Warwick’s City Republicans met last Thursday in their Airport Plaza headquarters to strategize for the 2024 election.

While only one Warwick Republican currently holds office – Senator Anthony DeLuca – the party is looking to contest “about 60 percent” of the seats up for election in the city, according to former party chair Richard Cascella.

Cascella said the party is targeting Wards 1, 3, 4, 6 and 8 where they plan to run candidates. Cascella also mentioned Ward 7- currently represented by City Council President Stephen McAllister- as a possibility.

Ward 2 Councilman Jeremy Rix, Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur and Ward 9 Councilman Vincent Gebhart- all Democrats- are highly unlikely to face GOP challengers for reelection this year. Ladouceur was the only one of those named who did not run unopposed in 2022, as he defeated independent Michael Koerner with 67.7% of the vote.

In addition, Mayor Frank Picozzi is unlikely to face a GOP opponent as well, though Cascella and Warwick GOP Chair Marjorie Tudino noted that they weren’t completely shutting the door on running one. No one has stepped forward as of this week.

Tudino had Cascella run the sparsely attended meeting.

Cascella views Wards 3, 4 and 6 as the top pickup opportunities for the GOP, with the former two also partly overlapping Senate District 29, which the only Warwick Republican elected- Anthony DeLuca- represents.

Though her seat is mostly in West Warwick, Patricia Morgan will not be pursuing reelection in CD-26. She is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to run against Sheldon Whitehouse. Cascella said that the Warwick GOP will seek to find someone to run for that seat, which the westernmost tip of Warwick is part of, and also acknowledged that the lone Republican running for reelection in the city- DeLuca- will face a tough reelection campaign.

Cascella said that the state GOP will also be looking at unseating incumbents in General Assembly Districts 20 and 22- held by David Bennett and Joseph Solomon Jr.- and Senate District 30, held by Mark McKenney. They also might challenge Speaker of the House Joe Shekarchi in General Assembly District 23.

While Cascella said that he expects Republicans running in those seats, he noted that no candidates besides DeLuca have made their runs official yet. Only one of the six attendees at Thursday’s meeting confirmed their interest in running for an office- Lisa Morse, who ran against Matthew LaMountain who won Senate District 31  in 2022. Morse said she’s heavily considering doing it again.

Cascella couldn’t say whether Marie Hopkins, who came sixteen votes away from unseating Rep. Camille Vella-Wilkinson in House District 21, will be running again this year.

In order to qualify for the ballot, candidates will have to act fast. All candidates must file to run for election by June 26. Thirty days prior to filing, candidates must be officially registered to vote.

The most important issue for the city GOP, Cascella said, was the city’s financial condition, which those in attendance argued is going to worsen significantly in the near future.

Attendees also bemoaned what they viewed as an unresponsive government, and said that they would like to see specific City Council members answering questions during meetings.

“They’ve totally shut down public participation,” attendee Rob Cote said. “You can’t ask anything to any of these people. You can’t challenge anything.”

Even taking two or three seats on the council, Cascella said, would constitute a successful 2024 election for the city GOP.

What the Warwick GOP is looking to fight more than anything else this upcoming election season, Cascella said, is apathy.

“We need our taxpayers to be reengaged,” Cascella said. “[It should be] interesting to go to [municipal] meetings and see the debate that leads to good governance.”