Robbie Farrell, Bill Bernard, councilman Tom Chdronet, Clay Pell, and his wife, US Olympic Medalist Michelle Kwan Pell. Councilwomen Camille Vella-Wilkinson took this picture.

EXCLUSIVE: Clay Pell Looks To Run For Governor in 2014
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
According to multiple Democratic sources, Clay Pell, grandson of six-term Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell, is currently weighing a potential 2014 gubernatorial run in Rhode Island.

Clay Pell
Pell, a White House staffer and Coast Guard Reserve Officer, married Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan in a ceremony at First Unitarian Church in Providence earlier this year, and recently was appointed by President Obama as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education in April.
"Pell would start the race with good name identification, but it is very shallow. He would need to quickly establish himself," said Jennifer Duffy with The Cook Political Report. "What is his key issue? What is his vision for the state? Can he rally key Democratic constituencies like the unions around his candidacy? What is his geographic base?"
While the election is just over a year away, the entrance of Pell would dramatically change the landscape in the race for Governor.

Pell Family Legacy

Senator Claiborne Pell

Parsing Pell's Chances
"The possibility of Clay Pell entering the Democratic gubernatorial primary raises more questions for me than I have answers for. Certainly the Pell name has a great deal of political cachet in Rhode Island, but the Pell name hasn't been on a ballot since 1990 -- a political generation ago," said Duffy.
Duffy continued, "While Clay Pell has an impressive resume -- Coast Guard officer and White House Fellow -- he has not been tested on the campaign trail or proven his fundraising chops. I don't mean to suggest that he doesn't possess one or both, but no one really knows yet."
"Overall, if Pell was to run, it adds some uncertainty to an already very interesting primary," Duffy added.

Field Taking Shape?
With the only declared candidates in Block and Todd Giroux, Pell's entrance could force the hand of the other potential candidates.
"I have always believed that Raimondo would be the beneficiary of a three-way primary race if she is the only woman in the field. If she is giving serious consideration to running as an independent, Pell's entrance into the race should give her pause," said Duffy. "Absent Pell's candidacy, I have a long pro/con list of the implications of Raimondo running as an independent."
As for whether the Pell entrance would impact Taveras at all, Duffy did not see that being the case.
"The only compelling reason I can think of for Tavares to rethink running for Governor is if his natural constituency (i.e., public employees unions) backs Pell instead. Although Tavares hasn't announced, he is pretty far down the road in this contest," said Duffy. "There would have to be some very compelling evidence that he can't win a three-way contest for him to think about abandoning the race now.

Pell Family Legacy
Claiborne Pell was the son of the United States Ambassador to Portugal and later Hungary.
Pell was considered a long shot when he ran for the United States Senate in 1960, but he out-worked the Democratic machine and defeated former Governor Dennis J. Roberts and former Governor and U.S. Senator J. Howard McGrath in the Democratic primary. It was one of the biggest upsets in RI political history.

Pell's legacy was two fold: he was one of the most unque members of the United States Senate; and he built an impressive track record of legislative successes.
He was the author of the legislative effort that created the Pell Grants, he created the National Endowment for the Arts, and he served as Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Senate Support
If Clay Pell decides to run for Governor of Rhode Island, it would be hard to imagine that he would not receive strong support from United States Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).
Whitehouse has enjoyed unyielding support from the Pell family and the matriarch Nuala Pell.
Whitehouse's early support would help push Pell into a very formidable position.

White House
A Clay Pell candidacy would not only get a boost from his family's reputation, but his own resume would make him credible out of the box.
In April of 2013, President Barack Obama appointed Pell to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education.
This Presidential appointment comes after Pell served as Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Staff at the White House, "where he helped develop and advance a number of the President’s key national security and global competitiveness priorities across the globe."

Resume
Clay Pell attended Harvard, earned a JD from Georgetown and has passed the RI, MA and US Supreme Court Bar exams.
He is a member of the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve.
Pell also served as a White House Fellow.

Kwan Factor
Pell married Olympic two-time Olympic medalist, Michelle Kwan in January of 2013 in Newport.
Kwan brings an impressive resume of her own beyond being five-time World Champion and nine-time US skating Champ.
In 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice named Michelle Kwan as a public diplomacy ambassador. Her diplomatic position has continued for the Obama Administration as she has worked with Vice President Joe Biden and with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.