Rhode Island Politics

The national media has picked up the story of Rhode Island’s own James Haldeman, who is running for State Representative in the 35th district (South Kingstown). Haldeman, a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, volunteered for duty in Iraq last year. As a result of his success in building civil-military relationships between Iraqis and Americans,…

Like many communities, North Kingstown offers a summer series of children’s concerts or shows for families to get together and enjoy whilst enjoying a picnic. North Kingstown’s are at the Town Beach on Thursday evenings and my family has been going for three years now. It is especially convenient as I work in NK and…

In a ruling of unexpected scope, Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Stephen A. Fortunato has ruled that the Governor of Rhode Island has an inherent power to place non-binding questions on the Rhode Island ballot. Today’s ruling undoes most, if not all, of the effect of a bill intended to limit the Governor’s power passed…

On gut impulse, I attended the Republican Party’s convention last night. Given how busy I am, it turned out to be a huge mistake. I’ll put it this way: the Rhode Island Republican Party is so dull that it can suck the excitement right out of Steve Laffey. When members of the party are inclined…

Confirming reports from the ProJo 7to7 Blog and NBC10 ‘s Bill Rappleye, Major General Reginald Centracchio, former Adjutant General of the RI National Guard, confirmed that he was entering the GOP primary for Lt. Gov. on the air with Dan Yorke this afternoon. Centracchio had previously said he wasn’t going to run. He also told…

One of the central lines of Dennis Michaud’s criticism of Governor Carcieri is that he has a poor relationship with the General Assembly (Remember: “He’s a fighter, I’m a lover.”). Any follower of contemporary Rhode Island politics would probably agree, but that doesn’t mean that tough-minded negotiating on both sides can’t yield positive results. In…

Two different versions of eminent domain have been passed by the Rhode Island legislature, one by the Senate, one by the House. Sadly, neither bill clearly limits the power claimed by the state government to seize private homes and give them away to new owners who promise to increase the tax-value of the seized property.…

So, Senate President Joseph Montalbano forgot to report to the state Ethics Commission that his law firm did work for the town of West Warwick. Somehow he did manage to remember to report his work for at least 6 other towns. Imagine that, of all of the towns to not report…. A strange coincidence? In…

The debate was entertaining, but eventually the RI House pushed through a ballot question asking the RI voters to amend [PDF] the RI Constitution to allow a privately owned casino in West Warwick. The Constitution already makes provisions for the public to vote on the expansion of state-operated “lotteries,” but, as was reinforced last summer…

I love this part of Marc’s post: … Michaud also revealed that he was paid $80,000 by Beacon as a consultant and that he was unaware that he should have announced as such when he testified in front of the General Assembly as an expert witness earlier this year. It brings to mind the movie…