PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island state Sen. Frank Ciccone III is a veteran politician, but’s he’s just committed a boneheaded blunder more fitting for a political novice.

In his zeal as a Big Labor supporter, Ciccone filed an ethics complaint last month against Gina Raimondo, Rhode Island’s general treasurer who has become a kind of national celebrity for successfully reforming the state’s underfunded employee pension system.

That, of course, has made Democrat Raimondo a top target of Big Labor.

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That’s where Ciccone comes in.

Citing information from a union-paid-for investigative report, the state senator asked the Security Exchange Commission in October to investigate whether Raimondo violated any of its laws during her pension reform efforts, reports ProvidenceJournal.com.

Raimondo, of course, denies any wrongdoing.

After Ciccone filed the complaint, it apparently dawned on him that journalists and political operatives might look into his financial dealings and ask whether they meet the high ethical standards voters expect from lawmakers.

It seems Ciccone tried to preempt such talk by abruptly resigning as president of the Rhode Island Laborer’s District Council, a position that paid him $178,753 in 2012, according to ProvidenceJournal.com.

Ciccone also announced that he will resign in February as business manager for Local Union 808, which represents “several pockets of state employees,” the news site reports.

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It’s impossible to know if Ciccone’s sudden resignations are directly related to his criticism of Raimondo, or if the state senator had other reasons for removing himself from the union’s payroll.

Regardless of his motivations, Ciccone has succeeded in making himself the story. We’d call it a rookie mistake, except Ciccone has been in the General Assembly since 2002.

Instead, we’ll just call it a Homer Simpson-style “D’oh!” moment.