Zaccaria

CRANSTON — Marketing consultant and former North Kingstown Town Council member Mark Zaccaria, a Republican, is seeking to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. James Langevin in Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District.

Zaccaria announced his campaign yesterday before family and friends and the media at the Sprague Mansion.

“Congressman Langevin has served in the Rhode Island House, and the U.S. House, but I don’t think he really understands the problems you face in your house,” Zaccaria said, in remarks aimed at voters.

“I see the hand of government behind at least some of the wrong paths we are taking as a state and as a nation,” he said. “Like you, I think someone should do something about the intrusion of government and the burden it has become to the economic engine that powers our country.”

Zaccaria, 59, of North Kingstown, praised Langevin’s “spirit to overcome adversity,” a reference to the paralysis Langevin suffered in an accident when he was a teenager. The incumbent, he said, “has done exactly what he has promised to do. But I don’t think he has promised the right things. His approach is not the best one for the times now facing us and I don’t think he realizes that.

“I am sure he doesn’t think we need to move toward individual initiative based on individual responsibility that’s exercised using individual authority over our own assets and for our own best interests.”

The 2nd Congressional District includes half of Providence, the suburban communities of Warwick and Cranston, and the state’s south coast to the Connecticut border.

Langevin, a Democrat and former secretary of state, has not been seriously threatened in a general election since he won a seat in Congress in 2000 replacing Robert Weygand who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate. For Zaccaria, who says he lacks a personal fortune to finance his race, the challenge to unseat Langevin is huge. The incumbent has raised nearly $400,000 this election cycle, and had some $184,000 in cash on hand at the end of last year, according to filings with the Federal Elections Commission.

“Naturally, the chances of defeating an incumbent congressman are small,” Zaccaria acknowledged in an interview. “The accepted wisdom is that it can’t be done. If we all accept the accepted wisdom, then nobody would ever run.”

He says he has a fundraising plan that he estimates can raise $350,000 by Sept. 1, and plans a media campaign in September and October.

Zaccaria was born in Boston and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Colby College. He was a flight instructor in the Air Force, on active duty from 1970-75. He has owned a small business and then worked in marketing for manufacturing companies, including Zebra Technologies, of Warwick. He left Zebra last December and now owns a marketing consulting company, Rustin Marketing Services.

He says he believes the government takes too much money from individuals and entrepreneurs, and hopes to help change that. “We fought a 50-year cold war to determine which political philosophy would dominate the planet, and capitalism won,” he said. “As the largest national economy on this planet I believe we have the greatest responsibility to do capitalism right. We can see the consequences of doing capitalism wrong. They’re all around us. Corporate flight to foreign shores has taken jobs and economic opportunity for small business along with it.” Business managers, he said, “know that conditions are untenable here is Rhode Island and here in the United States so they move on.”

Zaccaria — the first Republican to announce his candidacy in the race — is married to Ruth Carter Zaccaria. They have three adult children.

Langevin, through a spokeswoman, welcomed Zaccaria to the race and said he looked forward to a discussion of the issues.

Mark Zaccaria

35 Congdon Hill Rd., North Kingstown

Age: 59

Party: Republican

Office sought: U.S. representative in the 2nd R.I. Congressional District.

Education: Bachelor of arts in English, Colby College, 1970.

Military service: Air Force, 1970-75.

Previous public offices: North Kingstown Town Council, 2004-06; North Kingstown Zoning Board of Review, 1999-2004.

Family: Married to Ruth Carter Zaccaria; three adult children.

marsenau@projo.com