On NBC 10 News Conference with Bill Rappleye, the four debated, among other things, whether charter schools or vouchers are a better way to fix education. Two of the candidates want to eliminate the office altogether. And none mentioned anything that would make the progressive left pleased.

Watch their debate here.

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McKee is the best known, but it’s mayoral academies he’s known for. Mayoral academies are a kind of charter school created by local executive branches (mayors or town administrators). This could win him some conservative support, but it also will cost him a good deal of votes from the liberal left. Taylor, on the other hand, worked in Linc Chafee’s administration. This may endear her to some progressives, but probably not to her party base.

My read: there’s no good option for liberals in this race and Taylor has the clearest path to victory. And if Taylor wins and Democrat Gina Raimondo becomes the next governor, it would be pretty great if Rhode Island has two females from different political parties in the state’s two highest offices.

Justin Katz and I discuss here:

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Ferri is best known for championing marriage equality. He re-married his longtime spouse Tony Caparco after leading the legislature to approve gay marriage. He’s also led on the fight to reform payday loans and and rebuilding Rhode Island’s economy from the bottom up. He’s a stalwart supporter of our healthcare exchange, and maintaining it as a model for the rest of the nation.

But don’t take my word for it. Here are some of the endorsement emails for Ferri that landed in my inbox lately.

He has the endorsement of current Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts:

Thank you so much for the support that you have given me over the eight years I have served as Lieutenant Governor, and before that as State Senator. As I prepare to leave office, I am pleased to share that I am supporting Frank Ferri for Lieutenant Governor.

Frank is the best candidate in this race to carry on my commitment to innovative health care reforms. I know that he will use his small business experience to support smart economic development. He is our best hope to use the power of the office to help enact serious ethics reforms. I ask you to vote for Frank in the Democratic Primary on September 9th.

Frank has worked all his life. He started when he was ten years old at Modern Ice Cream, the ice cream store owned by his grandparents on Federal Hill. Today, his family and he own and operate a Rhode Island small business that they have run for 30 years.

As a small business owner, Frank is the right person to take over as chair of the Lieutenant Governor’s Small Business Advocacy Council. As Frank says, he speaks the language of business and the language of government – and he can build bridges between them.

When Frank was first elected as State Representative, he made a commitment to focus on achieving the kinds of health care reforms that I held in preparation for Affordable Care Act preparation. Even before he was sworn in, he started attending a series of health care forums that I held in preparation for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Thanks to the hard work of so many in our community, Rhode Island has created one of the best health care exchanges in the country. I trust that Frank will keep the office’s focus on ensuring that HealthSource RI continues to thrive.

Finally, we know that too often, Rhode Island sees our elected officials charged with abusing their offices. Frank shares my concern about what this does to our economic prospects — because people only want to do business where they have trust in government.

Frank has released a significant ethics plan, including a proposal to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to give our Ethics Commission the power it needs to hold legislators accountable.

Former progressive Providence mayoral candidate Brett Smiley:

I have been busy campaigning alongside Jorge Elorza to make sure Providence can move forward, but there is also another candidate I hope you will support. I’m voting for Frank Ferri for Lieutenant Governor, and I encourage you to vote for him as well in the Democratic primary on Tuesday.

Frank is a friend and a colleague. He is a true progressive leader, endorsed by Planned Parenthood Votes! Rhode Island, RI NOW PAC, the Victory Fund, Clean Water Action, and the Sierra Club, among others. We know that Frank is 100% committed to our progressive values and that he will never waver.

Frank and his family have owned a small business for 30 years, and he brings this critical experience to his role in government. His business knowledge — not to mention his seven years in the General Assembly and his community activism for decades before that — makes him a great lawmaker and will make him a great Lieutenant Governor.

I’m voting Frank because of his top three issues:

• Frank has a vision for going back to the basics of economic development by supporting the small businesses already here in Rhode Island with access to capital and creating an easier and more transparent state contracting system.
• Frank is the only candidate in this race with the stated commitment to continue Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts’ important health care advocacy and to support new health care reforms that increase quality while holding the line on costs. He’ll make sure that HealthSource RI — one of the most successful health exchange in the country — grows and is able to negotiate even more significant changes in our healthcare system.
• And like me, Frank is angry when the small number of unethical politicians harm Rhode Island’s standing in the country and affect our ability to attract business. Frank’s strong ethics plan will take on the insiders who won’t play by the rules. And when he says he’ll spearhead an effort to put a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot to give the Ethics Commission back its ability to hold unethical politicians accountable — without a Constitutional Convention — I know he’ll do it.

Frank and I worked closely together on Rhode Island’s successful Marriage Equality campaign. Time and again, I watched as people told us we couldn’t make it happen, and I was proud to see Frank help prove them wrong.

When Frank says he’ll do something, I know he will. So I know that he’ll stand up for small business owners, continue to tackle the high cost of insurance, take on unethical political insiders, and be a strong, progressive Lieutenant Governor.

Marti Rosenberg, founder of the famed-but-now-defunct Ocean State Action:

I’m sitting in Frank’s campaign office right now as people are making phone calls. His neighbor, Trish, is talking to voters about how she’s known him for over 9 years, and she’d never considered doing this for anyone else. She knows how important these calls are, and she’s willing to do what it takes to get Frank elected.

Besides Trish, we’ve got Terri, Joan, Ann, and Cait here too – and none of them have ever helped on a campaign either.

Trish and the rest of our team would like you to join them any day between now and Tuesday at 8:00 pm, when the polls close – to help Frank win.

As you can see, you don’t need any special experience – you just need to admire Frank and have a commitment to electing him because he’ll make the change we need in Rhode Island. We’re looking for people to make phone calls, or to be a presence for Frank at the polls on Tuesday.

Our volunteer Cait has known Frank for 20 years. She just said it best: “Frank’s a fresh new face in statewide politics, and a real hard worker. When he says he’ll do something, he’ll get it done.”

Of course Ferri has the public support of progressive legislators from Sen. Josh Miller to Rep. Art Handy. My favorite, though, was the endorsement from his niece Margaux Morrisseau, who herself is running to replace Nick Kettle in the state Senate:

Some of you know that Frank and his husband Tony are my uncles. Yes, they are technically my “uncles-in-law” but I could not choose a better family to be a part of! We are as close as can be and I am so proud of all Uncle Frank and Uncle Tony have accomplished.

But even if Uncle Frank weren’t related to me, I’d still be supporting him:

As a small business owner, Frank understands business and he understands government. We need someone with both of those insights to be able to carry out the kinds of economic development that will actually work to support the small businesses that are already here and to attract new businesses.

Frank is the only candidate in this race with the plans to carry out Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts’ commitment to significant health care reforms to increase quality, but hold the line on costs. He’ll make sure that the very successful HealthSource RI continues to thrive.

Frank gets angry when a few unethical politicians take the focus away from the majority who work hard for their constituents. He has released a strong ethics plan that includes reducing the influence of former elected officials on the legislative process and putting a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot to give the Ethics Commission back its ability to hold unethical politicians accountable.

I am sure you can see Uncle Frank has had a significant influence on me and my decision to run for State Senate. I would be honored to serve with him and work hand in hand to make RI a better place for all.

Please, join me this coming Tuesday to vote for Frank Ferri for Lieutenant Governor in the Democratic Primary. Feel free to email me for more information on my Uncle Frank or to find your polling place.

 

Mollis is running for lt governor and his stance on a women’s right to choose came up when Democratic primary rival Rep. Frank Ferri, as well as Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, publicly questioned his endorsement from Rhode Island Right to Life.

“My personal and governmental beliefs conflict,” Mollis told me. “Personally, I’m pro-life but the government should not prohibit a women’s right to choose. I don’t think they should inhibit or prohibit a women’s right to choose.”

He stood by the answer he gave during a WPRI debate. “I think I actually answered [the question] more accurately than anyone. For it to be safe it has to be legal and being that I’m pro-life I’d love for it to be rare.”

Mollis said he had a change-of-heart on his public policy view of abortion six years ago, when someone close with him was considering an abortion.

“Six years ago someone very close to me was faced with that decision,” he said. “I encouraged that person to have the baby. I told that person why they should, all the different reasons. And when hat discussion was done i told that person that no matter what she chose i would support it, I would respect it because it’s her choice and at that moment I realized I was governmentally pro-choice.”

When asked about late-term abortions, Mollis said there should be “some restrictions” on abortions. He said he wasn’t familiar enough with mandatory ultrasound legislation to give an opinion.

Mollis said his views on abortion have nothing to do with how he will handle the lt. governor’s office. “I don’t think that’s the litmus test for lt. governor.”

In a three-way race again, he pulled just 10 percent while his opponents Ralph Mollis pulled 25 percent and Dan McKee pulled 15 percent. The good news for Ferri would be that 47 percent of respondents are still undecided.

“This poll confirms what we already knew: voters are still getting to know Frank Ferri but remain unimpressed with the far-better-known Ralph Mollis,” said Ferri campaign manager Dawn Euer. “With nearly 50 percent of the electorate undecided – and ample resources to be competitive – we remain confident that voters will gravitate towards Frank Ferri as they begin to examine the clear differences between the candidates.”

The Democratic primary for lt governor is the only statewide campaign between all incumbents: Ferri is a Warwick legislator; McKee is the mayor of Cumberland; and Mollis is the secretary of state.

Frank Ferri, who bills himself as a “progressive Democrat for Lt. Governor,” released a plan today that would distance legislators from lobbyists during the session, and double the time retired legislators have to wait to become paid lobbyists.

“No business wants to come to a place where the government can’t be trusted,” according to his plan, which you can read here.

Ferri, a state representative from Warwick running for lt. governor against Ralph Mollis and Dan McKee, said:

“The system is broken, and to make matters worse, those tasked with oversight and compliance responsibility have not done their jobs. It’s no wonder Rhode Islanders have lost trust in government. Public service should be about advancing and protecting the interests of a legislator’s constituents, not building relationships that the legislator can use later to pad his or her wallet.”

Ferri’s proposal would double the amount of time – from one year to two – that a former legislator would have to wait to become a lobbyist. A committee chair would have to wait for years under the proposal and the House speaker and Senate president would have to wait six years. It would also ban lobbyists from loaning legislators money.

It would also prohibit lobbyists and political action committees from donating to legislators during the session. In explaining why, he lifts the veil a bit on how the sausage is actually made on Smith Hill.

“In a practice that has become so ingrained within our state’s political culture, legislators typically hold fundraisers every week during the legislative session,” according to the proposal. “It is so commonplace, that committee hearings are often scheduled around these events.

Candidate for Lt. Governor, Representative Frank Ferri, in conversation with Ian Donnis and Scott McKay on RIPR this morning, became the first candidate for statewide office to publicly declare his support for the workers presently engaged with the Providence City Council to pass a $15 minimum wage for all hotel employees in the city.

First asked sked if the minimum wage should be raised, Ferri said, “I believe the minimum wage should be raised. I’m a small business person, I pay more than the minimum wage. We’re in such income inequity right now that I have no problem with raising it.”

McKay then asked Ferri where the minimum wage should be set, and Donnis asked if he supported the $15 minimum wage proposed by Providence hotel workers. Ferri replied, “I support raising the minimum wage. Where that should be right now? There’s a proposal at the Senate for $9, I’ll support that. I’ve traveled a lot. I’ve seen hotel workers. I know how hard they work and to say that they’re not making $15 an hour… I don’t like that. I think that it should be higher.”

When Donnis asked Ferri to clarify, Ferri said, “I would support $15” for hotel workers in Providence.

This is a game changer. No other candidate for statewide office has made such a bold and progressive declaration in support of these workers. Outside of some members of the Providence City Council, I don’t believe there has been any support from elected officials.

Ferri should find his support of the hotel workers a boost to his campaign. In Providence, an “overwhelming 64% support the $15 minimum wage for hotel workers,” according to a recent poll. In this time of rising economic inequality, measures that bring relief and decent living wages to working families are going to become increasingly popular. Let’s face it, restructuring the estate tax isn’t doing many of us any good, and in truth, merely increases the tax burden on all of us.

The advocacy and work of Frank Ferri was critical in passing marriage equality in Rhode Island last year, and his solid stand on progressive issues has set him apart from his rather dull and predictable opponents, Cumberland Mayor Dan McKee and Secretary of State Ralph Mollis. It should be an interesting primary, as both Mollis and McKee have been in the race for a while and have a fundraising advantage, but Frank Ferri has the support of Rhode Islanders statewide eager to support this progressive champion.

You know what? I’m just going to come right out and say it: Frank Ferri should be our next Lt. Governor. I’m voting for him, you should too. Donate time and money to his campaign. Tell your friends to vote for him. This is our chance to advocate for a real, tried and true progressive for statewide office. Let’s make this happen.