Stephen Casey, the Woonsocket firefighter who defeated state Representative Jon Brien in a Democratic primary last month, has been ruled eligible to run by the US Office of Special Counsel. The ruling comes after Brien argued the Hatch Act precluded Casey from being a candidate.
The General Assembly has long been populated with public employees — police officers, firefighters, and teachers — so the Hatch Act complaint described by state Representative Jon Brien has no small significance.
Larry Berman, the spokesman for House Speaker Gordon Fox, says the House leadership believes Stephen Casey is on solid ground in rebutting Brien’s complaint.
Outgoing state Representative Jon Brien, who lost his seat in the September 11 primary to Woonsocket firefighter Stephen Casey, charged today that Casey was ineligible to run to a federal Hatch Act violation. Brien says the violation is based on how Casey is employed by a department that receives federal funding.