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Boston Globe
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Congressman Seth Magaziner reverses pledge to move to R.I. district he represents
Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up Magaziner, the state's former general treasurer, Advertisement A 'Living one mile from the district line has no impact on my ability to serve my constituents,' Magaziner said in his statement. 'I have delivered millions of dollars in federal funding for public safety in Cranston, Johnston, Warwick and Coventry, and for roadwork and environmental improvements all across the district. And in Washington I am fighting for the priorities of working Rhode Islanders, including lowering costs, protecting Social Security and Medicare, and my bill to ban Members of Congress from trading stocks. I look forward to continuing this important work.' Notably, members of Congress are not Advertisement Still, Magaziner's reversal drew criticism on Friday. 'In a not-so-unbelievable turn of events, Representative Magaziner has officially confirmed what many of us already knew: he never really planned to move into the 2nd Congressional District,' Joe Powers, chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Party said in a Powers went on to say the matter is 'the same song and dance we've seen time and again from Rhode Island Democrats, say one thing to get elected, then quietly do the exact opposite.' 'Rhode Islanders deserve better than political operatives parachuting into communities, making empty promises, and assuming no one will hold them accountable,' Powers said.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Incumbent R.I. GOP chair fends off challenger in drama-filled party election
Warwick police officers were called to The Event Factory Saturday at around 10:30 a.m. for a disturbance. The Rhode Island Republican Party was holding an election for party chair at the time. (Courtesy of Warwick Police Department) From allegations of voter disenfranchisement to a police escort out of the room, drama dominated the Rhode Island Republican Party's reorganization meeting Saturday. Chairman: 111 votes for Joe Powers, 45 votes for Jessica Drew-Day Vice Chairman: 129 for Niyoka Powell, 29 votes for Angelo Kapsimalis Secretary: 118 votes for Mary Lou Sanborn, 36 votes for Patricia Morgan Treasurer: Linda Jamison, elected unopposed 'It was the worst meeting I've been involved in for 15 years,' Steve Frias, former Rhode Island Republican National Committeeman and one of nine delegates for the city of Cranston, said in an interview Sunday. 'People were constantly disrupting the meeting.' The chaos came amid a contested election for GOP chair, which featured the first challenge to an incumbent seeking reelection in 30 years. Incumbent Joe Powers beat out challenger Jessica Drew-Day in a decisive 111-45 vote. Two other candidates who ran on a slate with Powers, Niyoka Powell and Mary Lou Sanborn, also won their elections for vice chair and secretary, respectively, over opponents aligned with Drew-Day. Linda Jamison ran and won her unopposed bid for treasurer. Powers acknowledged there were 'theatrics' during Saturday's two-and-a-half hour meeting at The Event Factory in Warwick, but insisted he was focused on the job of advancing the state's minority party. 'My intent is to get as many people to want to be part of the Republican Party as I can,' Powers said in an interview Monday. 'I want to remain as positive as possible, to remain united and continue to do the work we have already begun.' Powers, a Cranston resident and business consultant, was elected to his first term as party chair in 2023, alongside Drew-Day, who was chosen as the first vice chair. They were meant to work hand-in-hand to recruit candidates, raise money and grow the party's Republican presence in the state. But the duo diverged, with Drew-Day turning her frustrations with Powers into a challenge for the party's top, unpaid leadership job. Drew-Day, a South Kingstown resident who owns a video production company, framed her candidacy around grassroots organizing, focused on building local Republican town committees and candidates for municipal offices and school committees. Powers touted his success in earning a spot in Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley's kitchen cabinet. Being a part of Whatley's informal advisory group, he said, would bring in big returns. What began as a rivalry rooted in contrasting leadership styles devolved into a dispute over the state party's bylaws after two local Republican committees were not allowed to vote in the election. Eleven people representing the Pawtucket and West Warwick Republican town committees were not recognized as delegates at the reorganization meeting, and were therefore not allowed to vote in the party's leadership elections. Frias, a member of the state GOP's Credentials Committee, said the appointed panel decided in a meeting Friday that Pawtucket and West Warwick Republicans were not credentialed delegates because they had not filed the requisite state elections paperwork. State law requires anyone who wants to be recognized as official members of their town, city, or district party committees to file paperwork with their local boards of canvassers biennially. In 2024, the submissions were due within the last three days of June. Local party committees must then meet in January of odd-numbered years to elect officers, submitting a list of officers and members to the Rhode Island Secretary of State's office within 10 days of their meeting. Of the 36 Republican town or city committees in operation, 17 filed their organization paperwork late this year, according to information from the Secretary of State's office. Another three — Burrillville, North Kingstown and West Warwick — never submitted the paperwork to the state at all. However, only Pawtucket and West Warwick's town committee members were not allowed to vote in party elections Saturday. 'As long as they had what we felt was substantial compliance with the law, we determined they were eligible,' Frias said. Pawtucket and West Warwick's town committee members failed to meet credentialing requirements because they also did not submit forms declaring their candidacy last year, Frias said. The two municipalities whose members were excluded from Saturday's vote are also towns in which the candidates running alongside Drew-Day live. It was the worst meeting I've been involved in for 15 years. People were constantly disrupting the meeting. – Steve Frias, former Rhode Island Republican National Committeeman and a Cranston delegate Angelo Kapsimalis, who ran with Drew-Day as vice chair, lives in Pawtucket. Patricia Morgan, a former state representative now running as secretary on a slate with Drew-Day, lives in West Warwick. Morgan sought to postpone the elections Saturday in order to give time for the Pawtucket and West Warwick committees to submit the required paperwork to participate in the vote. Her proposal was denied, causing a ruckus that prompted the venue's security team to call the Warwick Police Department. The police responded to a call about a disturbance at the Event Center shortly after 10:30 a.m., Steve McMullin with the Warwick police department's records division confirmed Monday. Alan Palazzo, a member of the West Warwick Republican Town Committee, was escorted out of the venue by police, but not arrested. Palazzo did not immediately return inquiries for comment on Monday. Tammy Collins, chair of the West Warwick Republican Town Committee was upset to learn that she and the other three town committee members would not be allowed to vote Saturday. If she was able to participate, Collins would have supported Morgan, Kapsimalis and Drew-Day, she said. She acknowledged she had not filed the required paperwork last year to make her candidacy official. However, Collins said that in previous elections, the GOP chair had authorized her and other town committee members as delegates, even without the paperwork. Party bylaws give discretion to the Republican Party chair to appoint 'ad hoc' local party committee members even if they don't submit the right paperwork to the state. Powers did just that for two other committees, Cumberland and Warwick, which asked him to do so months before the election. Powers said credentials for Pawtucket and West Warwick had not 'come through.' He instead shifted blame onto Morgan, Palazzo and other dissenters for their behavior on Saturday. 'We had established rules and regulations in our executive meeting that both candidates had agreed to, and part of that was decorum in the room,' Powers said. Referring to Palazzo, Powers said, 'The gentleman from West Warwick was being loud and belligerent.' Drew-Day refers to Palazzo as 'the man who had his voice silenced.' She described her concerns in terms of fairness. 'There was no election integrity,' Drew-Day said. The 11 people disqualified from voting would not have swayed the outcome of any of the leadership elections. But Drew-Day said she was also denied access to the list of names and contact information for delegates, preventing her from meeting with them before the vote. 'No one heard my voice, which is why I lost,' Drew-Day said. 'If I had an opportunity to go and speak with people beforehand, I would have been able to answer their questions, hear their concerns, let them get to know me.' Powers declined to comment on Drew-Day's allegations, saying he did not discuss internal party information. But, he said, Drew-Day has access to all town party committees, which are posted on the state GOP website, along with a name and phone number for each committee chair. Powers pledged to try to unify the party, despite the fractures on display at the recent organizational meeting. 'My sole goal as a businessman is to get everyone to work together,' he said. 'I am just going to keep moving forward and do what I can to make the Rhode Island Republican Party thrive.' Drew-Day also said she does not intend to file a complaint with the Secretary of State or national party over the election. 'What I am doing next is just going back to work,' she said. 'What I hope is we can come together, and if I decide to run again, this won't be used against me.' Members of the Pawtucket Republican City Committee did not respond to inquiries for comment on Monday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A rare battle to lead the R.I. GOP features two Trump supporters, arguing over who works harder
Challenger Jessica Drew-Day, left, and incumbent Joe Powers, right, share many characteristics but different perspectives on their contributions to the Rhode Island Republican Party, which they are both running to lead. (Left photo by Laura Paton/Rhode Island Current; right photo via Joe Powers Facebook page) Joe Powers and Jessica Drew-Day have a lot in common. They're parents, spouses, small-business owners, former legislative candidates and passionate Republicans who want to break Democrats' grip on their native state. But the former partners — elected as chair and first vice chair of the Rhode Island GOP in 2023 — are now rivals, competing for the top, unpaid position with the state's Republican Party. It's the first time a challenger has attempted to unseat an incumbent GOP chair in the biennial party elections in 30 years, according to Steve Frias, former GOP national committeeman. Powers, 54, a Cranston business consultant elected as party chair in 2023, pointed to his success with the Republican National Committee (RNC) as evidence of his ability to network and bolster the state's small but growing Republican presence. Drew-Day, 48, a South Kingstown video production company owner, counters that a grassroots approach focused on hyperlocal races and issues offers a better path to power for Rhode Island Republicans. Roughly 200 state Republicans will decide who they want to lead their party at their central committee convention Saturday at The Event Factory in Warwick. The election is more than just a power struggle; it helps determine how well Rhode Island Republicans can capitalize on the right wave that swept the nation in the 2024 elections, said Adam Myers, a political science professor at Providence College. 'This is not a red state, and it's not going to become a red state anytime soon, but clearly, the Rhode Island Republican Party has room for growth,' Myers said. More than 40% of state registered voters backed Donald Trump in 2024 —- the highest support for a Republican presidential candidate since George H. W. Bush was elected in 1988. Even traditional Democratic strongholds like Pawtucket and Central Falls saw margins shrink in favor of Trump in 2024, suggesting that there's opportunity for Republicans to make inroads with urban and Latino voters, Myers said. Powers is laser-focused on D.C, where for the last year he has enjoyed special access to RNC Chair Michael Whatley as a member of Whatley's informal group of senior advisors. 'We have a seat at the table right now that Rhode Island has never had in the past,' Powers said. 'With Donald Trump taking the White House, and this huge surge in Rhode Island for Trump, we are going to start seeing benefits coming from this national reach. It's going to pay off in dividends.' Powers did not specify what the payoff will be. Drew-Day has publicly criticized Powers for not focusing his time and attention on recruiting and supporting candidates for local offices. 'He is based on the idea of 'Trump is going to come in and save the day,'' Drew-Day said of Powers. 'I don't believe in that. I believe in a grassroots approach.' Drew-Day's political activism was born out of frustration with the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic for small business owners like herself. She unsuccessfully challenged Democratic Rep. Carol McEntee in the last two elections for the seat representing parts of South Kingstown and Narragansett, closing the margin between McEntee and herself by nearly 4 percentage points from 2022 to 2024 — not insignificant for a Democratic stronghold, Drew-Day said. She said she has recruited and supported more than a dozen other local Republican candidates in 2023 and 2024, including with donations from a political action committee she co-founded after the 2022 election. Drew-Day initially chaired the Transform RI PAC, but stepped down after Powers told her it was a conflict with her duties as GOP first vice-chair, she said. As the GOP's chair and first vice chair, Powers and Drew-Day were supposed to work closely together to coordinate party fundraisers, candidate trainings and other activities. But over the last two years, neither has seen much of the other. Drew-Day contends she's a regular at party events, including local Republican town committee meetings. She said she's offered to help organize or raise money for the GOP, including for its 2023 congressional candidate, Gerry Leonard, but claims Powers ignored her offers. Powers declined to comment on Drew-Day's version of their relationship. 'I am a true Republican and live by Ronald Reagan's Eleventh Commandment: 'thou shall not speak ill of any fellow Republican,'' Powers said. Niyoka Powell, who was elected in 2023 to serve as the party's second vice chair, offered a different narrative than Drew-Day. Powell, who ran for a state Senate seat in 2022 and again in a 2023 special election, said she never heard from Drew-Day during her campaigns, though the Transform PAC donated to her 2023 campaign, according to campaign finance reports. As second vice-chair, Powell said she worked closely with Powers, but not Drew-Day. 'We didn't really see her much,' Powell said. 'She didn't come to anything of importance, and she always had a reason why she couldn't make it.' The GOP has amended its bylaws to eliminate the second vice-chair position for the 2025 elections. Powell is now seeking election as first vice chair on a slate with Powers. Drew-Day has tapped Pawtucket Republican Angelo Kapsimalis, a co-founder of the Transform RI PAC who unsuccessfully challenged Democratic Rep. Mary Ann Shallcross Smith in the 2024 election, to run with her as first vice chair. Joining them as candidate for secretary is Patricia Morgan, the former Republican state representative who lost her bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse in 2024. During her 12 years as a state representative, Morgan separated herself from fellow House Republicans, who ousted her as the party's first female House minority leader in 2018 after she endorsed an independent candidate in the gubernatorial race. She caucused by herself, rather than with fellow House Republicans, in subsequent years. In an online video promoting the trio created by Drew-Day's production company, Drew-Day praises Morgan for 'standing up for Rhode Islanders.' But Drew-Day's endorsement of Morgan could sour fellow Republicans on her candidacy. 'Patricia Morgan, I've seen her in operation for 22 years,' Frias said during a Feb. 21 appearance on Rhode Island PBS' 'A Lively Experiment.' 'She is a hard worker, but she is hard to work with. When you're a small minority and you have to have all hands on deck and everybody rowing the same way, style, personality does matter in getting things done.' When you're a small minority and you have to have all hands on deck and everybody rowing the same way, style, personality does matter in getting things done. – Steve Frias, former Rhode Island Republican National Committeeman Myers also issued a warning regarding Drew-Day's alliance with Morgan. 'If she ends up adopting Pat Morgan's approach as state party chair, it's not going to be very effective for the Republican Party,' Myers said. On the other hand, the allyship should be a sign that Drew-Day can unite disparate factions of the GOP, Myers said. Powers and Drew-Day were both relative newcomers to the GOP party when they were elected as chair and first vice chair in 2023, the Providence Journal reported. While Powers promised to bring a fresh approach to the GOP, Drew-Day said she hasn't seen much positive change. Republicans still hold just 14 out of 113 seats in the state legislature, and no statewide or congressional offices. And on pressing issues like the Washington Bridge shutdown or the RIBridges cyberattack, Drew-Day felt Powers was too slow in his public responses. Powers again declined to respond to Drew-Day's criticisms, redirecting the focus to his intent on 'moving the party forward.' 'People who are focused on building the party are going to continue focusing on building the party, even when people out there try to waver,' he said. Powers also declined to wade into the social media spats playing out between supporters of both candidates. Anthony D'Ellena, chair of the Narragansett Republican Town Committee and a vocal Drew-Day supporter, alleges that Powers threatened him with a lawsuit because of D'Ellena's social media post referencing a 2023 lawsuit against the state GOP. Powers denied ever speaking to D'Ellena. Drew-Day declined to comment, saying the dispute did not involve her. However, Drew-Day has publicly responded to social media posts by former state GOP Executive Director Jesus Solorio accusing her of using the party email list to solicit donations for her PAC. Drew-Day said her responses, which included screenshots of emails sent to Powers that she alleges were unanswered, were her attempt to defend herself. Despite the public bickering, neither Drew-Day nor Powers seemed worried that internal divisions would weaken the party. 'There's going to be a little bit of cleanup, sure, but that's always going to be the case in an election,' Powers said. Drew-Day pledged to create an 'inclusive' party if elected. 'Getting people engaged is really important,' she said. 'I stand on my record that I have been doing that even before I was elected as first vice chair.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
