DiPALMA

MIDDLETOWN — Lou DiPalma calls himself a “a catalyst for change.”

A two-term Democratic town councilman, he is running for the state Senate against Republican June Gibbs, who has held the District 12 seat for 24 years, representing Middletown, Little Compton and parts of Newport and Tiverton.

Gibbs, part of a tiny GOP opposition in an overwhelmingly Democratic General Assembly, agrees with DiPalma that “people want a change.”

“But not the kind of change he’s talking about,” she said.

“I don’t have any big arguments with Lou,” Gibbs said. She has worked for the environment, pension reform, educational improvements and other causes that DiPalma embraces.

DiPalma puts a sharp focus on economic development, saying he wants the state to encourage academia and business to work together to develop environment-friendly technologies that will bring high-paying jobs to Rhode Island.

In the long run, innovative business would bring more taxpayers to Rhode Island, putting the ailing state budget on a more sound footing, he said.

But Gibbs says the General Assembly needs a new climate that will not come with the election of more Democrats.

The current imbalance of power allows the Senate leadership to ignore individual senators, Republican or Democrat, because “they have the votes,” she said.

“Another Democrat is not going to help the situation,” said Gibbs, noting that chairmen of legislative committees may not even schedule hearings on bills without approval of the leadership.

DiPalma, 47, a technology director at Raytheon, says he thrives on 18-hour days, campaigning every night after work and on weekends.

He said he believes in term limits, a topic that makes an issue of Gibbs’ age.

But Gibbs, a vigorous 86, turns the issue question on its head, asking rhetorically, “Why shouldn’t I run?”

“I have a lot of experience, tremendous interest, plenty of time, and I’m active,” said Gibbs, whose first job after graduating from Wellesley College was breaking German code for the Navy during World War II.

She got into politics, volunteering on committees and serving for about 10 years on the Middletown Town Council before running for the Senate because she couldn’t find part-time work while her daughter was growing up.

Gibbs says she campaigns door to door for two hours every day, and she has time to be a full-time senator.

DiPalma, on the other hand, subscribes to the adage that “if you want to get something done, give it to the busiest person.”

In dealing with large-scale defense and security issues at Raytheon over the last 25 years, DiPalma said, he has developed a collaborative approach, problem-solving skills and an innovative way of thinking that would translate well in tackling the state’s fiscal problems.

Gibbs says DiPalma has good ideas, but she has a better grasp of what an individual senator can do at the State House.

gmacris@projo.com