March 12th, 2013 at 5:32 pm by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
By Ted Nesi
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – A coalition of political progressives and labor leaders renewed their uphill battle to raise affluent Rhode Islanders’ taxes on Tuesday – but they ran into immediate opposition from Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed.
March 11th, 2013 at 1:57 pm by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
By Dan McGowan
WPRI.com Reporter
With Angel Taveras expected to run for governor next year rather than seek a second term as mayor of Providence, city politicians are already quietly – and sometimes not so quietly – laying the early groundwork for their own campaigns to lead Rhode Island’s cash-strapped capital.
The election is nearly two years away and Taveras could still decide to stay, but here’s who has the early buzz to succeed him. (All fundraising numbers are as of Dec. 31, 2012)
__Running__
Michael Solomon
Biggest Strength: Fundraising
Potential Roadblock: Winning the East Side
The Skinny: No matter what Mayor Taveras does, the Democratic City Council president is dead set on running for higher office. He wants to be mayor and his $183,000 war chest combined with growing name recognition make him the early favorite. But if Taveras stays put and Gina Raimondo is the Democratic nominee for governor, Solomon could run for general treasurer, an office his father held from 1977 to 1985 and again from 1989 to 1993.
Campaign cash on hand: $183,120
January 29th, 2013 at 5:00 am by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
The list of Democratic candidates for secretary of state just got a little shorter.
Providence Sen. Juan Pichardo, who’s been on the short list of likely candidates for more than a year, says he’s decided he won’t throw his hat into the ring in the competition to succeed Ralph Mollis, who’s barred by term limits from running again.
“I’m not running,” Pichardo told WPRI.com last week. “There’s a lot of work to be done in the Senate, and I’m concentrating there. … I think I provide some leadership there, and I think there’s a lot to be done.”
Guillaume de Ramel, a Newport Democrat who lost the 2006 primary to Mollis, became the first official candidate for secretary of state last week when he told WPRI.com he’s planning to run. R.I. Democratic Party Chairman Ed Pacheco is also expected to do so. On the Republican side, Catherine Taylor says she’s considering another bid after nearly beating Mollis in 2010.
Pichardo, 46, is a Dominican-American who was elected Rhode Island’s first Latino state senator in 2002. Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed recently named him chairman of the Senate Committee on Housing and Municipal Government. He had $2,592 in his campaign war chest as of Oct. 29.
• Related: Newport Dem Guillaume de Ramel will run for secretary of state (Jan. 24)
February 16th, 2012 at 4:51 pm by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes, On the Main Site
It’s not often you see Common Cause Rhode Island‘s John Marion sharing a podium with Governor Chafee, House Speaker Fox and Senate President Paiva Weed.
But that’s what happened Thursday afternoon as they and others gathered at the State House to throw their support behind new legislation that would beef up campaign-finance disclosure rules for outside groups like the much-talked-about Super PACs. (Paiva Weed even mentioned Stephen Colbert’s.) They want the requirements in place before the November election.
After the event, Marion sat down with me to explain what the proposed Transparency in Political Spending Act would and wouldn’t do. The transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Who is this bill going to impact? What will they have to do?
This bill is going to impact any group that decides to advocate for or against one of the items on the November ballot, such as the referendum about expanding gaming in the state. It will require those groups to disclose information about their spending in a more timely fashion then they current have to, and it will require for the first time disclosure of the underlying sources of funding to the group.
August 25th, 2011 at 6:00 am by Ted Nesi under Nesi's Notes
Hassett (left), Doyle and Pichardo
It’s a down-ballot race more than three years away, but politicians are already angling to succeed Ralph Mollis as Rhode Island’s secretary of state when the term-limited incumbent completes his tenure in 2014.
At least three Democrats – Providence City Councilman Terrence Hassett and two state senators, Jamie Doyle of Pawtucket and Juan Pichardo of Providence – are seriously considering a run for the office, WPRI.com confirmed this week.
“I’m not going to say that I am running, and I’m not going to say that I’m not running,” said Doyle, 39, who leads a medical business and is the son of the six-term Pawtucket mayor. “My biggest concern is 2012, which is my Senate election. … That’s the first hurdle.”
Pichardo, 44, a self-employed consultant, also acknowledged eyeing Mollis’ job. ”I’m definitely interested,” he said. “Absolutely.”
Hassett, who survived a near-fatal car accident last fall, has already made clear he is likely to run for secretary of state. The councilman considered a bid for the office in 2006, the year Mollis won, and is “as serious as a heart attack” about it this time, a person close to him told WPRI.com.