Weygand, Pell grandson opt out of House race

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PROVIDENCE — The field of potential candidates for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District narrowed this week, when former U.S. Rep. Robert Weygand and the 32-year-old grandson of the late U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell opted out of the race.

Weygand, 61, the vice president for administration/finance at the University of Rhode Island, said he gave serious thought to reentering the political fray after Patrick J. Kennedy announced he was not running for reelection after 15 years in the 1st District seat.

He said the race was “tempting” and it would not be much of a stretch to move from North Kingstown, where he lives, back to the 1st Congressional District where he and his wife, Fran, grew up — “she in East Providence and me in Pawtucket” — but he would be uncomfortable doing that.

He explained: “Although it is not a requirement under Rhode Island law, I do believe that the member of Congress should reside in the district they represent … In considering a run for Congress, some might say ‘just find an apartment in the district and you can avoid that political problem.’ We could use a family-owned residence in the East Bay in order to declare that I live in the district, but that would not be honest with the voters.”

http://www.projo.com/news/content/weygand_out_02-26-10_NRHJ6VS_v7.353bf0e.html