Smith

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Calling Rhode Island a state that has taxed and spent its way to economic disaster, businessman Riordon B. Smith announced Wednesday that he is running for governor.

The first-time political candidate ended weeks of speculation by filing a “notice of organization” with the state Board of Elections — needed to raise money for a campaign — and then, in an interview, left no doubt about his intentions.

“I’m running,” the East Greenwich Republican said. “I’m all in.”

Smith, 48, enters the gubernatorial race as a political unknown, but he says his business experience — he helped to found Providence-based Nautic Partners LLC, a private equity firm — are just what Rhode Island needs as it grapples with budget deficits, high taxes and high unemployment.

“There’s only one key issue, and it’s jobs and the economy,” he said. “That’s something that every Rhode Islander can agree on. We all have to come back on track and get the people working again.”

Smith’s announcement increases the likelihood that voters will have several options next year when they choose a successor to Republican Governor Carcieri, who is barred by term limits from running again.

On the Democratic side, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch has been raising money and says he intends to run, and General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio has been raising money and is expected to formally announce in the coming months. Also raising money is former U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee, a Republican turned independent, and there is speculation that former Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey, a Republican, will seek the governor’s office. The list could grow if the newly established Moderate Party makes good in its efforts to field a prominent candidate.

Smith drew ringing praise from state GOP Chairman Giovanni Cicione, who said Smith is a “particularly capable” candidate who will receive as much party support as possible, as will other Republicans, should any emerge.

“He’s an experienced guy, and he spent most of his career as the guy you go to when your company is in bad shape,” Cicione said. “While there’s differences between running a company and running the state, that is something that Rhode Island clearly needs.”

State Democratic Chairman William Lynch all but dismissed Smith’s chances of winning, saying he is a clone of Carcieri and will be viewed by voters as more of the same.

“We’re hoping that he’s the Republican candidate, quite frankly,” Lynch said. “Having just suffered through a horrible eight years … I just don’t believe that people in Rhode Island are going to elect somebody who is a Don Carcieri clone and ask for four more years.”

Smith, who goes by the nickname “Rory,” said he is running because he believes his business experience lends itself to the challenges of being governor and because he embraces challenges in general — whether its helping to restore failing businesses or competing in an Ironman competition, which he did last summer in Lake Placid, N.Y.

The competition required him to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run a 26-mile marathon, he said.

“I completed it in 12 hours and 17 minutes, and I never stopped once,” he said.

Smith dismissed the notion that he is a Carcieri clone, saying he has worked at a small to midsized company that mirrors the economic landscape in Rhode Island and has the ability to reach across the political aisle and work with Democrats in the General Assembly.

“Much of my career has been as a partner, where you have to build consensus,” he said. “That’s what it takes, I think, to lead Rhode Island.”

Smith said that fixing the state’s economy and budget woes will mean cutting spending and making the state’s tax structure more competitive. He said that includes cutting taxes on the wealthy, if Rhode Island is taxing more than other states.

He did not offer specifics on how the state could cut spending when it faces massive budget deficits, saying he was only launching his campaign and would offer details in the coming weeks and months. But he did say that Rhode Island spends more per-capita than other New England states on areas such as education and health and human services.

“We have enough money,” he said. “It’s a question of how we spend it.”

Asked for his stance on some other key issues, Smith said he supports abortion rights, supports civil unions between homosexuals and opposes binding arbitration for teachers.

Smith grew up in Manhasset, N.Y., which is on Long Island, and moved to Rhode Island in 1990. He majored in political science at Amherst College and earned an MBA at Harvard Business School. He and his wife, Betsy, have three children: Amanda, 16, Winston, 13 and Everett, 9.

He said he resigned from his position at Nautic Partners last week to allow time for his gubernatorial run.

redgar@projo.com