The Marcello 6 and the 5 liberal abstainers

Big time props to the Marcello 6, who stuck by their speaker candidate even after realizing he didn’t have the votes to win. They are:

Greg Constantino of Lincoln, Paddy O’Neill of Pawtucket, John Lombadi of Providence, Linda Finn of Middletown, Joy Hearn from Barrington and – of course – Marcello himself. These six are now effectively the loyal opposition in the House of Representatives and I hope other progressives join them.

They are now effectively the loyal opposition in the House. Hopefully the 5 Liberal Abstainers will join them. They are:

Edith Ajello and Maria Cimini of Providence, Teresa Tanzi of South Kingstown and Larry Valencia of Richmond {Update: Andd Rep. Jeremiah O’Grady, Lincoln]. Progressives are pretty disappointed in these five. Tanzi said she did so because there were no women on the new leadership team, and Valencia told me he would explain his decision to his constituents in the future (declined to comment). My guess is Team Marcello had splintered to the point that some didn’t want to support it.

West Warwick Republican Pat Morgan also abstained, but her reasons for doing so were certainly different. She disrupted the formal vote to try to give a speech about her reasons, which seemed to be that she wanted something for her support. This generally drew ire from both parties, though Minority Leader Brian Newberry defended her on procedural grounds.

Some progressives legislators also voted for Speaker Mattiello, including Frank Ferri, of Warwick, Art Handy of Cranston and Chris Blazejewski. Blaz, of course, was initially a leader of Team Marcello and Handy was an early supporter. Handy said his decision to jump ship was an attempt to remain chairman of the Environmental Committee.

“Staying as chair and having more access to leadership is one of the best things I can do for the progressive causes I care about,” Handy said.