Rhode Island Politics
The latest WPRI poll (story here) offers some interesting and somewhat confusing numbers regarding the Cicilline/Doherty race. First, we know that the majority of RI voters are either Democrats or Democrat-leaning unaffiliated (ie; independent) voters. Hence, we shouldn’t be surprised that David Cicilline leads Brendan Doherty 44% to 37.6% with 10% undecided and 6.4% for…
Last night, I attended the first organizational meeting for the Tiverton branch of Sakonnet Toll Oppostion Platform (STOP), a cross-community effort to stop the state of Rhode Island from placing a toll on the Sakonnet River Bridge. If I was skeptical about the ability of residents to prevent the tolls before, I’m pretty well convinced that…
According to Ian Donnis (via Twitter UPDATE: Ian has more), Rep. Jon Brien is claiming his primary opponent, “was ineligible due to a Hatch Act violation” because “Stephen Casey works for a fire department that gets federal funding.” Without having heard the specific claims, here is what the Hatch Act says, according to a Federal…
Ian Donnis wonders, “Was Laura Pisaturo’s loss to Michael McCaffrey actually a win for same-sex marriage supporters?“ [A] closer reading of the election reveals a more nuanced outlook — one in which same-sex marriage could have a better shot of passing the Senate in 2013 than widely recognized. The outlook remains murky, to be sure,…
Conservative Democrat Senator Michael McCaffrey won his primary last week. Conservative Democrat Representative Jon Brien lost his primary last week. The difference: union support. Both have stated they are against gay marriage. Both are (I believe) pro-life. Yet, the NEA, AFSCME, the local carpenters union and others endorsed McCaffrey. Brien lost to a firefighter with…
People periodically give me incredulous looks when I tell them I dislike politics. The campaign horse race is a roundabout annoyance of spin, and more importantly, it simply isn’t appropriate to view politics as a team sport. Depending on the level of government, thousands or millions of people’s lives are directly affected by the policies…
Just a follow up on yesterday’s post regarding the Senate-29 Democratic primary race between incumbent Michael McCaffrey and challenger Lisa Pisaturo, which McCaffrey won by 6% in a low turnout election. A Pisaturo win would have undoubtedly been taken as a sign that the Rhode Island electorate was ready to embrace gay marriage. But what…
The local media and gay marriage advocates are tabbing Rhode Island Senate District 29 in Warwick as “one to watch” as a mini-referendum on gay marriage in the state. David Scharfenberg sums it up: Laura Pisaturo, a lesbian lawyer who backs same-sex nuptals, is facing off against Senator Michael McCaffrey, a Warwick Democrat who opposes…
First, scroll down and read Monique’s postings on Rep. Spencer Dickinson. Then… The topics of hope and hopelessness pervaded this weekend’s readings, from absurd labor rules in schools, to the likely outcome of Make It Happen, to Spencer Dickinson’s insider view, and then to Sandra Fluke.
Following is Part Three of the five page letter that Representative Spencer Dickinson (D-South Kingstown) sent in the last few days to constituents to make the case for voters to choose him over his Democrat challenger in Tuesday’s primary. (Part One. Part Two. Full letter as a PDF.) Beyond partisanship, the letter is a valuable…