Changes

==Mayor==

==Mayor==

After being elected mayor in 2002 to a liberal town, Cranston, Laffey faced many hurdles. One of the biggest was his fight against waste caused by city unions. Laffey stated that other politicians were scared to deal with the unions because, “They’re not going to get reelected without the unions’ support. Me, I don’t care.” <ref>http://www.providencephoenix.com/features/top/multi/documents/04004923.asp</ref>. The mayor worked to deal with the issue of overpaid city crossing guards workers; which were being paid the equivalent of $129 per hour in the city, this action led to a lot of criticism from unions and some government officials<ref>http://www.providencephoenix.com/features/top/multi/documents/04004923.asp</ref>. He also used security cameras as evidence that city workers were being negligent on the job<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/miller/miller200510180823.asp</ref>.  In 2003, Laffey gave private groups permission to set up [[Christmas]] displays on city property. The [[ACLU]] attacked the mayor decision saying that it broke the “separation between church and state,” Laffey defended his position stating that state was not paying for the displays and that anyone could put them up. In the end, the city was victorious over the ACLU with a unanimous ruling by the [[U.S. Court of Appeals]]<ref> http://politicalincorrectblog.com/2005/11/</ref>.

After being elected mayor in 2002 to a liberal town, Cranston, Laffey faced many hurdles. One of the biggest was his fight against waste caused by city unions. Laffey stated that other politicians were scared to deal with the unions because, “They’re not going to get reelected without the unions’ support. Me, I don’t care.” <ref>http://www.providencephoenix.com/features/top/multi/documents/04004923.asp</ref>. The mayor worked to deal with the issue of overpaid city crossing guards workers; which were being paid the equivalent of $129 per hour in the city, this action led to a lot of criticism from unions and some government officials<ref>http://www.providencephoenix.com/features/top/multi/documents/04004923.asp</ref>. He also used security cameras as evidence that city workers were being negligent on the job<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/miller/miller200510180823.asp</ref>.  In 2003, Laffey gave private groups permission to set up [[Christmas]] displays on city property. The [[ACLU]] attacked the mayor decision saying that it broke the “separation between church and state,” Laffey defended his position stating that state was not paying for the displays and that anyone could put them up. In the end, the city was victorious over the ACLU with a unanimous ruling by the [[U.S. Court of Appeals]]<ref> http://politicalincorrectblog.com/2005/11/</ref>. Laffey was reelected as Cranston mayor in 2004, winning 64% of the city's vote. <ref>http://www.senate08.com/states/ri.html</ref>

 

==Senatorial Primary Race==

==Senatorial Primary Race==