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| Here's how Charlestown DINO and sex crimes defense lawyer Leah Boisclair hopes to win the Sept 9 Democratic Primary: Get Republicans to change party registration so they can sneak her in. Incidentally, if you drive down Route 2, most Boisclair signs now have Joe Solomon signs right next to them. - Will Collette |
Solomon is a conservative Democrat who voted against the codification of Roe v. Wade into Rhode Island State Law and against the assault weapons ban that went into effect on July 1.
At the Southside
Justice and Policy Debate, Representative Solomon took some hits from
other candidates:
Jason Knight: I voted to put Roe v Wade into
state law so that Rhode Island women were protected when the Dobbs decision
came down and stripped that right away from everyone else in the rest of the
country if the state hadn’t covered abortion services. Joe Solomon voted
against that bill. That’s a lukewarm response from one of the candidates up
here on an issue that is so critical to all of us in Rhode Island, certainly
all the people that I care about.
Joseph Solomon Jr.: Let’s get this straight: I
am committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose. You hear me say it now,
and you’re going to hear me say it forever. I voted for the SHIELD Act,
which would protect women and their doctors from out-of-state enforcement. I
voted for the Equity in Abortion Coverage Act, which would
provide Medicaid coverage for those who couldn’t afford it.
And I’m committed to fighting the Trump Administration to
protect a woman’s right to choose. My vote from years ago [2019] was before
the Dobbs decision.
Once the Dobbs decision came down, it
changed the entire landscape. And now I am committed. Hear me now, hear me
later: I’m committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose.
Later:
Keith Hoffmann: I support a high-capacity
magazine ban and an assault weapons ban because I have two children and I worry
about their safety every single day, and so do you. Everybody in this community
deserves to be safe from illegal firearms that should not be on our streets.
Those laws need to be aggressively enforced by the next attorney general and
me, and that is a difference between Mr. Solomon and me as well.
Joseph Solomon Jr.: As a bail commissioner, I
need to go after the illegal guns all the time. Over and over, I see the same
repeat offenders with stolen guns and with guns with serial numbers shaved
off. We need to go after those violent offenders, the ones causing the
crimes. We need to be careful not to go after the person who might be a lawful
gun owner, because sometimes the laws that are passed, even though they have
fancy names and whatnot, if you look at the details, they encompass people just
like you and me, who may potentially be committing a crime because of how it
was written. It is so important that we look at the details. [italics
added]
It should be noted that Representative Jason Knight
championed the Assault Weapons Ban bill in the House.
I thought Representative Solomon’s statements about the assault weapons ban were interesting, so I watched his appearance on the July 27, 2026 episode of the Cumberland Unfiltered podcast, hosted by Caleb Minson, Brad Dean, Jason Dean, and Andrew Bacon. Jason Dean and Andrew Bacon are members of the Cumberland School Committee.
The guests on the show are extremely conservative.
They’ve featured Mike Stenhouse, founder and CEO of the Rhode
Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a right-wing public policy think
tank; Moms for Liberty; and anti-trans Christian Nationalist Robert
Chiaradio.
Here’s the video with Joseph Solomon Jr. and a transcript
edited for clarity:
19m51s Jason Dean: This race is most likely going to be decided in the primary, I imagine, right? Is there a serious general election opponent?
Representative Solomon: I believe this race will
be decided in the primary. We have four candidates. I am the only moderate
centrist candidate in this race. My other three opponents are much further left
than I am. There is a general as well, against a person who’s run against Peter
Neronha before. I don’t believe he’s an attorney, though.
21m51s Gary: As a moderate, talking about the 2A
thing, I would assume that that’s because that falls into your wheelhouse,
correct?
Representative Solomon: Yep. I support the
Second Amendment and all the amendments in the Constitution.
Gary: That’s good. We like to hear that,
because, I mean, honestly, that’s what’s under attack right now.
Representative Solomon: Absolutely. The thing
is, we need to go after the violent offenders, the repeat offenders that we see
on a day-to-day basis, instead of the lawful gun owners. As a bail
commissioner, I’ve oftentimes seen the same people reoffending - stolen guns
and guns with serial numbers that have been shaved off - and they keep going
through the system over and over again. We need to ensure that those people are
prosecuted to the fullest extent so we can reduce the recidivism rate and make
sure they get the time they deserve, because at the end of the day, it’s not
the lawful gun owner who’s committing the crime.
Jason Dean: Most people who have guns have them
in the closet. They see them once every couple of years when they rearrange
their closet. Just for home safety or protection. They’re not brandishing them
or flashing them around.
But it’s the guys with insidious intent who go out, find
these things, and commit crimes with them. And as you said, you’re going to see
the recidivism, and even though they’re on probation or convicted felons,
they’re still committing crimes with guns.
Representative Solomon: Yeah, that’s correct.
Jason Dean: And they’re getting guns from other
criminals. They’re not, you know.
Gary: They’re not going to get them legally.
23m50s Gary: So you actually have some pull with
that, then, as far as the prosecution side of it goes.
Representative Solomon: Yes, absolutely,
especially the prosecutorial discretion aspect of it, which is very important.
Like I said, we really need to go after those violent offenders first, those
repeat offenders, the ones who are really causing the trouble out there.
Gary: Yeah, totally agree with that. Did that
subject come up today on your debate with all four people at the table?
Representative Solomon: It did come up,
especially the assault weapons ban. I voted against the assault weapons ban. I
believe it went too far. I think it also went beyond what the federal
government had passed back in 1994, if you remember that assault weapons ban,
as well as what Massachusetts does. I think Massachusetts has one of the most
restrictive gun laws in the country.
28m26s Gary: I’m also guessing that your
opponents at the debate didn’t look at 2A the way you looked at it.
Representative Solomon: Correct.
Gary: They’re on the left-hand side. Did they
talk about supporting things, or did anyone say that individually?
Representative Solomon: The terminology used,
not to identify any one particular candidate, was “weapons of war” for assault
weapons. And when I think of like a weapon of war, I think of like an automatic
gun, and we know that automatic guns have been illegal in the State of Rhode
Island for many years. I don’t even know how far back, before I was born
probably.
Gary: So that delineates you a bit… It’s a check
in the good column for us.
How important are endorsements? Because I saw you had a
bucket load of them.
Representative Solomon: I appreciate all the
endorsements I’ve gotten. The Rhode Island Troopers Association supported
my candidacy right away. The Eternal Order of Police, the International
Brotherhood of Police Officers, and the Rhode Island Brotherhood of
Correctional Officers have all endorsed my candidacy, including Senate
Majority Whip David Tikoian, the former chief of the North
Providence Police Department. Their confidence in me to get the job done says a
lot.
32m42s Jason Dean: We’ve had Mike Chippendale on
a few times… and he said that when you only have one party, that party starts
to eat itself. You know what I mean? And we’ve been accused on the show of
having right-wing people all the time. Most of the people we have on are
Democrats…
Are you any less a Democrat than the far-left people? … Is
there a divide in the state political party where there’s moderate Democrats
and far-left Democrats and you guys?
Representative Solomon: I’m a lifelong Democrat.
I believe the Democratic Party, if I could just speak to the Democratic Party,
I think we have a Big Tent.
I think that’s important for diverse ideas. But at the end
of the day, we all have to work together. We all want to do what’s best for the
state of Rhode Island. And no one party has a monopoly on good ideas. So by
working together, let’s just do it for everybody. Let’s skip the politics.
Let’s get to how we can make Rhode Island better.
Most people are in the middle. There’s a silent majority out
there that’s in the middle. They just want to live their life, not cause any
trouble, not go too far left, not go too far right. And when you look at the
federal level, look at a presidential election. To win a Democratic primary for
president, you have to be so far left. To win a Republican primary for
president, you have to be so far right. If you’re not on those fringes, you’re
not going to get through that primary…
There are 1.1 million Rhode Islanders. There are probably
about 110,000 voters who will come out in the Democratic primary. And that’s
who’s going to determine this primary. There are probably about 800,000
eligible voters in the state of Rhode Island, but there’s about 110,000 people
who are actually going to come out in the Democratic primary and decide who
your … next attorney general is.
That’s why it’s so important, especially for unaffiliated
voters. They can pick and choose which primary they want to be in. Years ago,
you would have to become a Democrat to vote in a Democratic primary or become a
Republican to vote in a Republican primary. We changed the law so that if
you’re unaffiliated, you pick which ballot you want, go in, vote, and walk out.
You don’t have to disaffiliate again as you did before.
During his time on the show, Representative Solomon
mentioned “prosecutorial
discretion,” the authority of an agency charged with enforcing a law to
decide whether to enforce the law against someone. Representative Solomon is
strongly hinting, if not outright saying, that his office will selectively
enforce the assault weapons ban.
Disaffiliation
Representative Solomon and the podcast’s hosts also
encouraged unaffiliated voters to cast a ballot for him in the Democratic
primary, but beyond that, they are encouraging Republican voters to
disaffiliate from their party and vote for him in the primary.
57m30s Representative Solomon: I’m
excited to do the job. You’re just going to get everybody out to vote on
September 9, and they can really vote 20 days before, starting August 20.
Jason Dean: And they can unaffiliate up until
August 10.
Representative Solomon: Exactly.
01h00m18s Jason Dean: We’ll vote Joe Solomon
September 9… and … if you like what he talked about, to unaffiliate and vote in
a Democratic primary - August 9th or 10th?
Representative Solomon: Give it a couple extra
days.
Jason Dean: Do it by August 7.
Representative Solomon: And you can do it
online, too. It’s very easy on the Secretary of State’s website.
You don’t even have to go into your local Board of Canvassers. You
go right on the Secretary of State website. If you’re going to update your
voter address, it’s the same way as unaffiliating. Very, very simple.
Jason Dean: Very simple. Get it done. Get it
done and at least get a little bit. At least get half of what you want. If
you’re a Democrat or a Republican, you’re not going to get all of what you want
from any of the candidates, but I’m voting for Joe Solomon.
Second Amendment activists are very serious about
disaffiliating from the Republican Party and voting in the Democratic Primary.
If it works for this issue, it may well work for many others.
Asked for comment, Representative Solomon wrote:
“As Attorney General, I will enforce every law on the books,
including the assault weapons ban. I voted against it because it was drafted
too broadly, and I stand by that vote. Prosecutorial discretion means
prioritizing violent and repeat offenders; it does not mean ignoring a statute.
“In Rhode Island, unaffiliated voters can already vote in
either primary without changing their registration. On the podcast you’re
highlighting, a host explained how disaffiliation works, and I confirmed it
because the process is public information. More Rhode Islanders voting
strengthens our democracy, and I will never tell an eligible voter their vote
is unwelcome.”
The Keith Hoffmann campaign also responded to a request
for comment:
“Keith Hoffmann has been clear: as Attorney General, he will
enforce Rhode Island’s gun-safety laws, defend reproductive freedom, and stand
up for the safety and rights of every Rhode Islander.
“The gun lobby is powerful, and Rhode Island needs an
Attorney General with the independence to stand up to it. The problem with
Representative Solomon’s dangerous proposal is that it turns discretion into
permission. The proper way to change the law is through the General Assembly
and the will of the people, not by refusing to enforce laws that make our
communities safer.
“Innocent people are being killed with dangerous firearms.
As the next Attorney General, Keith will work every day to make Rhode Islanders
safer in their homes and communities through the effective enforcement of
gun-safety laws passed by the General Assembly.”
Representative Jason Knight responded to a request for
comment:
“With his votes against protecting reproductive rights and
against commonsense gun safety laws, Joe Solomon has shown he’s out of step
with Democratic voters. It’s no surprise he is fishing for votes from
Republicans who support Trump and the MAGA movement. In these dangerous and
uncertain times, Rhode Island deserves an Attorney General who is a progressive
fighter, who shares their values and will protect their rights. That’s why I’m
running, and that’s exactly what I’ll do as AG.”
The Kimberly Ahern campaign did not reply to a request
for comment.
