mission statement

The upcoming election in November is a testament of two truths. One part of that truth is the realization that Rhode Island has become a sanctuary state which appropriates approximately $272 million dollars per year to illegal immigration programs paid for by the taxpayers. Rhode Island

 legislators, similar to San Francisco, CA, have also considered granting illegal aliens voting rights and to not comply with the federal authorities in processing these individuals back to their respective countries. The Secretary of States' office has gone even further than the Governor and her allies in the Rhode Island General Assembly in promoting these policies. The current Secretary of State, Nellie Gorbea, has vehemently supported removing the sacred Voter ID Law and refused to share voting information to the federal government that could possibly lead to evidence of illegal voting. According to the Federation for American Immigration Reform,  there are currently 35,000 illegal immigrants living in Rhode Island who receive free Medicaid, free K-12 education for their children, and welfare payments that include living subsidies (https://www.fairus.org/rhode-island).

The second part of that truth is that Rhode Island families are not prospering like many other states around the country. Rhode Island was listed as the fifth worst state to open a business in according to the highly regarded CNBC market poll (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/10/americas-top-states-for-business-2018.html). In order to see Rhode Island become more competitive once again we need change from the top of our government. 

As the Secretary of State I will work to lower expenses associated with starting a business in Rhode Island, in hopes to promote more companies to invest in our great state. I will also work with legislators to consider lowering taxes, and in order to reduce the deficit, I will promote mitigating or redistributing the $272 million dollars per year going towards illegal immigration programs.  I will protect our elections by defending our Voter ID Law while hiring a team to analyze potential defects in our system that may lead to illegal voting. I will implement the issuance of certifiable voter confirmation cards to verify the addresses of voters. If the addresses of the voters are not verified within six years, they will be removed from our voter rolls to help identify illegal voting. Our state is in the crossroads, we need to act now and make a change that will put Rhode Island back on the path to greatness. This November, we will make history.

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Sincerely,

Pat V. Cortellessa

RI Secretary of State Candidate

Republican

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