Progressive News, Opinion, and Analysis
With just 8 days left before the primary, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras was at Narragansett Beach enjoying the end of summer and meeting as many voters as he can before people head to the polls next Tuesday.
I met up with Taveras at Monihan’s, where he was enjoying a burger. Then we sat on the sea wall and talked about the campaign for a few minutes – including what he’ll be doing for the last week, the importance of tourism in our state and the mayor’s favorite beach.
Allan Fung is the only candidate for governor in Rhode Island who openly opposes legalizing pot, and Angel Taveras is the “is the least open to marijuana regulation” among Democratic candidates, according to the Marijuana Policy Project.
The national group that lobbies states to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana sent an email to supporters today with its assessment of where the gubernatorial candidates stand on cannabis policy.
“Next year, the legislature will continue discussing whether Rhode Island should replace marijuana prohibition with sensible regulations, so it is important to know how the candidates for governor view the issue,” said the email.
MPP has lobbied hard in Rhode Island in recent years as many believe the Ocean State could be the first state east of the Mississippi to legalize marijuana, and some speculate RI could become the third overall state after Colorado and Washington, though there are voter referendums to legalize in Oregon and Alaska this year.
Here’s MPP’s assessment of the Democratic primary:
Democratic primary gubernatorial candidates: When asked in March, all three major candidates — Gina Raimondo, Angel Taveras, and Clay Pell — indicated that they are monitoring the effects of regulation and taxation in Colorado and Washington. However, all indications are that Taveras is the least open to marijuana regulation — he stated that he is “not currently supportive of legalization.” This is not too surprising considering Taveras has received public support from prominent marijuana prohibitionist and former Congressman Patrick Kennedy.
And the Republican field:
Republican primary gubernatorial candidates: On the Republican side of the coin, Ken Block has said he will withhold judgment until he can “see the results in Colorado and Washington.” His opponent, Allan Fung, not only opposes “the legalization of marijuana for recreational use,” but also makes no mention of even being interested in results from Colorado and Washington.
After a summer of spending millions to attack and fact check each other in TV commercials, the three leading Democrats running for governor took the opportunity to do so once more at their last debate before the primary.
“My campaign alone has created more jobs in Rhode Island than Narragansett Beer,” Clay Pell quipped of Gina Raimondo’s pseudo-claim in a TV ad that her venture capital investment in Narragansett Brewery helped create more than 1,000 jobs in Rhode Island.
This was the line of the night. But a close second was when moderator Tim White pushed back about Pell’s talking point about not taking any money from lobbyists or PACs. White pointed out that Pell is independently wealthy and that several high level NEARI employees are volunteering their time for him. Rarely does a debate moderator win applause, but this was a question begging to be asked that was unlikely to be addressed by any candidate.
The big lie of the evening came courtesy of Raimondo when she was accused of standing with Wall Street. She replied, “I’m from Smithfield, I’ve never worked on Wall Street.” Wall Street, of course, in this context, is not a physical address.
Angel Taveras’ watershed moment may have been when he asked the TV camera “would you hire someone who has had nine jobs in eight years?” He spent much of the debate on the attack against both Pell and Raimondo, but did not – notably – dispute Pell’s claim to be the “progressive Democrat” in the race.
The surprise of the evening, for me, was that all three pledged to support the primary winner. It may be a good exercise for all Democrats to spend a few minutes each day until the primary envisioning their preferred candidate campaigning for the others, and vice versa.
While the two progressive candidates running for mayor of Providence have come together, the two progressive candidates running for governor are still at war.
On Friday, Brett Smiley dropped out of the Democratic primary and backed fellow liberal Jorge Elorza so that the more conservative Democrat, Michael Solomon, would not have the advantage of the liberal vote being divided.
“Jorge Elorza shares my values and my vision for our city, and I’m proud to give my full-throated support to his campaign. I know Jorge is our best chance of defeating both Solomon and Cianci, and I look forward to working together to make it happen,” Smiley said in a prepared statement.
It’s been a different story between the two liberal Democrats running for governor.
Angel Taveras and Clay Pell continue to beat each other up. The Taveras campaign says Pell lacks experience and overstates the experience he has. The Pell campaign accuses Taveras of stretching the truth and smearing his opponents.
Before Friday, both the mayor’s and governor’s Democratic primaries were three-way races featuring two liberals and a moderate. Raimondo and Solomon are seen as solid Democrats on many issues, with some foul-smelling political baggage. For Raimondo it’s her connections to Wall Street and Solomon is a city Council incumbent facing a complaint in front of the Ethics Commission.
Conventional wisdom says that Taveras and Pell may prevent each other from besting Gina Raimondo, who leads in the latest public polling. Conventional wisdom also says that Elorza increased greatly his chances of overcoming Michael Solomon by winning Smiley’s support.
In the mayor’s race, the left improved its chances of winning office by working together. In the governor’s race, the left greatly diminished its chances of winning by being a house divided.
If such speculations prove true, the big takeaway for the local progressive movement from the 2014 election cycle may be: united we stand, divided we fall. Learning that lesson may well be more valuable than winning either or both the governor and/or mayor’s office.
Angel Taveras and Clay Pell have managed to do at least one thing Gina Raimondo couldn’t: pit public sector unions against one another.
While NEARI, the state’s suburban teachers’ union, is vociferously backing Pell, a diverse group of public and private sector unions launched today calling itself “Working Families for Angel.”
In a press release the group said: “Angel Taveras is the only Democratic candidate in this race who knows the stresses working families are under. Angel was raised by a single mother; his first job was a unionized bagger and cashier at a grocery store; worked his way through law school; and as Mayor has collaboratively solved problems with his employees to move Providence forward. We will convey this message to our members and their families, utilizing every communication avenue possible and look forward to the Democratic Primary Election on September 9th. We are confident that come Election Day our members’ voices will be heard.”
The group plans on making contact with 16,000 union households, it said in the press release. “A coalition this size could represent more than 30% of this year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary voters, and provide a massive boost to Angel Taveras’ campaign,” it said.
The group includes, according to the press statement:
…the Rhode Island State Association of Firefighters, International Association of Firefighters, AFL-CIO; RI Council 94, American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO; United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 328; United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 791; International Brotherhood of Police Officers, National Association of Government Employees, SEIU, AFL-CIO; Service Employees International Union, Local 580, AFL-CIO; Brotherhood of Utility Workers Council, Local 310, United Utility Workers of America, AFL-CIO; and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 400, AFL-CIO.
They say yard signs don’t vote. But commercials don’t vote either, and they pay great attention to those. Besides people who put yard signs in their yards do vote, as well as annoy their neighbors and draw photographers to their streets.
In this picture, from just north of the Narragansett Town Beach on 1A, there seems to be an adamant Angel Taveras supporter living right across the street from an adamant Gina Raimondo supporter:
What’s interesting to me is combinations of yard signs, like this Gina Raimondo supporter who also supports Republican Catherine Taylor for lt. governor. I wonder if the owner of these signs is planning on voting in the Democratic or Republican primary?
On Route 1 in Charlestown I saw this driveway with a Clay Pell and Seth Magaziner sign.
I suspect this person won’t be the only one to vote for both Clay Pell and Seth Magaziner in the Democratic primary. Both are young, new to elected politics and are banking on the belief that Rhode Islanders are ready for new leaders.
Have you seen any interesting multi-sign yards? If so email them to progress@rifuture.org and tell us what trend you think they indicate.
In the TV Commercial War that is the Democratic primary campaign for governor, Angel Taveras has tacked away from his defensive stance against Gina Raimondo to launch an offensive front against Clay Pell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMtyoqV1lbc
Pell’s campaign, in response, tacked away from what I called it’s positive campaign strategy, saying in an email:
For weeks now, Mayor Taveras and Treasurer Raimondo have been lobbing negative attacks at one another. At the same time, Clay has been focused on one thing — talking with Rhode Islanders about the new ideas and fresh approach he’ll bring as Governor, and his real plan to get our state back on course.Because of the growing momentum of our grassroots campaign, Mayor Taveras has now turned his mudslinging in our direction. We, however, firmly reject the politics of attack and innuendo. Clay learned from his grandfather that campaigns shouldn’t be about tearing people down, but should be about ideas for the future.
I also wrote that Pell was playing the role of spoiler in this three-way battle. Several respected progressive voices chimed in to correct me. In a comment on that post, Will Collette, publisher of the Progressive Charlestown blog, wrote:
I’ve been hearing this “Clay is a spoiler” line coming from the Taveras camp for weeks and I don’t buy it.
Taveras is running a lack-luster campaign, can’t raise the money and has surrounded himself with more than a few good ole boy synchophants. It bothers me to see guys on the city payroll playing whips and enforcers for the Taveras campaign. I heard one of them, after a particularly ugly incident, tell a colleague why he acted like a jerk, saying “hey, I work for the guy.”
Yeah, the “Headstart to Harvard” line was good when he started the campaign, but what else does he have except whining about how Gina is running ads against him? What did he expect?
That he’s losing ground while Clay is gaining begs the question of who’s the spoiler – Clay or Taveras?
The Mayor said that for people like me, who REALLY don’t want to see Raimondo become Governor, he’s the only choice and that supporting Clay Pell only makes a Raimondo win more likely.
Bullshit.
If Angel Taveras really believes in “anybody but Raimondo,” maybe he ought to consider withdrawing and supporting Clay.
Another commenter put it more poetically.
And ardent Clay Pell supporter Bob Walsh wrote this on a Facebook post:
You will know Angel is in third place when he goes negative on Clay too. Then those who support Angel because they despise Gina will have a choice – sticking with their candidate, who is now in the spoiler position, or joining the people-powered, positive campaign of the only Democrat in the race that no labor or progressive voter can oppose on the issues. The next 5 weeks will be fascinating!
In some ways, the Democratic primary for governor is an epic battle between two factions of the party.
Angel Taveras, the progressive mayor of Providence who saved the city from fiscal disaster is in a public slugfest with Gina Raimondo, the well-heeled, Wall Street insider infamous for cutting pensions and investing the savings in hedge fund fees.
After beginning the campaign by negotiating a Peoples’ Pledge, Taveras and Raimondo are now running dueling attack ads on each other. And late last week their feud reached fever pitch when the Raimondo camp accused a Taveras supporter of sneaking into an event and trying to steal her cellphone. (The Taveras campaign apologized for the first transgression and denied the other.)
Such sleaziness would be the bigger news if it wasn’t for Clay Pell. Everyone is most abuzz about his people-powered, positive campaign strategy. Couple that with millions of his own money, and it could prove to be a winning strategy.
Unless it ends up just being the spoiler strategy.
Many expect Pell to make a huge leap in the next round of polling. But few expect it will be big enough to win. He may well best Taveras in the end, but it seems most-likely that Raimondo will beat them both. While Pell and Taveras split the left, Raimondo is drawing new conservatives into the Democratic Party – I know of at least one longtime Republican who plans to vote for Raimondo in the Democratic primary this year. And if Raimondo wins the primary, a swarm of influential liberals will give serious consideration to voting for a Republican.
So even as the drama unfolds between Wall Street and Main Street Democrats, the left’s lack of ability to agree on a candidate may have already guaranteed Rhode Island’s next governor will be a conservative.
Rhode Island’s elected officials are outraged by the United States Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision handed down today.
First Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressman David Cicilline critiqued the high court’s reasoning. Now Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and Lt. Gov. hopeful Warwick Rep. Frank Ferri have also weighed in.
Here’s Mayor Taveras’ statement:
I am deeply disappointed in today’s Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case. Giving employers the right to decide what type of contraception a woman should have access to is outrageous and sets a dangerous precedent that allows for discrimination. Corporations are not people, and their rights should not trump a woman’s right to receive contraceptive health care coverage.
Ferri, a Warwick state representative running for lt. governor has an interesting take. He’s a small business owner who owns and runs a bowling alley. In a fundraising email Ferri said:
Today’s decisions by a conservative majority of the US Supreme Court to impede women’s access to healthcare and curtail the rights of unions to represent their members should serve as an important reminder of what’s really at stake in this election.
As a small business owner, I would never presume to influence my employees’ health care decisions. That is just wrong.
I’m angry about the Court’s rulings, but being angry isn’t enough. We need to organize and work to make sure a conservative court and right-wing politicians don’t turn back the clock on all the progress we’ve made over the last two decades.
I’m proud to be the only candidate in this race to put his name on the line to defend a woman’s right to choose. When I’m Lt. Governor, our office will unabashedly fight to support women and working families, and stand up to the right wing politicians who will surely look to capitalize on today’s rulings.
Providence Mayor Angel Taveras “believes it is better to raise the wage at the state level but is open to the proposed ordinance before the City Council,” said campaign spokeswoman Dawn Bergantino today.
“The City of Seattle spent months studying the issue before the recent passage of a citywide wage,” she said. “The Mayor believes it is equally important that Providence do an economic impact study to understand what, if any, consequence we may see and to ensure the proposal will help those it is intended to, in the way it is intended to. He wants to make sure that we have an economy that is fair and provides opportunity to everyone.”
The statement comes as the mayor may have to weigh in on a $15 minimum wage for the hotel industry in Providence, as activists have put a proposal before the City Council, and as Rep. Ray Gallison is pushing a bill that would block cities and towns from having higher minimum wages than the state.
Bergantino said Taveras did not ask House Finance Committee Chairman Ray Gallison to put forward a bill that would prevent cities and towns from setting their own minimum wage.
It’s still unclear why Gallison, chairman of the powerful House Finance Committee, proposed the bill as he prepares to lead the budget bill through his committee. House spokesman Larry Berman said he didn’t know what prompted Gallison to support the move, which is usually associated with conservative low wage activists.
Providence City Councilor Carmen Castillo, who is also a hotel housekeeper, took umbrage with Gallison meddling in city politics.
“Representative Gallison’s proposal is an attack on all RI cities and towns,” she said in an email to RI Future. “It will strip us of our power to represent our communities. What power will they try to take from us next? The right to decide if we should have a casino in our town? The right to set our own budgets?”
Castillo, who works at the Omni Hotel, added, “I make almost $15 per hour. I proudly clean 15 hotel rooms a day for Providence tourists – guests from graduations and conventions, tourists on their way to Cape Cod and business travelers all sleep in clean rooms because of hundreds of women like me. I was able to buy a house and send my daughters to college. I eat in my neighborhood restaurants and shop in the bodegas.”
Councilman Sam Zurier said he wasn’t familiar enough with Gallison’s bill to weigh in. But he reiterated what he has written in his constituent newsletter:
“I have an open mind on this issue, and I will attend the hearing looking for answers to several questions, including the following: (1) What is the current wage scale at Providence hotels, including those that have unions?; (2) What is a living wage for Providence?; (3) What are the costs/benefits of (a) a minimum wage at the municipal (rather than state or national) level, and (b) an industry-specific minimum wage?; (4) What ramifications would the ordinance have for other hotel employees, such as those employed in a hotel restaurant or gift shop, and what would be the full impact on room rates and hotel operations?”
Public polling is neck-and-neck as Gina Raimondo and Angel Taveras campaign to be Rhode Island’s next governor. But the battle for endorsements tells a different story.
Perhaps the surprise story of the campaign so far has been the amount of union support Raimondo has garnered. She’s been endorsed by 9 labor unions and Taveras only 3.
| Gina Raimondo | Angel Taveras | |
| Unions | Bricklayers’ and Allied Craftsmen Local 3 | Rhode Island State Association of Firefighters |
| Ironworkers’ Local 37 | American Association of University Professors, URI Chapter | |
| Plumbers’ & Pipefitters’ Local 51 | United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 328 | |
| Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ Local 40 | ||
| Roofers’ and Waterproofers’ Local Union No. 33 | ||
| Sprinkler Fitters Local 669 | ||
| Operating Engineers’ Local 57 | ||
| Sheet Metal Workers Local 17 | ||
| United Steelworkers Local 12431 |
Given the candidates’ very different reputations on pension reforms one may expect this skew to be the other way around. But the things to keep in mind here is that all of Raimondo’s backing comes from private sector unions and two of Taveras’ endorsements come from public sector unions. While this might not be a clear referendum on pension policy, it goes a long way to refuting the myth of the unified labor movement in the Ocean State.
Here’s a comparison of the city and town committees who have endorsed either Raimondo or Taveras so far:
| Gina Raimondo | Angel Taveras | |
| Town Committees | Barrington | Providence |
| East Greenwich | Pawtucket | |
| Foster | Smithfield | |
| New Shoreham | North Kingstown | |
| North Smithfield | Coventy | |
| Scituate | Hopkington | |
| Tiverton | Westerly | |
| Warren | ||
| Cumberland |
Raimondo has captured more city and town Democratic committees than Taveras. But there’s also something interesting about where the endorsements are coming from: Raimondo, who has 8* town committees so far (no cities) seems to be attracting the suburban endorsements while Taveras is attracting more urban support, with 7 cities and towns. There’s a practical difference here: the 9 towns (no cities yet) in the Raimondo column only have a combined population of 102,329. The seven city and town committees that gave their support to Taveras have a total population of 362,468.
On the other hand, a municipal committee endorsement certainly does not guarantee the support of party members. For example, the East Greenwich Dems have about as much political juice as the local animal protection league. And while Taveras may have won the endorsement of the Providence Democratic Committee, three Democrats on the City Council are supporting Raimondo: Davian Sanchez, Louis Aponte and Sabina Matos.
When it comes from endorsements of state legislators, it isn’t even close. With endorsements from 9 of 32 Senate Democrats and 24 of the 69 House Dems, Taveras already has significant chunks of both chambers on lock down. Raimondo only has three legislative endorsements so far.
| Gina Raimondo | Angel Taveras | |
| State Senators | Donna Nesselbush, Pawtucket | Maryellen Goodwin, Providence |
| Juan Pichardo, Providence | ||
| Gayle Goldin, Providence | ||
| Daniel Da Ponte, East Providence | ||
| Elizabeth Crowley, Central Falls | ||
| Roger Picard, Woonsocket | ||
| James E. Doyle, Pawtucket | ||
| Leonidas Raptakis, Coventry | ||
| Adam Satchell, West Warwick | ||
| State Reps | Grace Diaz, Providence | John DeSimone, Providence |
| Anastasia Williams, Providence | Joseph Almeida, Providence | |
| Scott Slater, Providence | ||
| Tom Palangio, Providence | ||
| Helio Melo, East Providence | ||
| Gregg Amore, East Providence | ||
| Katherine Kazarian, East Providence | ||
| Ray Johnston, Pawtucket | ||
| Mary Messier, Pawtucket | ||
| Frank Ferri, Warwick | ||
| David Bennett, Warwick | ||
| Stephen Casey, Woonsocket | ||
| Michael Morin, Woonsocket | ||
| James McLaughlin, Central Falls | ||
| Agostinho Silva, Central Falls | ||
| Patricia Serpa, West Warwick | ||
| Marvin Abney, Newport | ||
| Robert Craven, North Kingstown | ||
| Scott Guthrie, Coventry | ||
| Lisa Tomasso, Coventry | ||
| Deborah Fellela, Johnston | ||
| John Edwards, Tiverton | ||
| Larry Valencia, Richmond/Exeter | ||
| Donna Walsh, Charlestown |
Another interesting comparison of former politicians who have endorsed so far. Make of this what you will:
| Gina Raimondo | Angel Taveras | |
| Former pols | Myrth York, former gov. candidate | U.S. Senator Tom Harkin |
| former RI Gov. Philip Noel | former Pawtucket Mayor James E. Doyle | |
| former state Senator Rhoda Perry |
* This post has been updated to reflect new information from the Raimondo campaign, namely that the Cumberland Democratic Party has also endorsed her.
Six months before the general election, the six candidates for governor came together for the first time last week. And they did so to answer questions about gender equality. The Women’s Fund of Rhode Island hosted a forum Thursday to query the candidates on “so-called women’s issues,” as Gina Raimondo, the only female candidate, labelled them in her opening remarks.
Steve Ahlquist filmed the entire event and broke it down question-by-question, starting with each candidate’s opening remarks:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Question 1: What can you do to address unequal pay in our state?
Ken Block said there is “no place for wage discrimination” and that there are already laws in place to deal with it. Clay Pell called it a question of fundamental justice and of economic growth and “I think we have to do a lot more than just enforce the laws that are on the books.” Allan Fung said there are more barriers in the public sector than the private sector to equal pay in pay equity and promotions. Todd Giroux spoke about more generic economic reforms that don’t speak directly to equal pay.
Several of the Democrats said raising the minimum wage will have positive impacts on pay equity.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Question 2: Do you support policies, like family leave, that benefit working women?
The Republican candidates tacked to different directions on this question. Fung said, “I absolutely do support a lot of those policies that [provide] flexibility for people into the workforce.” Block said he allows for family leave at his business, but then railed against the temporary disability insurance program in Rhode Island, calling it among the most expensive in the nation.
The Democrats were more united. “I absolutely think we need to a better job pr providing more flexible work places,” said Raimondo. Taveras agreed and Pell went furthest saying overall Rhode Island has been moving in the wrong direction when it comes to making women more equal in the workplace. He cited state childcare assistance being been cut by 80 percent since 2007 as evidence.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Question 3: What will you do as governor to proactively affect gender inequality?
Pell committed to appointing an equal mix of men and women to boards and commissions while Block said he would “strive” to have an equal mix in his administration. Raimondo, said there are no laws in Rhode Island to protect pregnant women in the workplace, said she’s the only candidate to have been pregnant in the workplace. Taveras said he knows it from a father’s perspective.
Todd Giroux said he has used the family leave act to take care of his father. He said as the “openly-gay candidate in the race, I am all about equality.” Raimondo . Taveras said he understands some of the challenges from a father’s perspective. As governor he said he will consider “what is best for the working families.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Question 4: Reproductive justice. Will you veto bill that limits a women’s right to make their own health care decisions?
Pell, Raimondo and Taveras were clear on this question: each began their statements by saying yes, they would. Fung said he supports a women’s right to choose.
Block said, “The question of abortion is settled federal law. The Supreme Court has weighed in and I have no interest in challenging or changing that law here in the state.” Giroux, too, said he does not wish to weigh in on this issue as governor, but said he is opposed to abortion. He said a college girlfriend had an abortion without telling him. “In America today, you have a right to choose and your baby has a right to life.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Question 5: How will you ensure women can get out of poverty?
Pell called this the critical question of the election. Raimondo said, “It’s time that we take a different approach to the way we deliver social services and we focus more on results. We re spending money but it often isn’t effective. My approach would be break down the silos, fund what works.” Taveras said he has a three-pronged approach: raising the minimum wage, ensuring affordable childcare and investing in “cradle to career” education.
Block, also talked about education, saying he is “dedicated to education reform.” He and Fung both said fostering private sector growth will help raise people out of poverty.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Question 6: What are you plans to ensure recent college grads can find good jobs?
Instead of answering the question, Taveras and Block really get to the heart of the political difference between conservatives and progressives in Rhode Island.
Taveras said Rhode Island needs a climate that tells young people this is a place to be, this is a place to start a business and to live. But Block countered, “We won’t get the new jobs we need if it makes much more sense for businesses to set up in Massachusetts than it does in Rhode Island. It’s a brutal fact.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Question 7: Sexual assault on campus
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Question 8: How will you make expansion of women-owned businesses a reality?
Fung and Block spoke of focusing on the larger economy. Block said, “we need to increase the ease with which individuals can start businesses in this state, whether they are male or whether they are female.”
Raimondo said access to capital programs for women and minorities matter. “It’s time we face the reality that women have been left behind in the business world and address it.” Taveras said he wants to work with the Center for Women and Enterprise and the SBA to “open the doors and create opportunities.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
…And their closing remarks:
Rhode Island’s Democratic primary election for governor will be the first time a People’s Pledge will be used to control outside anonymous advertising in a state-based political campaign, said Common Cause RI Executive Director John Marion, who first floated the idea and helped bring the three Democrats running for governor together to agree to it. It will also be the first time a Peoples’ Pledge, an agreement to pick up the cost of outside political advertising, will be implemented outside of Massachusetts, he said.
“This represents a watershed moment in Rhode Island politics,” Marion said in a press release, “and we are proud to have facilitated this historic agreement and want to thank the campaigns of the three major Democratic candidates for working together to get this agreement done.”
The agreement signed by Clay Pell, Gina Raimondo and Angel Taveras applies only to the Democratic primary and says a candidate will pay the cost of a third-party negative advertising about an opponent, or third-party positive advertising about themselves. It does not cover direct mail or canvassing, as Raimondo’s team had suggested.
You can rad the full agreement here: Rhode Island People’s Pledge. And learn more on Common Cause RI’s website. Also, check out our full coverage of this issue, going back to September 2013, when contributor Sam Howard suggested it in a post titled “Blood primary or People’s Pledge.”
Marion said he initially invited Republican candidates for governor to sign the pledge too, but he did not hear back from them. He hopes a similar agreement can be made for the general election between both parties.
The four Democrats running for governor – but neither of the two Republicans – took advantage of an opportunity to express their views on climate change last week at a forum hosted by EcoRI and the Environmental Council of RI.
Clay Pell said he would start a green infrastructure program, Angel Taveras a state composting program and Gina Raimondo wants a revolving loan fund. Todd Giroux called himself the “homegrown, organic candidate.” Taveras cited his record as mayor of Providence. Raimondo said protecting the environment is part of being a Rhode Islander. And Pell was the only one to call attention to Republican intransigence on the issue.
“Absolutely the governor plays an essential role,” said Pell. “And I intend to make this state a real model for our efforts to address climate change.”
Here’s how he said he would do that:
You can watch his full comments here:
Taveras touted his record as mayor, saying he appointed good people to implement several programs with long term objectives.
You can watch his full comments here:
Raimondo also touted previous experience, saying pension reform was about sustainability and that the she would lead the effort to address climate change like she lead the effort to address pensions.
Watch her full remarks here:
Outsider and long shot Todd Giroux said the base of his campaign platform is a revolving fund for green jobs:
His full remarks:
The forum started with addresses by John King, a URI oceanography professor, and Timmons Roberts, an environmental studies professor at Brown. You can watch their portions here:
Or you can watch the entire forum here:
One difference between the Democrats running for governor that came to light at the Economic Progress Institute’s forum last week was how they would pay for the state’s healthcare exchange when federal funding runs out. States must pay for their own healthcare exchange websites in 2015 and Rhode Island’s costs approximately $25 million a year.
Gina Raimondo stood alone in saying Rhode Island’s remarkably successful healthcare exchange should be scaled back, specifically saying the consumer services built in may have to be scaled back:
Angel Taveras said funding the exchange would be a top budget priority of his, if he is elected governor:
Clay Pell said he would be “absolutely committed to funding it.”
And Todd Giroux said we should start paying for the exchange by not paying the 38 Studios loan.
When Ian Donnis reported on this, he suggested Raimondo “was a little more specific” than the other candidates. Or maybe she’s just the only one who wants to scale it down?
Below is the full six minute segment on the health exchange and you can watch the entire Economic Progress Institute governor’s forum here.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the most popular politician of them all? According to a new Taubman Center poll, it’s Senator Jack Reed followed by Providence Mayor Angel Taveras.
Reed and Taveras are the only two elected officials who more than 50 percent of respondents said were doing either an excellent or good job. On the other end of the spectrum, Congressman David Cicilline and Governor Linc Chafee were the least popular pols asked about. A whopping 73.5 percent of respondents said Chafee was doing an only fair or poor job and 58.2 percent said Cicilline was doing only fair or poor.
General Treasurer Gina Raimondo was more popular than she was unpopular with 49.3 percent of respondents saying she was doing an excellent or good job and 34.2 percent saying she was doing only fair or poor. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressman Jim Langevin were both more unpopular than they were popular.
Here’s how the congressional delegation stacked up against each other:
And here’s what it looks like to compare Angel Taveras, Gina Raimondo and Linc Chafee:
With little substantive differences in their talking points, the four Democrats running for governor each tried to impress upon an audience of mostly liberal activists that they were the best person for the job at the Economic Progress Institute’s candidate forum Monday night.
Providence Mayor Angel Taveras said he wants Rhode Island to have the best schools in the nation and make the Ocean State and “example for opportunity.” General Treasurer Gina Raimondo called income inequality “biggest problem facing our state” and said the social safety net is “an investment in our future” rather than an act of charity. Todd Giroux said he’d create a $1 billion commerce fund and wants to make workers’ comp available to day laborers.
But arguably the best line of the evening belonged to Clay Pell, who brought down the house when he said: “I’m a Democrat. I believe people who earn more should pay more.”
Pell was also the only one to pledge to fully fund the Open Doors plan to end homelessness in Rhode Island. He may have laid out the most progressive messaging of the evening, but also drew sharp attention to his privileged upbringing when he said, “for too long in Rhode Island it’s been who you know not what you know.” Minutes earlier in his opening remarks, he name dropped his grandfather and namesake’s signature college aid grant program.
Taveras leaned heavily on his biography, at least twice recalling his formative years living in affordable housing and being a “Headstart baby.” Substantively, he said Rhode Island could boast the best education system in the country, and that he wants to make Rhode Island a national “example for opportunity.”
If any news was made at the Economic Progress Institute’s governor’s candidate forum, it was that Raimondo said she would dismantle the parts of Rhode Island’s health care exchange that link people with other social services to help offset the cost when federal funding runs out. She also said “income inequality is the single biggest problem facing our state and in fact our country.” Here’s how she said she would address income inequality:
Todd Giroux plays the part of the everyman political outsider. He was the only candidate on stage who didn’t got to Harvard and who has actually worked in the Rhode Island economy – they both sounds like nice attributes in a candidate but neither will likely garner him any political support.
Gubernatorial hopefulls Angel Taveras, Clay Pell, Gina Raimondo and Todd Giroux will respond to progressive questions tonight as the Economic Progress Institute is hosting a candidate forum at 5pm at the Ocean State Theater Company in Warwick (1245 Jefferson Blvd).
“Join us to hear what the candidates have to say about income inequality, jobs and the workforce, the safety net, the human services delivery system and other important topics,” according to the event invite.
The forum will be moderated by Mike Ritz, the executive director of Leadership Rhode Island. As of last week, more than 300 people had registered to attend.
Two of the Democrats running for governor are taking a wait-and-see what-happens-elsewhere approach to legalizing marijuana in Rhode Island.
In an email to RI Future today, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras said, “I am not currently supportive of legalization. I think we need to wait and see what impact such a large change has on states like Colorado and Washington.” He pointed out that he did support last years’ successful effort to decriminalize marijuana, he said, “because it allows us to better focus police resources.”
Somewhat similarly, Clay Pell told WPRI Newsmakers in January, “I think that we need to take a look at what’s happening in Colorado and wait and see what’s happening in Washington. I don’t support taking any particular action at this time.”
Tim White pressed him a bit: “But right now that’s not a straight no. It sounds like you’re leaving the door open a little bit.?”
And Pell responded, “Look, I want the econ of Rhode Island to grow. I’m not sure if that is the place to begin. I’m happy to see what happens in Washington and Colorado…”
I asked Gina Raimondo on Twitter about a month ago but haven’t heard back from her.
Gov Chafee told RI Future earlier in the session he was taking a wait and see approach. After he spoke with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, he said he would evaluate if and when the tax and regulate bill made it to his desk.
Three of the Democrats running for governor will meet tomorrow, 10am, at Common Cause RI headquarters to work on further hammering out Rhode Island’s first-ever People’s Pledge to control anonymous, third party campaign spending.
However Angel Taveras, Clay Pell and Gina Raimondo all have different ideas on how to do that. Click on each candidates name in the previous sentence to read their proposals.
“With all three major Democratic candidates having submitted draft Pledges, now is time to get them to agree on the details,” said Common Cause RI Executive Director John Marion, who first suggested the idea and brought the three candidates to the table (and not even figuratively!). “All sides agree they want to conclude this process soon so that they can shift their focus to the campaigns, so I’m optimistic we’ll see progress at tomorrow’s meeting.”
Here’s the Providence Journal article from earlier today.
And click here to check out RI Future’s full coverage of the RI People’s Pledge.
