PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — A new Republican jumps in the race for Rhode Island governor.
Ashley Kalus recently moved to the state, and now wants the top job.
“I think I bring a vision for what Rhode Island can be. I think that it’s helpful having an outsider. I bring a fresh perspective,” Kalus told NBC 10 News on Tuesday.
Kalus grew up on the Massachusetts South Shore, raised by a single mom.
She says she was a Golden Gloves boxing champion in her late teens.
“Rhode Island needs a fighter now more than ever before. COVID brought front and center the haves and the have nots. It is getting so hard for working people to survive,” Kalus said.
Her husband is a plastic surgeon who trained at Brown and opened a practice in Rhode Island.
They moved away, Kalus says, because of the student debt, most recently living in Illinois and Florida.
Kalus moved to Newport last year, registered to vote there in January, and filed campaign paperwork in February.
Asked by NBC 10 News if she is a Rhode Islander, Kalus replied, “I consider myself a Rhode Islander. I love this state. I always wanted to come back.”
The mother of three touts her experience running health care businesses.
Her and her husband's company Doctors Test Center had a contract with the state of Rhode Island to do COVID testing, like at McCoy Stadium, and vaccinations, including at the Sockanosset site.
“I’m a problem solver. I saw through testing and vaccine how government doesn’t always work for the people. And I am all about holding people accountable and getting things done,” Kalus told NBC 10 News.
When NBC 10 asked Kalus if she voted for Donald Trump two years ago, she responded that she is a Republican.
“He did some good things economically, but he could have been better stylistically,” Kalus said of Trump.
Asked if she believes Trump’s claim that he won the 2020 presidential election, Kalus said, “You know, I feel like Donald Trump is just a distraction.”
“I’m really focused on issues that matter to Rhode Islanders,” Kalus said.
Kalus puts education at the top of her priority list.
She advocates for allowing parents to move kids from failing schools to other public schools, and parental access to curriculum.
Original source can be found here.
