Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts caused a stir last week over her decision to travel to the state’s most prestigious July 4th celebration in a Black Hawk helicopter.

And there seems to be some confusion over whether Roberts was invited, or invited herself, to join National Guard Gen. Robert T. Bray, the state adjutant general, on the aircraft, which flew to the Bristol parade as part of a training mission, according to Guard spokesman Denis Riel.

“The lieutenant governor’s office assumed we would be flying, as per usual, at the parade. They reached out to the adjutant general for an orientation flight,” Riel told Political Scene in an e-mail. He said the federal government allows “civic leader or media orientation flights on regularly scheduled military aircraft missions.”

The lieutenant governor’s office, which initially said Roberts joined Bray only after being invited, later clarified that she was responding to a standing invitation.

“We didn’t solicit the invitation. We confirmed an invitation that’s part of an ongoing tradition that goes back to the previous lieutenant governor,” said Roberts spokesman Michael Tanaka.

Riel confirmed that public officials regularly travel on military aircraft during training missions.

“Within the past year, we have provided orientation flights for [Providence] Mayor Cicilline, Senators Whitehouse and Reed, Governor Carcieri and the lieutenant governor,” he wrote.

And he confirmed that there was, indeed, a standing invitation.

“As the general works with her extensively in her capacity as chair of the Emergency Management Advisory Council, and had previously extended an invitation [to] tour our facilities and experience our mission, he thought it an opportune time to expose her to the capabilities of what would be our first responders in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.”

Riel could not immediately provide the cost of the July 4 training mission, but said it was covered by federal funds.

Chafee lobbies lawmakers on popular-vote measure

Former U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee waded back into the state political arena recently, in an effort to persuade Rhode Island lawmakers to support a movement to change the way presidents are selected.

His quiet letter-writing campaign came to light last week after Republican Governor Carcieri vetoed a bill that would have allowed Rhode Island to join a national compact of states that commit their electoral delegates to the winner of the national popular vote, regardless of who carries each state.

The measure would kick in only if states representing a majority of the nation’s 538 electoral votes decide to make the same change. Only a handful have so far.

The proposal is aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2000 election, when Democrat Al Gore got the most votes nationwide but Republican George W. Bush put together enough victories in key states to win a majority in the Electoral College and capture the White House.

As the bill moved its way through the Rhode Island legislature, opponents contended that Rhode Island’s voice would be severely “diluted” by a switch to popular-vote selection.

But the Republican-turned-independent Chafee made this counterargument: Rhode Island is usually ignored by both major parties because the results here are a foregone conclusion:

“Candidates don’t come here or familiarize themselves with our issues and ... don’t spend money here,” he said. “The result is that we are essentially shut out of presidential election politics.”

With Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fighting for every state, the recent Rhode Island primary was an exception.

“By ensuring that the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states wins in the Electoral College, we ensure that every vote is equally important in presidential elections,” Chafee said. “On election night, we could know that a vote in Rhode Island counted as much as a vote in a battleground state such as Ohio, and we would see our direct contribution to democracy in the national popular vote total.”

Looking beyond Rhode Island, Chafee said neither party needs to go too far back in history to find evidence that “the current state-by-state winner-take-all electoral vote apportionment is seriously flawed. ... Democrats get angry just thinking about the 2000 election, but Republicans were close to the same scenario in 2004 ...[when] a swing of 60,000 votes in Ohio could have given Sen. [John] Kerry an Electoral College victory, despite the president’s popular vote margin of over 3 million votes.”

In an e-mail exchange with Political Scene this week, Chafee said this was the only state-level issue that prompted him to contact Rhode Island lawmakers this year and he did so at the request of Ari Savitsky, local lobbyist for the National Popular Vote movement.

“I became interested in the Electoral College system as we went about the scenario of VP [Al] Gore presiding over the counting of the Electoral College votes in early 2001. I learned about the flaws ... and cosponsored with Sen. Dianne Feinstein a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College. Our amendment went nowhere ... Ari asked me to sign a letter this year which I was happy to do.”

In his veto message, Carcieri denounced the move as an attempt to “eviscerate the Electoral College and subvert the Constitution of the United States. ... Despite the cries from those who believe the current system is unjust, and that the only legitimate way to select a commander in chief is by direct election, no serious effort has been made to amend the Constitution to provide this ‘remedy.’ ”

Chafee said he was “disappointed but not surprised by the governor’s veto. He is a big Bush fan and many see this effort as coming out of the 2000 election results.”

It remains unclear if lawmakers will return to the State House for a veto override session.

Speaker Murphy’s reelection in the bag

House Speaker William J. Murphy, D-West Warwick, is now running for reelection unopposed, after his only declared challenger, a fellow Democrat, withdrew from the race.

Michael Lombardi, 29, took out candidacy papers to challenge Murphy in a primary, then changed his mind.

Reached where he works in the Johnston law offices of former Rep. Joseph Voccola, Lombardi said: “Well, really, let’s see, there’s really ... nothing changed my mind, you know?”

So why did he withdraw? “I’d rather not comment on that, to be quite honest with you.” Was he urged to withdraw by anyone in the party establishment? “No, I never spoke to Mr. Murphy about it at all, actually.”

Pressed one more time for his reasons, he said: “Did you ask Mr. Murphy?”

Murphy offered no comment on his opponent’s withdrawal and remarks. All he said in a brief statement issued by his spokesman, Larry Berman: “My understanding is that he decided not to run at this time.”

Murphy ran unopposed in 2006. In 2004, then-state GOP Chairwoman Patricia Morgan agreed — at Governor Carcieri’s urging — to take on the speaker for the District 26 seat, which also represents parts of Coventry and Warwick. He beat her handily, with 58.95 percent of the vote to her 40.93 percent.

Lombardi is a newcomer to West Warwick politics, having changed his voting address from Providence to 450 Providence St. on May 29, according to the town’s Board of Canvassers.

Asked about a future campaign, Lombardi said: “I do have political ambitions. I have always been interested in politics and the issues. And it’s something I’m not ruling out in the future, you know?”

Pelosi visits R.I. today

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to visit Rhode Island Friday for a series of events.

The California Democrat will speak at an early-childhood education conference; meet with members of Working Rhode Island, an organized labor group, at the United Food and Commercial Workers union hall, on Silver Spring Avenue in Providence, and keynote a fundraiser in Jamestown for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political and fundraising arm of House Democrats.

A venue for the early-childhood event has not been announced, but U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s office confirmed that it will involve Rhode Island Kids Count, the advocacy organization.

Happy 41st, Patrick

Today, besides being Bastille Day, is Congressman Kennedy’s birthday. He’ll spend it “working in the district for the people of Rhode Island,” says Robin Costello, his press secretary.

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