Family affair: These political power couples are on North Smithfield's ballot

NORTH SMITHFIELD – Jessica and David. Beth and Brian.

They may not be the only political power couples in North Smithfield , but they are certainly the highest profile this election year in one of the few Rhode Island communities that former President Donald Trump won in 2020 and in a state where Democrats hold most of the power – and 91% of the legislative seats.

Jessica de la Cruz is the Senate minority leader.

David de la Cruz is her husband, and a candidate for the North Smithfield School Committee.

Brian Newberry is a state representative and former House minority leader.

Beth Newberry is his wife, and one of two candidates for the town administrator post.

The two husband-and-wife teams will be on the ballot in a picturesque town with a population of about 12,600, where elections for council, School Committee and town administrator are "nonpartisan" and registered voters are split 27% Democrat, 20% Republican, and 53% unaffiliated.

Beth and Brian Newberry

Rep. Brian Newberry, one of nine Republicans currently in the Rhode Island House, is running for reelection unopposed.

Beth Newberry recalls springing her decision to run for town administrator on him while they were out for a drive a few weeks back, with him at the wheel.

As she tells it, "he nearly crashed the car and, after he sort of regained his composure, said: 'I think you'd be really good at that.'"

"It's not something I ever would have thought about considering without being in a family where politics is sort of an everyday thing," she told The Journal. "So ... while it was maybe a surprise to both of us that I decided to run, it shouldn't have been because this has been such a part of Brian's life for so long that we talk politics regularly in the house."

As for politics: He is a Republican. She was a Republican.

"I actually was registered as Republican when [Brian] first started running,'' and remain a "fiscal conservative," she told The Journal. But now "I feel like the party has definitely left where I felt comfortable [having] that next to my name. I feel very comfortable being unaffiliated."

With the youngest of their three children now in the Army and the company that owns her home-based business for the last 14 years shifting to a "much more automated" business model, she said that "freed up a lot of time for me to really sort of dig in and see what I wanted to be doing with the next chapter of my life."

Now that the current administrator has bowed out, Newberry is vying against Democrat Scott Gibbs – the president of the Economic Development Foundation of Rhode Island – to replace him for the $90,000-a-year job.

In his pitch for the job, Gibbs cites f our decades of working with local and state governments in the nonprofit and private sector in various roles, including executive director of the Woonsocket Industrial Development Corporation and as vice president of the Greater Woonsocket Chamber of Commerce.

The backdrop of the race : The incumbent, Paul Zwolenski, was accused in a lawsuit filed by his former administrative assistant of inappropriate conduct against her, including "sexualized language, jokes, and hand motions,'' according to an October 2022 account in the Valley Breeze newspaper, which reported a $60,000 settlement of the suit in mid-May . (Zwolensky told The Journal the allegations were "greatly exaggerated.")

Newberry said the allegations stuck in her mind.

Asked what would change if she were the town administrator managing the town's $53.2-million budget, trash collection, snow plowing and more, she, like Gibbs, said she would make sure the culture at Town Hall is professional, "a place where everybody feels comfortable coming and working."

Asked what qualifies her for the position, she described the 14 years she spent running a home-based sales business for "non-toxic" products like sunscreen, toothpaste, shampoo and body lotion produced by Pure Haven in Johnston. The business came out of her experience as a mother of a son with Tourette syndrome, and she organized sales parties – not unlike Tupperware parties – while recruiting and training other sales people so they could run their own franchise.

She also pointed to her tenure as president of the Junior League of Rhode Island and, even more so, her roles at the Central Congregational Church, including her role as chair of the Church Stewardship Committee.

She said the Junior League's operating budget was "rather small," comparatively, but "the church's budget was several million dollars."

She has three adult children, two of whom graduated from North Smithfield High School while the third graduated from Beacon Charter High School for the Arts in Woonsocket.

Jessica and David de la Cruz

They collected signatures together at an event in North Smithfield before she broke off into other precincts in Burrillville and Glocester within her sprawling Senate district.

But Jessica de la Cruz wasn't surprised by her husband's decision to mount his own campaign for office.

"I know that education and serving others is something that is very important to my husband and I'm glad he was able to find a way to do both for our community," she said.

David de la Cruz, 44, is one of five candidates seeking three open seats on his hometown School Committee.

This is his first run for office, but he told The Journal it isn't a big stretch for him. He's a Rhode Island College graduate with a degree in secondary education and has taught history and civics at private schools. Most recently, he was a two-term member of the town's budget committee.

"I've always enjoyed providing my students with an appreciation for how exceptional our nation is," he said. "We're far from perfect, but with every generation, we've strived to be a country where life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are made available to all."

One of his chief concerns is the continued mental health challenges students are facing since COVID, and the pandemic's impact on academic performance.

Though he features his three children on political flyers, he wouldn't tell The Journal if they attend the town's public schools, nor would he say if he has any concerns about those schools or goals for change.

His wife, the leader of the tiny five-member GOP bloc in the Rhode Island Senate, is the lead sponsor of school choice legislation , which would give parents public money to homeschool or send their children to public, private or parochial schools.

David and Jessica de la Cruz revealed more of their views on the podcast – now paused – they broadcast from their living room as Mr. and Mrs. Church and State.

Their talking points included what they described as inappropriate public school books and teachings about sex and race.

"My prediction is parents are going to get more involved," he said. "They are going to run for more offices. It's not Democrat or Republican. It's just – leave our kids alone. We just don't want our kids learning some of this stuff."

She cited an example: "critical race theory," which teaches that racism is ingrained in law and other modern institutions .

"You don't want your kids being told that they are racists," she said.

In addition to David de la Cruz, the other School Committee candidates who have qualified for the ballot include incumbent Jean Meo, Evan Masse, Christopher Simpkins and Bradley Trenchard.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Family affair: These political power couples are on North Smithfield's ballot