A good crowd turned out at the Elks Club in Bristol on Thursday night for a reception celebrating local Republican candidates. A fundraiser for the Roger Williams University College Republicans, the event drew John Robitaille, who narrowly lost the gubernatorial race earlier this month, as well as RI Senator-elect Chris Ottiano and Representatives-elect Dan Gordon and Dan Reilly.

The 2010 Republican "tsunami" that delivered the U.S. House of Representatives to the Republicans and nearly leveled the balance of power in the U.S. Senate largely missed Rhode Island at the statewide level. At the local level Republicans made modest gains, going from six House seats in the last session to ten, and from four Senate seats to eight. Still, with 75 total House seats and 38 total in the Senate, Republicans are still a long way from enjoying anything close to parity on Smith Hill.

Ottiano, who defeated incumbent Chuck Levesque after repeated challenges to win the District 11 Senate seat, said that while he is honored for the opportunity to serve the people of Portsmouth and Bristol, "There is little time to celebrate. Our state is so deep in the middle of issues such as our poor business climate and significant unemployment. I'll be working from the very start to change the tone of our legislature and state so that economic recovery can begin."

Dan Gordon will be filling the District 71 House seat (Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton) vacated by Republican John Loughlin, whose own bid to take over Patrick Kennedy's Congressional seat fell short. Gordon echoed Ottiano's concerns about the state of the state, and suggested that the hardships we face may result in an increase in bipartisan cooperation.

"We are in such dire economic straits, that both sides are obligated to work together for Rhode Island's taxpayers, regardless of our differing views on some of the issues," he said.

The event raised more than $1000 for the College Republicans, who will use the money to help fund their annual trip to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC.

According to President Adam Destremps, the RWU chapter is the largest and most active of the seven state chapters. The group hosts several forums and debates during the course of the year, led and moderated by cross-discipline panels of professors and scholars. Their next forum will be held Dec. 2, when they will discuss the issue of legalizing marijuana.