you for the opportunity to reach your audience. I’m sure I will be speaking to you again in the near future. God Bless!!!

As we get further into the election year, the team at 990WBOB is here to serve as your source of political news in the state of Rhode Island. Through our podcasts and articles, our renegades are learning as much about the candidates as possible.

Are you a candidate who would like to speak to the 990WBOB audience?Contact us here!

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