Primary results: LORIB loses, real Democrats win

MAGA gun PAC seems to have lost EVERY Democratic primary

By Will Collette

EDITOR'S NOTE: Am having tech problems with graphics. So in the absence of that, check out this one Tina posted on Xitter yesterday: Tina Spears on X: "Are you HOOKED on civic engagement??? 🎣 I know I am! Early voting wraps up today, and tomorrow is your last chance to CAST your ballot. Make your voting plan and REEL in that vote! https://t.co/ep8qJXDxDZ" / X

Well, the top story for Charlestown is our respected state Representative Tina Spears absolutely crushed her opponent, sex crime defense lawyer Leah Boisclair, by a margin of 82% to 18%, despite a ton of money poured into Boisclair by the ultra-rightwing League of Rhode Island Businesses, and the gun lobby. 

Based on the posted results as of 9 PM, Tina’s margin of victory is the highest for a Democrat facing a LORIB-funded challenger.

Since Tina has no Republican challenger in the General Election unless LORIB boss Dave Levesque wants to spend more money running a write-in campaign. Otherwise, Tina wins a third term as Charlestown’s Rep.

State Senator Alana DiMario, representing neighboring South Kingstown and Narragansett, beat her LORIB challenger Mark Mesrobian by 72% to 28%. She also has no opponent in the General Election.

Bob Craven Jr. won his primary to replace his dad as state Representative for North Kingstown by 74 to 26 beating LORIB-backed Kevin Hoyle.

LORIB lost all six of the Democratic primary challengers they paid for upstate: three in the Senate and three in the House. Only two of those races had margins of less than 10 points.

There will be a second chance for LORIB in November when its remaining clients, all running as Republicans, attempt to beat Democratic incumbents. We have many of those in South County where LORIB is going to try knocking out Charlestown’s state Senator Victoria Gu by backing a guy Victoria has already beaten twice.

In South Kingstown, Rep. Carol McEntee also faces a loser, Jessica Drew Roy, who also lost to McEntee twice already. Rep. Kathy Fogarty will face Jennifer Nerbonne whose main political experience was as a Donald Trump delegate at the 2024 GOP Convention.

Rep. Megan Cotter will face climate-change denier and Moms for Liberty maven Jasmine Roy.

The most peculiar LORIB challenge is an effort to unseat Westerly state Rep. Sam Azzinaro, funding his opponent developer Christopher Stanton. Sam, a very conservative Democrat, doesn't fit the LORIB target profile. Indeed, in other districts, LORIB has backed DINO incumbents, such as Coventry-West Greenwich state Senator Leonidas Raptakis and several others.

The November race that may be the most high drama is the effort by Richmond Town Council President Samantha (Sam) Wilcox to finally rid South County of the embarrassing MAGA nut, Sen. Elaine Morgan who represents the top half of Charlestown and is backed by LORIB. Go, Sam, go!

Cold consolation

While Dave Levesque ponders where all his money went while crying into his iced latte, there were some LORIB-adjacent scores that may give him some cold comfort.

Levesque and LORIB did not endorse any candidates for state office or Congress, but there were still such characters as Florida carpetbagger and MAGA nut Vic Mellor who hung around LORIB a lot. He won the GOP primary by 58% to 42% for the green light to challenge Charlestown’s US Representative Seth Magaziner in the November election. I just wonder how serious Mellor would be about representing RI District 2 since he is already a registered representative of government of Cuba. Not joking.

LORIB-adjacent Republican Aaron Guckian appears to have edged his MAGA-nut opponent Elaine Pelino by 298 votes. We’ll see if that result holds up.

In Charlestown, lots of Leah Boisclair signs were paired with LORIB-adjacent Democratic candidate for Attorney General Joe Solomon. He lost, coming in third out of four candidates, losing to winner Kim Ahern by a wide margin. If Rhode Island had run-off elections when no candidate gets 50+% of the vote, Solomon would not have made the run-off.

Bye, bye Dan

The marquee event of the day is of course the battle for Governor between inept incumbent Dan McKee versus Helena Foulkes. As expected, McKee got waxed by a margin of 62 to 38.

I think everyone in the state knew this was coming, given McKee’s unprincipled and incompetent management of the state’s business. Democratic voters chose corporate Democrat Helena Foulkes to move on to the three-way November election. She will definitely face so-called independent Ken Block and most likely Republican challenger Aaron Guckian.

I have no illusions about Foulkes being far more corporate than progressive. Despite that, I kind of like her but expect, as I am with nearly every politician, that I will probably be disappointed. However, she could be great. And I believe she will be a far better Governor than either Guckian or Block.  

WEDNESDAY is Primary Day

Your vote is important

By Will Collette

Primaries in Rhode Island during non-Presidential years are often seen as inconsequential, especially in Charlestown. It’s been 20 years since Charlestown’s last primary, 2006, when Donna Walsh defeated incumbent DINO Rep. Matt McHugh.

This year, House District 36 is once again going to be decided in the Democratic primary where progressive incumbent Rep. Tina Spears is being challenged by DINO self-proclaimed sex crimes defense lawyer Leah Boisclair.

Boisclair is a product of the insidious MAGA-inspired political action galaxy of 40 PACs under the umbrella of the League of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB). LORIB is also backing the primary challenge of DINO Mark Mesrobian against Narragansett state Sen. Alana DiMario as well as several other LORIB challengers in several other primary races.

LORIB is also backing candidates in the general election, including challengers to Charlestown’s Sen. Victoria Gu, as well as Rep. Megan Cotter, Rep. Kathy Fogarty and Rep. Carol McEntee.

The differences between Tina Spears and her DINO challenger are so stark that there can be little doubt who will do better to serve Charlestown voters. Tina has deep roots in the community and a proven track record in the General Assembly. Boisclair does not. She has chosen to make her living by advertising to and representing accused pedos and baby rapers. I’m not making this up: check her own website.

Boisclair is also going to serve LORIB’s agenda of cutting taxes for the rich, rolling back sensible gun control measures and curbing environmental protection.

Please, for Charlestown’s sake, support the re-election of our outstanding state Representative Tina Spears.

Besides when will Boisclair have time to represent House District 36 when she's busy representing guys accused of these crimes:

I’ve already voted by mail (eat it, Donald Trump) in this and the rest of the Democratic ballot.

I voted for Helena Foulkes over our hapless incumbent Governor. This one was easy. Even though I have no illusions about Foulkes being a classic corporate Democrat of the Gina Raimondo-type, she’s bound to be better than McKee. McKee has shown himself to have no fixed principles, no talent for picking and managing qualified people and a tin ear for ethics and corruption.

I voted for Keith Hoffman for Attorney General. He is in a close race with former co-worker Kim Ahern, when both worked for term-limited incumbent Peter Neronha. Neronha picked Hoffman as his choice and I like and trust Neronha’s judgement. But I will shed no tears if Kim Ahern wins.

I would however, be pretty upset if LORIB-adjacent attorney general candidate Joe Solomon wins. If you look around Charlestown, nearly every Leah Boisclair sign has a Joe Solomon sign next to it. Solomon has adopted LORIB’s strategy of encouraging Republicans to change their party registration so they can vote for him in this Primary. No real Democrat does that.

The other hotly contested race is for Lieutenant Governor, currently held by ineffectual incumbent Sabrina Matos. She faces several challengers in the Democratic primary and may make it through with the vote split about the crowded field. I voted for “Jay” - Xay Khamsyvoravong – former mayor of Newport based on his effective leadership there.

There is either no challenger or only token opposition to the re-election of General Treasurer James Diossa, Secretary of State Greg Amore, Senator Jack Reed and Rep. Seth Magaziner.

Dan McKee’s climate sabotage

The opposite of leadership

By Christian Roselund

Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee has an exceedingly bad record on climate issues, spanning many years, multiple sectors, and countless destructive actions. In fact, it’s hard to think of a Democratic governor in this country in recent memory who has been worse - though New York’s Kathy Hochul seems to have ambitions in this regard as well.

The McKee Administration’s attempt to delay the targets in Rhode Island’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES) by decades in the most recent budget process was perhaps the clearest and most public demonstration of McKee’s willingness to sabotage climate action in the Ocean State. 

But this cynical delay of decarbonization in the electricity sector comes as the culmination of years of weakening, delaying, and otherwise undermining climate action. This includes actions that were never fully connected to climate, such as defunding public transit.

As an activist and organizer who has worked in multiple sectors that intersect with the climate crisis in this state, I have had a front-row seat to just how bad Dan McKee has consistently been on this issue. 

The following is a list of the four major areas and actions that are particularly damning for McKee’s climate record. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list, but rather the biggest-ticket items and areas that I personally participated in.

South County Democrats: Beware of DINOs on the Sept. 9 Primary ballot

The League of RI Businesses is a wolf in sheep’s clothing

An oped from Bill Ibelle

There’s a new, big-money player on the Rhode Island political stage that’s targeting many of our finest environmental legislators because they also support gun control.

The League of RI Businesses is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, posing as a moderate, bipartisan, pro-business organization, when in fact, it was created last year specifically to knock off legislators who voted for a ban on assault weapons.

So if you feel safer knowing the guy down the street has an assault rifle hanging in his living room gun rack, then by all means, vote for a League-endorsed candidate. (listed below).

The League’s founder, David Levesque, knows that most Rhode Islanders don’t believe a deer hunter needs to pump out 60 rounds a minute to bag a doe. 

So Levesque and his cohorts rarely mention assault weapons when explaining why the League has targeted so many fine legislators. Instead, in an interview with Ocean State Media, he said that the League is merely targeting legislators who “fail to support the Constitution.” Only when pressed repeatedly by an interviewer does he concede that he’s referring exclusively to the Second Amendment—the right to bear arms.

Apparently, the League believes that James Madison had assault weapons in mind when he introduced the amendment to Congress in 1789. Never mind that an assault rifle, at that time, was a musket, a ramrod, a powder pouch, and a lead ball that took nearly a minute to load and, because it had no rifling, had the accuracy of a pea shooter.

He’s also against renewable energy because it’s unprofitable, doesn’t work, and has driven up electric rates by 27 percent — all untrue. What is true is that he revealed his true colors when he claimed that if we eliminated all state wind and solar programs, “we could literally put almost $30 million a month back in the hands of Rhode Island businesses.” Translation: The heck with our children’s future, we want bigger profits now.

Levesque insists that his group wants “middle-of-the-road, common-sense people” in office. This seems just a wee bit hard to believe, given that Levesque is a vocal Trump supporter who, when asked by the Providence Journal about our president’s second term, said, “I think it’s going awesome.”

So if ICE raids make you feel safer; if you think the war with Iran is the best use of $37 billion in taxpayer money; if you believe the skyrocketing price of oil is the path to affordability; and if you thrill at the grade-school insults our leader routinely hurls at our foreign allies—then by all means, take the League’s advice on who to vote for.

If you’re still not convinced that this organization is poison, consider the League’s subversion of the state’s campaign finance laws. To get around the state’s $2,000 limit on individual donations, they formed 40 separate Political Action Committees (PACs). In an interview with Channel 12, Levesque boasted that “What we did is extraordinary. It’s never been done before. We opened more PACs than anybody’s ever done [in Rhode Island]. This will allow us to give $80,000 to an individual candidate. There’s no other organization in the state of Rhode Island that can put that kind of money into a candidate’s hands.”

Just to be clear, the state donation limit is $2,000 and the League says its armada of 40 PACs makes it legal to give $80,000.

If you would like to reduce the influence of money in state politics, you might want to vote against the candidates the League is financing.

Here is a list of incumbents the League has targeted and the candidates it is backing to unseat them:

The League also endorsed nine incumbents: John Brien, Elaine Morgan, Leonidas Raptiakis, Patrick Maloney, Gregory Constantino, Marie Hopkins, Paul Santucci, Stephano Famiglietti, and six candidates running for open seats:

 

Republican Primary pits two Muy MAGA dudes against each other for the chance to challenge Rep. Seth Magaziner

Insurrectionist versus anti-vaxxer? What a choice!

By Alexander Castro, Rhode Island Current

WJAR NBC 10’s Gene Valicenti, left, moderates the
 first and last debate between the two Republican
candidates in the 2nd Congressional District race on
Friday at the station’s Cranston studio. At center is
Dr. Stephen Skoly. At right is Vic Mellor.
(Photo courtesy of WJAR NBC10)

With just days to go before the September 9 primary, the two Republican candidates hoping to seize Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District seat in November met for their first, and last, debate at WJAR NBC 10’s Cranston studio on Friday afternoon.

Vic Mellor, 56, and Dr. Stephen Skoly, 70, joined moderator Gene Valicenti to tape a roughly half-hour debate that saw them mostly abstain from the acrimony that has characterized the race over the summer.

They instead focused on policy.

Skoly, an oral surgeon who lives in East Greenwich, and Mellor, a Warwick entrepreneur and former Marine, overlapped on numerous points, including their mutual distaste for the socialist influence both framed as pervading the Democratic party.

They divided along a simple line: Who better embodies MAGA, and who can better wield its principles to electoral success in Rhode Island?

Valicenti asked Mellor, who has acknowledged his participation in the Jan. 6 march on the Capitol, “You’re an unabashed MAGA supporter. So is Dr. Skoly not MAGA enough for you?”

“No, he’s not MAGA enough for me,” Mellor replied.

“I voted for Trump three times. I’m a Republican,” Skoly said. “I agree with a lot of his concepts and a lot of his policies.”

Donald Trump was elected to “secure our borders, to strengthen our military, to have the rule of law, and have law and order restored,” Skoly said.

“And what was he not elected to do?” Valicenti asked. “Destroy parts of the White House, build a ballroom, put up a ceremonial arch, put his name on the Kennedy Center? What do you disagree with?

“I don’t have enough information on that,” Skoly said.

“On those three? You read the news,” Valicenti replied.

SEIU leaders on why the union supports Helena Foulkes over Dan McKee

McKee’s record speaks for itself

By Jesse Martin and Victoria Mitchell

On a sunny day in May 2021, a crowd of excited nursing home workers, family members, and advocates gathered on the State House steps. The pandemic was easing; mask-wearing and social distancing were now optional. The workers - wearing scrubs or ‘Raise the Bar’ t-shirts - clustered around a folding table. There, Governor Daniel McKee sat, grinning, as he signed the Nursing Home Staffing and Quality Care Act into law.

It was a great day for nursing home caregivers, residents, and family members. We believed it was the beginning of safer, more dignified care for our loved ones and a commitment that 80% of any Medicaid increases would go toward worker wages. But five years later, the law - once one of Governor McKee’s crowning pandemic achievements - has become all but non-existent by the actions of the Governor himself.

This broken promise by Governor McKee deeply disappointed caregivers and residents who desperately needed the law’s protections. But it is not the only one. That’s why, this Labor Day, as we reflect on workers’ rights, our healthcare system and the economy, we - as leaders of SEIU 1199NE, the state’s largest healthcare union - conclude that the status quo cannot continue. We have had enough of McKee’s empty promises and have voted instead to endorse Helena Foulkes for Governor.

A recent article in the Providence Journal quotes McKee’s campaign spokesperson as saying, “Governor McKee’s record on labor and healthcare speaks for itself.” We could not agree more. Here are a few reasons why:

Six months after McKee signed the nursing home staffing law, he signed the first moratorium delaying enforcement, followed by a succession of executive orders suspending fines, the only enforcement mechanism to hold for-profit nursing home owners accountable. Finally, in December 2023, he suspended the law altogether.

Charlestown Residents United asked for continued support from Charlestown voters

 

Community Update | Week of August 31, 2026 THANK YOU, CHARLESTOWN! What a Great Night at the Breachway Grill! A big thank you to everyone who joined us last week at The Breachway Grill for our Meet & Greet with the Candidates! We hope you had a great time, enjoyed the refreshments, and—most importantly—had the opportunity to meet the candidates, face-to-face. DID YOU MISS IT? No problem, you can still meet candidates. Join Us for the CRU Fundraiser! The campaign season is moving along—and we’re keeping the momentum going! Thursday, September 24, 2026 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM The Charlestown Rathskeller Enjoy an evening with friends, neighbors, and supporters of CRU!  Complimentary Fry Bar Light Fare Cash Bar Available Whether you’ve been involved from the beginning or are just getting to know CRU and our candidates, we’d love to see you there! Suggested donation $35, $50, 100+ RSVP/DONATE CANDIDATE SPOTLIGHT MEET DEB CARNEY Current President, Charlestown Town Council Candidate for Re-Election 30 YEARS IN CHARLESTOWN Deb Carney has called Charlestown home for 30 years. Her connection to the community runs deep—and she says that's exactly why she wants to continue serving. “I love Charlestown and I want to continue working to make our town a wonderful place to live.” For Deb, public service is about more than holding office. It's about helping Charlestown remain the community residents know and love. HER VISION FOR CHARLESTOWN Maintain our low tax rate while ensuring effective town services. Support affordable housing and help address the needs of our community. Protect our rural community and preserve what makes Charlestown unique. Support small business and the local businesses that help make our town thrive. Expand recreation opportunities for residents of all ages. ACCESSIBLE. RESPONSIVE. INVOLVED. Deb makes herself available to the residents she represents and strives to respond to residents within 24 hours. Have a question or want to connect with Deb? Her phone number and email address are available on the Town of Charlestown website.  Above: Deb with George and Martha Washington at the 250th Celebration this year! YOU MAY NOT KNOW... Deb is the proud mother of a 32-year-old son, she is a commercial-rated pilot and Vice President of a small, family-owned business. And if you see Deb around town, there's a good chance she's doing what many of us love to do—enjoying Charlestown Beaches. There's more to Deb's story. Read Deb's full candidate profile—including more about her experience, priorities and vision for Charlestown—on the Charlestown Residents United website and click on her picture!  Re-Elect Deb Carney Charlestown Residents United (CRU) remains committed to keeping our community informed about important local events, town initiatives, and opportunities to meet the candidates seeking to represent us. CRU encourages you to participate in the events that help shape the future of our town. Add your email here to receive updates. Charlestown Residents United | PO Box 412 | Charlestown, RI 02813 US

Candidate for local office features uncomfy shoe in her ad aimed at alleged sex criminals

Most women wear shoes that don't match their feet, study finds

By RMIT University

Edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Andrew Zinin

Leah Boisclair wants your vote in the September 9 Democratic Primary in her effort to oust our effective state Rep. Tina Spears. Don't give it to her. Check out the stilettos in her ad appealing to sex crime defendants

Most women in a new RMIT University study wore shoe sizes that differed from the size indicated by their foot length, highlighting the limitations of conventional sizing systems in accounting for differences in foot width and shape. The study of 107 women found 72% wore a different size under U.S. sizing and 65% under EU sizing.

More participants wore a larger size than their foot length indicated—59% under U.S. sizing and 52% under EU sizing. The researchers say this tendency to size up suggests some women may be compensating for shoes that do not adequately accommodate their foot width, rather than simply choosing the wrong size.

Supporting this explanation, women assigned the same shoe size based on foot length varied by up to 40 mm (1.6 inches) around the widest part of the foot under U.S. sizing and 37 mm (1.5 inches) under EU sizing.

The study, published in the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, also found 68% of participants had at least one recurring problem with shoe fit.

Rhode Island joins lawsuit to stop Trump's Postal Service from messing with mail-in voting

Attorney General coalition sues USPS over unlawful attempt to interfere with states’ vote-by-mail procedures

From a Rhode Island Attorney General press release

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha joined a coalition of 25 states in filing a lawsuit against the United States Postal Service (USPS) challenging its new rule that purports to grant USPS the authority to regulate mail voting in elections. 

Tens of millions of voters across the country rely on mail-in ballots, and the coalition argues USPS’s rule will prevent states from effectively administering their mail voting programs, putting voters at risk of being disenfranchised.

“For a President who incessantly talks about combating election interference, he sure does love to interfere in our elections,” said Attorney General Neronha. “Time and time again, President Trump has lied to the American people about the legitimacy of our election system. Here, he is taking aim at voting by mail to sow seeds of distrust and inject chaos into our elections, with the ultimate goal of retaining and expanding his power. This is yet another example of this Administration’s unlawful overreach and is in direct violation of the Constitution, which makes clear that states have the primary authority to administer elections. Voting by mail is a tried-and-true method of exercising our most fundamental right as American citizens. Indeed, it’s the preferred voting method of the President himself. I am confident that we will succeed here, as we have many times before, thereby protecting the right of American citizens, Donald Trump included, to vote without interference.”

Join your friends and neighbors in re-electing Rep. Tina Spears

AUGUST 2026

Why I support Tina

As a Navy physician, I spent a year on the battlefields of Afghanistan treating nearly 1,000 wounded. There is no place for assault weapons on America's streets. I've seen firsthand what these weapons do to the human body,  They inflict unimaginable suffering in seconds.   I support Tina Spears' vote to ban these in Rhode Island. She respects the Second Amendment, and she had the integrity to draw the line where it belongs, to protect our communities from the violence I witnessed. —CAPT. MICHAEL MCCARTEN MC, USN, RET. VETERAN AND CHARLESTOWN RESIDENT

WE SUPPORT TINA

Tina has a proven record and is delivering for our communities. Tina is proud to stand together with nurses, teachers, police, firefighters, environmental organizations, gun safety advocates, working families, Planned Parenthood, and so many others...

Early Voting has begun!

You can vote early in person Monday through Friday at Charlestown Town Hall from 8:30 AM–4:30 PM 4540 South County Trail

Get your yard sign! Contact Tina at tina@tinaspearsri.com or call Kathleen 401 439 4469 to get yours!

If you'd like to donate to Tina's re-eelction campaign, please make personal checks payable to: The Friends of Tina Spears 82 Hillside Drive Charlestown, RI 02813   Or click HERE to contribute online or scan the QR code

Want to volunteer on Tina's re-election campaign? Contact us here. We have lots of fun and we'll keep Tina in the State House!

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