BY JIM BARON

PROVIDENCE — Pollsters, pundits and political observers are all wondering whether Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts will run for governor in 2010. But it is perhaps three state legislators from the northern Rhode Island who are watching her intentions most closely.

Because if Roberts makes a move upwards, Pawtucket Rep. Elizabeth Dennigan, Burrillville Rep. Edwin Pacheco and Smithfield-North Smithfield Sen. John Tassoni are all looking to elbow their way into the office she would be leaving. At least two of them are cautiously starting to stake out turf and raise money for a campaign.
For her part, Roberts has acknowledged an interest in the governor’s race, but with an already crowded Democratic field, she has made no commitment to run. She still has the option of seeking re-election as lieutenant governor next year.
Asked for comment on Monday, Roberts was keeping her cards close to the vest. Her office issued a statement saying, “Several of my colleagues in government have begun to publicly discuss their interest in the 2010 election for Lt. Governor. While I certainly understand that people will continue to discuss plans for the 2010 election in the coming months, I am focused on the pressing challenges facing our state at this time.”
Both Tassoni and Pacheco said Monday that they will not run for lieutenant governor if Roberts stays put. Dennigan would not make such a commitment, saying she plans to talk to Roberts soon and make a decision after that.
With Roberts publicly mulling a gubernatorial campaign, Dennigan said she felt “I needed to make a statement that I was considering running for lieutenant governor and start raising money as soon as possible,” because “money is so important” to a bid for statewide office.
“Unless you personally have millions to give to your campaign it is important to start fundraising to be considered a viable candidate,” Dennigan told The Times.
Before she became a state representative, Dennigan said, she was a member of the Common Cause board of directors and worked on getting the law enacted to provide public financing for statewide candidates who agree to adhere to spending limits. So, she said, “it would be most fitting for me” to participate in the public financing program.
Dennigan said she would make good government and ethics her number one priority as lieutenant governor. “If you have that,” she said, “it seems that the policy decisions you make on various issues would flow from that. There would be more openness and you would be able to follow the dollars better, which we have a bit of a problem with now.”
She would also like to see the lieutenant governor’s office become the focus of economic development in state government, replacing or subsuming the troubled Economic Development Corporation (EDC).
She said the move would save money and it would “make the lieutenant governor be responsible for economic development.”
Dennigan said she has “provided leadership”  in the economic development field, including helping to establish the Joint Committee on Economic Development, which she currently co-chairs with Sen. Walter Felag of Warren and, for the times that panel gets snarled in legislative red tape, she submitted legislation to establish a separate House Commission.
Tassoni also said he wants to make economic development a key part of the lieutenant governor’s job and was equally critical of the EDC.
He said he would make it “a very, very important aspect of the job to bring manufacturing into the state. Right now, EDC has not performed up to its capabilities. I think we need to bring manufacturing back into the state, we need to bring jobs back to the state and we need a good salesman to do that. No one seems to want to grab the bull by the horns and I will do that. If EDC is doing that, we’re not hearing about it.”
When jobs are brought back into the state, Tassoni said, it is up to the state to help the local community absorb the new development “so it is not a burden on the local taxpayer.” When the state brought Fidelity Investments into its Smithfield campus, the senator said, “they did nothing to improve the infrastructure of the town of Smithfield.” Fidelity itself paid to upgrade the intersection of routes 116 and 7. “EDC didn’t help,” he pointed out. “That’s a big component of bringing the jobs in.
“Health care is one of the most important aspects of the (lieutenant governor’s) job,” Tassoni said. “I sat on the Health Care Oversight Committee.”
Statutorily, the lieutenant governor also works with the Emergency Management Agency and Tassoni said he has also worked with former Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty and the National Guard on emergency management issues.
If Roberts seeks re-election, Tassoni said he would not force a primary, but would be content to keep running for his Senate seat until another possibility opens up.
Pacheco was emphatic that he would not challenge Roberts in a Democratic primary.
“I would never consider running against Liz Roberts or any other current incumbent unless for some reason I felt he or she wasn’t upholding the mantle of a particular office to the level they should.
“I think Liz is doing a great job and she hasn’t committed to running for governor so as far as I stand, that means she’ll be running for lieutenant governor unless she says otherwise,” Pacheco said. “Officially, I’ll say right now I am interested in being a state representative and if the opportunity should arise in the future, I will take it into consideration. I will have to see the layout as we get closer to 2010.”