Bob Flanders for U.S. Senate

Fla

“With the hyper-partisan political environment in Washington,” Flanders said, Rhode Island needs a U.S. senator who “will work across the aisle to unlock innovation and job growth, provide a system of high quality and affordable health care, reform unfair and anti-competitive tax policies, lift regulatory burdens off the backs of small business, promote better education and enhance our security by restoring global confidence in America.”

“In short, we need a climate change in Washington,” he said.

Calling the seat winnable for the GOP, the state Republican chairman, Brandon Bell, said: “The fact that a person of Judge Flanders’ character, ability and integrity is considering running for a statewide office as a Republican shows the party is alive and well and that we can attract strong and qualified candidates.”

Growing up, Flanders "knew firsthand about the struggles that middle-class families experience to make ends meet.”

He was recruited to play football at Brown, where as a halfback and quarterback, Flanders set an Ivy League record for the longest run from scrimmage, in a game against Yale, according to a 2011 Journal profile. He also pitched and played outfield in the Detroit Tigers farm system.

Past roles for the Harvard Law School graduate include: Barrington town councilman, Glocester town solicitor, Supreme Court justice, and chairman of the R.I. Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education. He is currently a name on the masthead of the Providence law firm Whelan, Corrente, Flanders, Kinder and Siket.

Flanders’ most controversial role was as the state-appointed receiver who decided that bankruptcy was the only way for the 1.3-square-mile city of Central Falls to get out from under its crushing debts. The Aug. 1 headline: “Central Falls files for bankruptcy; contracts voided.”

Flanders has been associated in the past with government-reform efforts, including a campaign for separation of powers.

While still on the bench, Flanders wrote a stinging dissent when the four other Supreme Court justices categorically rejected separation of powers, declaring that the state’s government was a “quintessential system of parliamentary supremacy.”

Robert Flanders is running for U.S. Senate in Rhode Island. "I've balanced government budgets, eliminated deficits, and solved financial crises," said Flanders. "But there is still more work to do for Rhode Island."