When former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey announced his renegade campaign as a Republican candidate for president early this year, he was asked how he expected to gain recognition when up against former president Donald Trump and a multitude of notable potential candidates.

His answer seemed plausible. It would be the polls that put him in the spotlight and eventually on stage.

“If I’m at one percent, I’ll be at three, then seven,” he told an audience of about 40 people at Chapel View Grille in Cranston in March. The plan was to move the needle in New Hampshire and build that recognition. That may have happened but he didn’t get the snowball effect he had hoped for and he lost respect for Republican Party he grew up with. Last week Laffey threw in the towel and disaffiliated from the party.

“The Republican Party has become a laughingstock,” he wrote in a release.

“From a celebrity-driven race for the Presidency, to disturbing events in the House of Representatives, it has become painfully apparent that the Republican Party no longer exists. What used to be a Grand Old Party is now simply a placard for anyone to say anything, no matter how hurtful, and no matter how false. Donald Trump is certainly the significant factor in this rapid movement towards authoritarianism and away from the core principles of freedom and economic growth.”

Calling himself the  first candidate to challenge the dominance of Trump's influence, Laffey goes on to say, “ I believed that there was a yearning in the Republican heart for a candidate free from his shadow. However, the past eight months have proven me wrong.”

Laffey, who grew up in Cranston and now lives in Colorado was the first in his family to attend college. He graduated from Bowdoin College and Harvard Business School. After brokering the sale of Morgan Keegan & Company Based in Memphis, Tennessee where he was president, Laffey felt called to return to run as mayor of his hometown. In 2002 he beat Aram Garabedian and served two terms.

 His interest in politics dates back to his days at Cranston East where he served on the student council. Following his tenure as mayor, Laffey challenged Lincoln Chafee in the 2006 Republican primary for US Senate and lost. Ironically Chafee jettisoned the Republican Party before he launched his short-lived bid as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.

Laffey writes in in his release the most shocking moment of his campaign, “was the nonchalance displayed towards President Trump’s conviction of sexual abuse, further spotlighting the broken moral compass of our times. As an evangelical Christian, the fact that this moment did not galvanize all Christians against Trump is a failure so profound that it is unforgivable. When Trump took to St. Anselm’s College the next day for a Town Hall event, I was the only one to call for the St. Anselm’s event leaders to resign…from everyone else, there was only silence. Has it not been proven countless times in history that silence is what brings a nation to its knees?”

Laffey called his campaign “was perhaps one of the last strongholds offering sincere solutions to our country's pressing issues. Unfortunately, as has been abundantly clear in the last few months, the idea of celebrity has destroyed any candidate with substance or a true desire to help others.”

In closing his remarks, Laffey writes, “In reflection, I realize that my past endeavors, from Rhode Island to Colorado, have been colored by my earnest belief that genuine effort and good governance would be recognized and rewarded. But politics, it seems, is a game of recognition, not of merit.  I have failed to get the American public to take corrective action before it is too late.”

Laffey did not respond to an email seeking additional comments or insights gained in his campaign.

When former Cranston Mayor Steve Laffey announced his renegade campaign as a Republican candidate for president early this year, he was asked how he expected to gain recognition when up against former president Donald Trump and a multitude of notable potential candidates.

His answer seemed plausible. It would be the polls that put him in the spotlight and eventually on stage.

“If I’m at one percent, I’ll be at three, then seven,” he told an audience of about 40 people at Chapel View Grille in Cranston in March. The plan was to move the needle in New Hampshire and build that recognition. That may have happened but he didn’t get the snowball effect he had hoped for and he lost respect for Republican Party he grew up with. Last week Laffey threw in the towel and disaffiliated from the party.

“The Republican Party has become a laughingstock,” he wrote in a release.

“From a celebrity-driven race for the Presidency, to disturbing events in the House of Representatives, it has become painfully apparent that the Republican Party no longer exists. What used to be a Grand Old Party is now simply a placard for anyone to say anything, no matter how hurtful, and no matter how false. Donald Trump is certainly the significant factor in this rapid movement towards authoritarianism and away from the core principles of freedom and economic growth.”

Calling himself the  first candidate to challenge the dominance of Trump's influence, Laffey goes on to say, “ I believed that there was a yearning in the Republican heart for a candidate free from his shadow. However, the past eight months have proven me wrong.”

Laffey, who grew up in Cranston and now lives in Colorado was the first in his family to attend college. He graduated from Bowdoin College and Harvard Business School. After brokering the sale of Morgan Keegan & Company Based in Memphis, Tennessee where he was president, Laffey felt called to return to run as mayor of his hometown. In 2002 he beat Aram Garabedian and served two terms.

 His interest in politics dates back to his days at Cranston East where he served on the student council. Following his tenure as mayor, Laffey challenged Lincoln Chafee in the 2006 Republican primary for US Senate and lost. Ironically Chafee jettisoned the Republican Party before he launched his short-lived bid as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016.

Laffey writes in in his release the most shocking moment of his campaign, “was the nonchalance displayed towards President Trump’s conviction of sexual abuse, further spotlighting the broken moral compass of our times. As an evangelical Christian, the fact that this moment did not galvanize all Christians against Trump is a failure so profound that it is unforgivable. When Trump took to St. Anselm’s College the next day for a Town Hall event, I was the only one to call for the St. Anselm’s event leaders to resign…from everyone else, there was only silence. Has it not been proven countless times in history that silence is what brings a nation to its knees?”

Laffey called his campaign “was perhaps one of the last strongholds offering sincere solutions to our country's pressing issues. Unfortunately, as has been abundantly clear in the last few months, the idea of celebrity has destroyed any candidate with substance or a true desire to help others.”

In closing his remarks, Laffey writes, “In reflection, I realize that my past endeavors, from Rhode Island to Colorado, have been colored by my earnest belief that genuine effort and good governance would be recognized and rewarded. But politics, it seems, is a game of recognition, not of merit.  I have failed to get the American public to take corrective action before it is too late.”

Laffey did not respond to an email seeking additional comments or insights gained in his campaign.