RI Political Corruption

The word, "vote," on puppet strings

Rhode Island should study Ana Quezada’s fabulous mail ballot results.

By Justin Katz | September 10, 2023 |

State Senator Ana Quezada was a stand-out recipient of mail ballots, with surprisingly targeted support in specific precincts that didn’t spread into in-person votes as should have been expected.

Mail ballot envelope

What did McKee pay Holly $1,500 a month for during the election?

By Justin Katz | July 19, 2023 |

Kathy Gregg reports in the Providence Journal that the person who collected the nomination signatures for Lieutenant Governor Sabina Matos’s congressional run that are being scrutinized as fraudulent in multiple communities is Holly Cekala McClaren, who is the Holly with the (found to be exaggerated) Rhode Island accent in Governor Dan McKee’s dark and disgusting “you’re…

Men in suits at a restaurant

Politics This Week: Politicians at Lunch

By Justin Katz | June 23, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz talk about the latest political news.

Clown face in a pinball machine

Politics This Week: Telling Philly Exploits

By Justin Katz | June 17, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz check in on the latest developments in RI politics.

A shadowy man on the phone

Politics This Week: A Culture of Extortion

By Justin Katz | June 13, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss top political stories in Rhode Island.

Blue dragon of Roger Williams Park Carousel

Politics This Week with John DePetro: The Insider Job-Go-Round

By Justin Katz | February 20, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz check in on the insider operations of the RI State House, bureaucracy, and media.

Posters on a city wall

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Poster Children in RI Politics

By Justin Katz | February 15, 2023 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz go over the characters and controversies of state government in Rhode Island.

Vilhelm Pedersen illustration of Hans Christian Anderson's The Emperor's New Clothes

Are you represented in the Rhode Island House?

By Justin Katz | December 20, 2022 |

Although the core political story in Rhode Island is inevitably Democrat, this isn’t a partisan post.  The one detail I recall from Amity Shlaes’s book, Coolidge, that detracted from the 30th President’s story was an anecdote from when he was the Republican president of the Massachusetts Senate.  A lobbyist persuaded him to go one way on…

A man picks a path in the woods

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Incentives Gone Wrong

By Justin Katz | August 23, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the ways in which Rhode Island politics encourage or discourage candidates.

A behind the back cash bribe

Politics This Week with John DePetro: A Boughten Government

By Justin Katz | August 2, 2022 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz comment as the Rhode Island campaign season heats up.