Some CD1 candidates don't live in the district. Does that matter?

PROVIDENCE — The 10-room, gray-shingled house on a tree-lined street on the East Side of Providence would seem a choice location for a young, growing family.

Five bedrooms. Three-and-a-half baths. The only potential downside for the owners, Seth Magaziner and his wife, Julia McDowell: The house on Catalpa Road is outside the 2nd Congressional District that Magaziner was running to represent during the campaign summer of 2022.

So Seth, Julia and their infant son, Max, moved to a rental in a side-by-side duplex in Cranston, in the heart of Rhode Island's 2nd Congressional District.

They also gave up the "homestead exemption" that reduced the tax value of their lovely Providence house by 45%. The $7,021 tax bill on the house has since shot up to $13,160.62, according to city officials.

("That house is now unoccupied and undergoing repairs," according to Congressman Magaziner's spokesman James Kwon.)

Was all of that necessary? Magaziner won, but did moving from one Rhode Island address to another make any difference?

What about this year's "outsider" candidates? Ten of the original 35 declared candidates running for Rhode Island's currently open 1st Congressional District seat do not live in the district. Not all collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, however. Of those who did, do any of them need to move?

At least one thinks so and has already signed a lease for an apartment in CD1. Another has said he will also "absolutely move across the line, ideally before the election." A third, who netted 2.3% of the vote running in CD2 last year, also said yes — if he wins.

Who's moving to CD1?

While Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos "has represented the communities of the 1st Congressional District for more than two years as lieutenant governor and she has lived in Providence for nearly 30 years," a spokesman says:

"She is moving to an apartment she has rented in Providence in the First District and is looking for a home to buy with her family."

Where? Why? What about her husband, Patrick Ward, and two children? Her spokesman Evan England provided these answers:

"Lt. Governor Matos is moving to her new apartment [on Miller Avenue] on the South Side of Providence later this month. Their eldest son recently graduated from high school and will be moving with her to the new apartment."

"Not wanting to make her daughter change schools twice in one year, the family decided that her husband and daughter will stay at the house in Silver Lake until they find a house to buy," he continued.

Does she have to move to run?

The legal answer is no, according to Secretary of State Gregg Amore's office. The political answer? That's a different calculation entirely.

"The Constitution (Article 1, Section 2) only requires members of the House of Representatives to live in the state they represent. Therefore, candidates from across Rhode Island are within their right to run for the open Congressional District 1 seat," according to Amore spokeswoman Faith Chybowski.

"Secretary Amore recognizes that Rhode Island’s small size means that our federal delegation has a deep connection to the entire state, regardless of which district they represent," she added.

More from the CD1 race: The latest from the 1st Congressional District election: Matos wins coveted LIUNA endorsement

Brown University political science professor Wendy Schiller is not convinced that voters care where a candidate lives.

"In a small state, voters may view their congressional representatives as statewide officials, even though they are elected in two separate districts, because the policy benefits and grants that they secure from the federal government will most likely end up helping residents across the entire state," she told Political Scene.

Candidate Nicholas Autiello — a Raimondo-era staffer in the Executive Office of Commerce who currently lives outside the district — thinks it's a fabricated issue.

"Let’s be honest about this discussion," said Autiello's press secretary, Michael LaRosa. "Nick lives a few blocks away from the district line in Providence. No normal person has any idea where that line is."

"So when someone tries to argue that a few blocks is the difference between Nick being able to represent the district well or not, that is not a serious argument. It’s just a political one that the press cares far more about than normal people."

"The press should stop focusing on the nonsense that it loves and talk about the real problems facing Rhode Island families," he said.

But Autiello himself added: "I own the Federal Hill home I live in and yes, would absolutely move across the line, ideally before the election."

Former state Rep. Spencer Dickinson, who finished last in the six-way 2022 Democratic primary race for Rhode Island's 2nd District seat, told Political Scene: "As 1st District congressman, I will be living in the 1st district."

(As to why he keeps running, Dickinson cited this state issue: "I have unfinished business (notably what I see as an illegal and immoral taking of teachers' and state employees' contract rights relating to dollar value adjustment — COLAs ... I don't give up easily. And the problem is not going away. It's just getting worse with totally predictable inflation.")

If it doesn't matter, why move?

Matos has not yet said why — when it is not required — she plans to leave home and move into an apartment in the 1st Congressional District.

But Magaziner also opted to move and ultimately won a crowded race in a year when "carpetbagger" allegations were in the air.

A recent arrival from Florida (or was it Illinois?) was running for governor (Ashley Kalus) and one of Magaziner's opponents — whose family had long owned a South County summer home — was struggling to establish her own Rhode Island bona fides (Sarah Morgenthau).

Magaziner clobbered his five Democratic primary opponents with 54% of the vote. His closest competitor had 16.2%.

More on the CD1 race: There are a lot of CD1 candidates. Where do they stand on the issues? Here's what we found.

"Seth's only advice to candidates in the CD1 race is that they should do whatever they feel will allow them to best represent their constituents in Congress," his spokesman James Kwon told Political Scene.

Why did he move?

"Seth knew the needs of the 2nd District well when he entered the race, having lived there previously and having served the whole state for two terms as general treasurer, but he also heard that it was important to many voters that he live in the district."

Who are the other 'outsiders'?

Ten of the original 35 declared candidates live outside Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District boundaries.

Not all collected the minimum 500 signatures they needed by Friday's deadline to qualify for the ballot, however. Of those who appear to have done so, Matos, Autiello and Dickinson were the only ones left in the race with home addresses outside the district.

None of the other candidates have made an issue of who lives where. At least, not yet.

When asked if it should be an issue, a spokesman for candidate and former state Rep. Aaron Regunberg said: "Aaron has said previously that he thinks anyone who can legally run should be able to do so."

His own situation? "Aaron has lived in the 1st Congressional District for 15 years and represented neighbors in this district in the General Assembly."

And what does David Cicilline think? Cicilline — who resigned the seat mid-term for a $650,000 job heading the Rhode Island Foundation — had foundation spokesman Chris Barnett answer for him:

"Owing to the Foundation’s nonpartisan status, we’re going to pass on questions about politics."

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI's 1st Congressional District candidates don't all live in the district