Breakfast with Sheldon Whitehouse
You wouldn’t know it by watching him work the crowd waiting for a breakfast table in Newport, but Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island’s junior senator who is facing re-election this year, says he’s uncomfortable in the public spotlight. “In the world of people in politics, way shyer than average,” is how he described himself over breakfast […]
RI Dems endorse incumbents in fractious state convention
Last night’s RI Democratic State committee meeting offered no surprises in the outcome — incumbent Governor Raimondo and Lt. Gov. McKee received expected endorsements — but the process of getting there provided moments of conflict that illuminated tensions within the Party. The convention of the more than 100 members of the state committee — city […]
Rhode Island is as ready as any state if Russia attacks American election
The bad news is Russia is probably going to try to disrupt the 2018 election as it did during the 2016 cycle. That’s according to US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, “There should be no doubt that Russia perceives that its past efforts have been successful […]
URI students plan walkout and gathering for Tuesday at 11am
University of Rhode Island (URI) students have planned a mass walkout and gathering at the campus Quad for Tuesday, November 15th at 11am. Organizers state that “…this is not a protest, but an expression of solidarity with marginalized voices on campus and in the community at large. We have extended the invitation to join us […]
POTUS candidate Jill Stein to visit RI in August
For those who want a female president, the easiest vote is for Hillary Clinton. For those who someone to the left of Hillary Clinton, there’s Bernie Sanders. And for those who want a female president and someone to the left of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, there’s Jill Stein, Green Party candidate for president. Stein, […]
Open letter to our newly elected friends
Congratulations on your well-deserved inaugurations and new positions! I am deeply proud of the opportunity afforded me to parade with your stickers and flyers and write so freely in papers and on social media about your visions for our beloved Providence and Rhode Island. We all know that our state faces many challenges. In most […]
Pecha Kucha: The 2014 campaign in 20 slides
Last night I presented this slideshow at Providence’s monthly Pecha Kucha (this time held at The Parlour on North Main Street). The topic was politics an the idea at Pecha Kucha is presenters speak for 20 seconds each about 20 different slides.
How blue is Rhode Island, by town
In the sensationally titled “Revenge of the Swamp Yankee: Democratic Disaster in South County,” Will Collette argued emotionally that despite statewide wins for Democrats in Rhode Island two weeks ago, South County was a sad place for the party. He makes a strong case that local South County races, through low turnout and Republican money, […]
Bad night for progressives and Democrats in House
The Narrative is that it was a big night for Democrats in Rhode Island. But not so much in the state legislature. In House of Representatives especially. The chamber controlled by conservative Democrat Nick Mattiello saw the GOP membership almost double – from six to 11 while Democrats dropped a total of six seats. Linda […]
Gina Raimondo for governor
Gina Raimondo has the best ideas about how to better Rhode Island – and her middle class-friendly campaign message is far more appealing than Allan Fung’s policy proposals of cutting taxes and shrinking government. Couple that with Raimondo’s track record of being able to move political mountains and it seems like an easy choice. But […]
Marcus Mitchell supports ‘bottom up’ leadership
“Leadership percolates from the bottom up,” states Marcus Mitchell. That is precisely why he is running a write-in candidacy for Providence City Council in Ward 3, because so many people have asked him to run. His opponent, Kevin Jackson, has been in office for almost 20 years. Ward 3 encompasses the Mt. Hope, Summit, and […]
Where does Common Cause stand on ConCon question?
On the November ballot, referendum Question 3 will ask voters; “Shall there be a convention to amend or revise the constitution?” While most people following Ocean State politics are focused on who will be the next governor of our state, or the next mayor of our capital city, question three bears watching too. The process […]
ACLU: primary produced four voter ID law ‘problems’
A Providence woman was denied the right to vote, according to an ACLU press release which details four incidents in which Rhode Island’s controversial voter ID law caused problems at the polls on primary day. “An elderly Hispanic woman who did not have identification was turned away from voting in Providence,” says the press release. […]
Gina Raimondo is our friend
What do you call a public official who supports equal pay for women and minorities, is pro-choice, supports equal rights for the LGBTQ community, recognizes the seriousness of the threat of climate change, fights income inequality and wants to not only raise the minimum wage, but also index it to inflation? Apparently you call this […]
Nellie Gorbea: experience matters for next secretary of state
Nellie Gorbea, one of two Democratic candidates for secretary of state, concedes there aren’t many policy differences between her and her from primary opponent Guillaume de Ramel. But experience for the job, the former deputy secretary of state and Housing Works RI executive director says, is another matter. “Because in the end,” Gorbea told me […]
Why is Nick Mattiello scared of Maria Cimini?
When it comes to championing progressive causes, no one in the Rhode Island General Assembly is any braver than Providence Rep. Maria Cimini. For years, she has lead the charge – against the richest special interest group in Rhode Island – for a less regressive income tax structure. And this year she valiantly defended on […]
How to ask RI Progressive Dems for their endorsement
The RI Progressive Democrats of America (RIPDA) will be reviewing endorsement requests from declared statewide and General Assembly candidates. To be considered for an endorsement, please send a request for endorsement to [email protected]. Democrats or those running on a progressive platform will be considered in our endorsement process. Upon receiving a formal request, we will […]
Voter ID not the only election bill that deserves attention
Last night the Senate Committee on Judiciary heard a full agenda of election bills. You’ll read a lot in the Projo and RI Future about the Voter ID repeal legislation Senator Gayle Goldin sponsored, and that deserves attention. But there were a number of other really important pieces of legislation that are largely being ignored […]
Why Raimondo won’t run as an independent
WPRI’s Ted Nesi poses this question in the most recent Saturday Morning Post: “Running as an independent could let [Gina Raimondo] avoid a bruising nomination battle and save her growing war chest for the fall campaign, where she’ll face a less liberal electorate. The treasurer is canny, and she believes in numbers: if an independent […]
Occam’s razor: GOP is weak because RI is progressive
Sam Howard has accomplished some of the best quantitative analysis of local elections that you will ever see produced by an unpaid journalist in his ongoing series about why mixed-member proportional voting would alter Rhode Island politics and power structures. And yesterday Ted Nesi touched on the same subject in a piece about why the […]
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