John Robitaille ( ; born August 14, 1948) is an American politician and businessman. He was the Republican party nominee in the 2010 election for

Governor of Rhode Island The governor of Rhode Island is the head of government of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and serves as commander-in-chief of the state's Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The current governor is Democrat Dan McKee. In their capac ...

, which he lost to independent candidate

Lincoln Chafee Lincoln Davenport Chafee ( ; born March 26, 1953) is an American politician. He was mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. He was a m ...

on November 2, 2010.

Early life

John Robitaille was born on August 14, 1948 in Central Falls and was the second of three children of Roland and Alice Robitaille. They were Catholics whose ancestry traced back to French-led Canada. The Robitaille family moved to North Attleboro when John was six years old. Robitaille graduated from

North Attleboro High School North Attleborough High School is a public high school in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, United States, educating grades 9 through 12 with over one thousand students enrolled. History North Attleborough High School was located in the current ...

in 1966 and from Providence College in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. During college, Robitaille was a member of the ROTC and

Pershing Rifles The National Society of Pershing Rifles is a military-oriented honor society for college-level students founded in 1894 as a drill unit at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. It is the oldest continuously operating US college organization dedic ...

. He continued his education at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

from 1974 to 1976 with a Master of Science in Human Resource Management degree.

Military service

Robitaille served in the United States Army as an officer from 1970 to 1976. He was recognized for his distinguished performance as the most outstanding second lieutenant commissioned in the US Army through the ROTC program nationally. He was a paratrooper where he served in Germany with the First Armored Division and later with Headquarters Special Forces Command at Ft. Bragg where he was promoted to the rank of captain.

Private sector

After his time in the military, Robitaille worked in labor and employee relations. From 1976 to 1981, Robitaille worked as an Employee Relations Manager for

Frito Lay Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. The primary snack food brands produced under the Frito-Lay name include Fritos corn chips, Cheetos cheese-flavor ...

. From 1981 to 1986, he worked as an Area Manager in Labor Relations for Continental Can Company. From 1985 to 1987, he worked in public relations and communications from as General Manager for Total Communications. In April 1987, Robitaille founded his own small business. He was the President and CEO of Perspective Communications Group in Middletown, Rhode Island. In 2008, Robitaille left the company to work for Rhode Island Governor

Donald Carcieri Donald Louis Carcieri ( ; ; born December 16, 1942) is an American politician and corporate executive who served as the 73rd Governor of Rhode Island from January 2003 to January 2011. Carcieri has worked as a manufacturing company executive, aid ...

, where he served as his Senior Advisor of Communications.

Political career

2010 gubernatorial election

Robitaille first became involved in Rhode Island electoral politics in 2006 when he ran for State Representative but lost by four votes to Amy Rice (D-RI). In December 2009, Robitaille announced his decision to run for Rhode Island governor as a Republican. He resigned from his position as Senior Advisor of Communications for Governor Carcieri in order to campaign full-time. Robitaille initially polled in single digits compared to Democratic nominee Frank Caprio and Republican-turned-Independent candidate

, but managed to take a lead over Caprio and come within the margin of error to Chafee. Chafee won the election with 36% of the vote, compared to Robitaille's 34% and Caprio's 23%.

Personal life

Robitaille lives in Charleston, South Carolina with his wife Lynda. He has three children from his first marriage and five grandchildren.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robitaille, John 1948 births Businesspeople from Rhode Island Living people People from Central Falls, Rhode Island People from Portsmouth, Rhode Island Providence College alumni Rhode Island Republicans University of Utah alumni Candidates in the 2010 United States elections