League of Rhode Island Businesses crashed and burned in Charlestown and across the state

Conservative business group’s multi-PAC strategy flops as General Assembly incumbents prevail

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

In contrast to the stunning primary day upsets in which Democratic challengers dethroned Rhode Island’s governor and the mayors of Providence and Pawtucket, every sitting state lawmaker seeking reelection won Wednesday night.

Incumbents typically hold an advantage, especially in Rhode Island, where the rigor of the job coupled with low pay and a dominant Democratic party suppresses competition. Nearly two-thirds of the 113 General Assembly seats featured a single candidate this election cycle, with just 13 sitting lawmakers — all Democrats — facing primary challengers (excluding open seat contests).

“It’s very hard to go against General Assembly leadership,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “They put a lot of resources into protecting their members.”

But a new political group with an unconventional campaign finance strategy to unseat progressive lawmakers focused more attention on the few contested races by endorsing conservative-minded candidates. The League of RI Businesses champions gun rights, lower taxes and business-friendly policies, and backed a slate of challengers by circumventing the state law capping political action committee donations at $2,000 per candidate per year.

Yet The League’s 40 PAC strategy — one for every city and town plus a statewide organization — and open solicitation of anonymous donations failed to notch any wins on primary night. 

All seven of the Democratic challengers endorsed by The League in state legislative races lost, some defeated by a 50- or 60-point margin.

“Not only did we not win, we just got clobbered,” said Dave Levesque, co-founder of The League. “It’s an embarrassment.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: Despite their monumental losses in the Primary, LORIB is still running a number of candidates in the November 3 General election. Among their targets: Charlestown's Sen. Victoria Gu, local Reps. Megan Cotter, Carol McEntee, Kathy Fogarty and (oddly) Sam Azzinaro. I say oddly because Sam is at least as conservative as Rep. Leonidas Raptakis who was endorsed by LORIB. Plus, Sam is male and nearly all of LORIB's targets are progressive Democratic women. 

LORIB tried and failed to find challengers to local Democrats Sens. Sue Sosnowski and Bridget Valverde and Rep. Teresa Tanzi. They will all retain their General Assembly seats since they face no opposition on November 3.

LORIB is also endorsing MAGA nut Sen. Elaine Morgan who, in her own way, represents the northern half of Charlestown. She faces a powerful challenger in Samantha "Sam" Wilcox, Richmond Town Council President - Will Collette

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.  

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:

 

MAGA guy wants to buy Charlestown election for pedo-defending lawyer

As early and mail-in voting starts for the September 9, beware of phony Democrats

By Will Collette

As I've reported previously, there is a push by a MAGA group called "the League of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB)" to oust Democrats around the state, but especially in South County. Some of their candidates are masquerading as Democrats so they can run in the Sept. 9 Primary. Others are running in the General Election.

LORIB is run by a rightwing MAGA guy named Dave Levesque who owns a chain of coffee shops. He lives in Narragansett. He formed LORIB to push his agenda of protecting the rich from taxes and opposing sensible measures to control gun violence. He set up a state Political Action Committee, as well as 39 local PACs, one for every Rhode Island city and town, including Charlestown.

None of these local PACs are actually local. He runs them all and set out this year to challenge just about every South County Democratic woman legislator, including Charlestown’s own state Representative Tina Spears.

In Charlestown, Levesque and the LORIB machine are promoting criminal defense lawyer Leah Boisclair to oust Tina Spears in the September 9 Democratic Primary. They actively tried to get Republicans and MAGA supporters to switch their party registration to Democrat to swing the numbers in Boisclair’s favor.

The deadline to make that party switch was August 10. Nancy Levin reported in the Rhode Island Current on August 17 that only 198 Republicans statewide had switched to Democrat. 

Boisclair’s signs and her mailings (so far) have been pretty low-key and vague. My main take-away from them so far is that she owns a dog. She stripped her Facebook page of dozens of rightwing posts – although not before we captured those posts in screenshots.

One fact she absolutely does not mention is that her law practice is built on representing people accused of heinous crimes, including child rape, human trafficking and domestic violence. She not only represents them but actively tries to recruit such clients with come-ons like this from her own website:

Nice touch with the stilettos and red lace underwear

And what specific sex crimes does Boisclair want to defend against? Conveniently, she expressly tells us on her website:

She has no record of community service, involvement in the Democratic Party or political interests in anything other than MAGA, guns and defending pedos.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall for Boisclair family Thanksgiving dinners. I'd love to hear Boisclair explain to her grandmother what she does for living. 

The money war

But who cares if you have enough cash to create a thick enough smokescreen.

LORIB kicked in $10,500 from six of its PACs that showed up in Boisclair’s campaign finance form for the last quarter of 2025. According to that report, she received $2000 each from the PACs claiming to be in Charlestown, Block Island, North and South Kingstown and Westerly, plus $500 from Newport.

Her most recent campaign finance report filed with the Board of Elections shows TWENTY LORIB PAC donations. All give their addresses as 1140 Reservoir Avenue in Cranston, with Levesque as their leader. Here's the list:

1. LORIB statewide: $2,000
2. LORIB Bristol: $250
3. LORIB Charlestown: $500
4. LORIB Cranston: $1,300
5. LORIB Cumberland: $600
6. LORIB Hopkinton: $250
7. LORIB Jamestown: $250
8. LORIB Lincoln: $250
9. LORIB Narragansett: $500
10. LORIB Newport: $250
11. LORIB North Kingstown: $200
12. LORIB North Providence: $300
13. LORIB North Smithfield: $1,000
14. LORIB Pawtucket: $300
15. LORIB Portsmouth: $250
16. LORIB Providence: $300
17. LORIB West Greenwich: $500
18. LORIB West Warwick: $250
19. LORIB Westerly: $500
20. LORIB Woonsocket: $250

It’s amazing how much interest our local House District 36 race is drawing from all over the state, drawing in a total of $20,000 just from LORIB affiliates.

But understand, it’s all Levesque.

Levesque appears to have some pretty good legal advisors on how to work around campaign finance laws. He avoids the $2000 limit on contributions through his 40 PACs. If he wants to drop big bucks in a campaign, he just cuts separate checks, each no more than $2000.

Four of his PACs gave more than $2000 to Boisclair but again, no problem because there were two checks, one in calendar year 2025 and the other this year. I checked with the Board of Elections, and the $2000 contribution cap is an annual cap.

Boisclair’s campaign finance reports show lots of money from unidentified donors, lumped together as "aggregated donations." 

Again, LORIB’s strategy has been to encourage dark contributions by asking donors to write checks UNDER $200, so the money doesn’t have to be identified by source.

Boisclair may be a nice person who is kind to dogs. But that doesn’t make her a good state Representative. Boisclair made a voluntary career choice in setting up law practice to represent clients accused of terrible crimes. 

She has a right to represent them but her choice to do that means I don’t want her to represent me.

She certainly is no match for our current Representative Tina Spears who has an impeccable record of achievement, integrity and public service. For me, Tina is the only choice.

Other LORIB news of note

As I expected, LORIB has added incumbent wingnut Senator Elaine Morgan as an endorsed candidate. Morgan has been an embarrassment to her district, which includes the northern half of Charlestown, since she was elected.

Morgan has been busted for campaign finance fraud and likes to cavort in places she doesn’t belong, pretending she’s a law enforcement official. The most recent escapade happened last year, when she “raided” a housing for the homeless project in Providence. She claimed she was an official with Elon Musk’s DOGE and was looking for waste, fraud and abuse.

Morgan faces a serious challenge this year from Samantha “Sam” Wilcox, chair of the Richmond Town Council. Go Sam!

Sen. Alana DiMario (Narragansett/So. Kingstown) also faces a DINO/LORIB challenger in the Democratic Primary as does Democrat Bob Craven, Jr. in the race to fill his father's vacant seat. The same dynamics are at play in these races as we're seeing in Charlestown.

LORIB also has challengers to South County Democrats in the General Election, including Charlestown's Democratic state Senator Victoria Gu, but we'll hold off on going into those races until after we've passed the Primary.

While LORIB doesn't seem likely to officially push any candidates seeking office beyond the General Assembly, there are several "LORIB-Adjacent" candidates to flag.

They include DINO Attorney General candidate Joe Solomon whose yard signs seem to appear right next to Lean Boisclair's all over Charlestown. He also tried the ploy of enticing Republicans to cross over to vote in the September 9 primary to vote for him. 

Republican Gubernatorial contender Aaron Guckian, behind in the polls in the Republican primary, announced his candidacy at a LORIB event. 

Finally, the Florida MAGA nut Vic Mellor who is running in the Republican Primary for the party nomination to run for US House District 2 against Seth Magaziner, also seems pretty tight with Levesque and LORIB. Of note, even though Mellor is a serious rightwing nut, he is also a registered agent of the government of Cuba. 

One of my colleagues speculated that maybe Mellor wants to front for hotel and resort businesses after Donald Trump invades Cuba.

The League of RI Businesses made a play to sidestep campaign finance limits. Now, it’s game time.

DINOS and MAGAs supported by stealth money

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Vanessa Lopez knew the odds were stacked against her.

A first-time candidate going up against a three-term incumbent, Lopez realized she needed outside help to succeed in her Democratic primary challenge against Sen. Meghan Kallman for the District 15 seat representing Pawtucket and Providence. 

“I have no one in my corner, so I was like, ‘how the heck am I going to do this,’” Lopez, 37, said in an interview. 

Enter The League of RI Businesses. The political group born out of a gun rights campaign was recruiting state legislative candidates to fill open seats and challenge incumbents whose records did not align with its “pro-business” platform. And, under an unprecedented maneuver to create 40 political action committees — one for each city and town plus a statewide organization — The League advertised up to $1 million in donations per year per endorsed candidate, circumventing state campaign finance laws that cap annual donations at $2,000 per candidate. 

No one has received a seven-figure donation from The League yet. But the execution of its multi-PAC strategy is coming into play for a handful of its chosen candidates, including Lopez.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Not included in this article is one candidate benefiting from LORIB's cash support. That's self-described "Sex Crime Defense Lawyer" Leah Boisclair. I'll bet a lot of people (e.g. Jim Mageau) with Boisclair signs are unaware of what she does for a living even though her website aggressively recruits clients charged with heinous crimes:

Boisclair wants to unseat Rep. Tina Spears in the September 9 Democratic Primary. Tina's history is in sharp contrast to Boisclair's. From Tina's website: 

Tina has spent the last decade advocating for people with disabilities, and is currently Executive Director of the Community Provider Network of Rhode Island. Her own experience as the parent of a child with significant health challenges led her to become an ardent advocate for families of children with disabilities.

While Boisclair makes her living defending pedos, Tina works to protect kids with disabilities. If you are a Democrat living in House District 36 (all of Charlestown and Block Island, plus sections of Westerly and South Kingstown) you will need to pick which side you're on come Primary day on September 9

Key September 9 Democratic Primary match-up in Narragansett pits progressive incumbent versus LORIB DINO

Two Narragansett neighbors live separate lives on policy

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Editor’s note: This is the first in a six-part series on state legislative races, chosen based on expected competitiveness between candidates and relevant issues to the district. Of the 113 seats in the Rhode Island General Assembly, all of which are elected every two years, 22 have primaries in September.

Sen. Alana DiMario and her Democratic primary challenger, Mark Mesrobian, live less than a third of a mile apart on the same street in Narragansett.

But the Tupelo Trail neighbors are miles apart in ideology and policy priorities for Senate District 36.

About District 36 

Represented by Sen. Alana DiMario since 2020

Geography: Includes part of North Kingstown, Narragansett, New Shoreham

Population: 29,000, 22,513 registered voters

Partisan breakdown: 56% independent, 29% Democrat, 14% Republican

Demographics: Median age: 49.1; 92% white; $103,982 median household income (2024)

DiMario was first elected in 2020, part of a band of progressive candidates that arrived on Smith Hill that year. A licensed mental health counselor and former chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Agriculture, DiMario, 47, has led the way on state laws to preserve farm and forestland while promoting solar development, increasing access to affordable mental health services and childcare, and securing state funding for a pilot public transit program for people with disabilities. She’s not done.

“I have unfinished work to do,” DiMario said, rattling off mental healthcare issues, coastal protections and infrastructure constraints that require water bans in Narragansett every summer as examples. “The range of issues I become involved with, that are brought to my attention by my constituents, and advocates, just keep adding to the to-do list.”

By contrast, Mesrobian sums up his platform in a single word: business. A serial entrepreneur whose current business involves wholesale and direct-to-consumer eyewear — he also serves as general manager of the Bonnet Shores Beach Club — Merobian sees an unmet need in the business community.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Like Charlestown's state Rep. Tina Spears, Sen. DiMario is being primaried by a "Democrat in Name Only (DINO)" who is bankrolled by right-wing MAGA nut Dave Levesque. Levesque set up 40 political action committees, 39 of them supposedly representing each RI municipality, to evade state restrictions on PAC donations. In reality, these "local" PACs are all run by Levesque to promote his MAGA agenda. In South County, nearly every Democratic woman legislator is being targeted. Read more about the LORIB attack by clicking HERE. - Will Collette

South County Democratic women get a wave of legislation passed at the end of the General Assembly session

Coffee autocrat wants to push them out to MAGAtize South County

By Will Collette

MAGA millionaire Dave Levesque, owner of the Brewed Awakenings coffee shop chain wants to change the political landscape of South County to fit his vision of a MAGA paradise by ousting virtually every South County Democratic woman holding a General Assembly seat.

To further his dream, Levesque set up the “League of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB)” with a statewide political action committee and a local version in all 39 Rhode Island cities and towns. Don’t bother looking for the “Charlestown LORIB” or the “Westerly LORIB” because they only exist on paper filed with the Board of Elections.

This panoply of PACs serve the useful purpose of allowing Levesque to get around state law that limits PAC donations to $2000 per candidate. His clever solution: set up each of his candidates with multiple donations from his array of PACs.

Charlestown’s challenger to our state Rep. Tina Spears, self-described “sex crimes defense attorney” Leah Boisclair, received her initial cash from five different Levesque PACs.

According to declarations filed with the Board of Elections, Levesque is challenging these incumbent Democrats:

• Rep. Tina Spears (Charlestown, So. Kingstown, Westerly and Block Island) faces a Sept. 9 primary challenge
• Rep. Megan Cotter (Hopkinton, Richmond, Exeter and West Warwick)
• Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee (South Kingstown et al.)
• Rep. Kathy Fogarty (South Kingstown et al.)
• Open seat left by Rep. Julie Casmiro
• Open seat left by Rep. Bob Craven Sr.
• State Sen. Alana DiMario faces a Sept. 9 primary challenge
• Sen. Victoria Gu (Charlestown, Westerly and South Kingstown)
• Plus conservative Democrat Rep. Sam Azzinaro (Westerly)

Levesque supported Laura Turini to challenge Sen. Bridget ValVerde in the Sept. 9 Democratic Primary, but Turisi didn’t file a declaration. He also failed to find candidates to challenge one of his prime targets, Rep. Teresa Tanzi as well as Sen. Sue Sosnowski. Tanzi, Sosnowski and ValVerde are now running unopposed.

If records make any difference, Levesque bevy of challengers will have to confront the incredibly productive General Assembly session these Democrats achieved as well as their earlier achievements.

Just before the Assembly closed this session, the following bills were passed. I am using the descriptions produced by the State House News Bureau.

Insurance reimbursement floor for youth crisis response services signed into law

Tanzi and DiMario get it done 

Sen. DiMario (left) and Rep. Teresa Tanzi (right)
with Charlestown's state Rep. Tina Spears.
All three are being targeted by the
MAGA PAC, League of Rhode Island Businesses

Legislation from Sen. Alana M. DiMario and Rep. Teresa A. Tanzi to strengthen coverage and reimbursement for mobile youth crisis response teams has been signed into law.

The bill was part of the Senate’s 17-bill package of healthcare legislation.

“Mobile crisis response is an essential component of our state’s healthcare system, and providing insurance coverage for youth mobile crisis response last year was an important step toward ensuring the sustainability of these essential services,” said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham), who works as a licensed mental health counselor in private practice. “But without sustainable rates, the nonprofits that provide these essential prevention and diversion programs cannot continue, whether their services are covered or not. This bill gives providers across Rhode Island the consistency and financial stability they need by ensuring that they receive at least the state Medicaid rate for the services they provide.”

Youth mobile crisis response and stabilization services (MRSS) provide trained behavioral health clinicians in response to behavioral health crisis calls, who are better able than local emergency medical services to deescalate crises and provide the crisis counseling and follow-up needed to keep youth out of emergency rooms. This provides better patient outcomes for youth in crisis and reduces the strain on overburdened emergency departments.

Local state reps getting measures passed by getting them folded into the state budget

Local Democratic women legislators use the budget to get good legislation passed

By Will Collette

Progressive Democratic state Representative Teresa Tanzi used the legislative budget process to get two legislative priorities through the General Assembly. Rep. Megan Cotter got more funding for wildfire fighting and prevention as well as increased Green Bond funding. Sen. Alana DiMario used the budget to win stable funding for mental health support for children and new parents.

While some may call this cheating, it is a time-honored method of getting bills passed that might otherwise fail, either because they are low-visibility or easily defeated by opposing lobbyists. 

The US Congress uses what they call the "reconciliation" process to accomplish this, most recently when Republicans used it to pass a full funding for ICE immigration thuggery. Generally, this procedural device can only be used for issues that involve direct spending.

I used it once when I worked in DC as staff director for the Citizens Coal Council. Our priority legislation aimed to protect and compensate people when their water is threatened by underground coal mining. The coal industry blocked this bill when it stood on its own but couldn't stop it from passage when we got it into the federal budget.

Reps. Tanzi and Cotter, and Sen. DiMario had news releases sent out to describe the measures they inserted into the budget. The following summaries are taken from those news releases.

A Medical School at URI would be a boon for South County

Much to gain, little to lose 

By Sen. Alana M. DiMario 

As South County residents, we know that as difficult as the primary care provider shortage is for folks across Rhode Island, it is worse down here. 

Ask any group of people from North Kingstown to New Shoreham and you’ll hear the same stories: physicians retiring or leaving the state with no one to take their patients at their clinic, leaving their patients bouncing from provider to provider, driving up to Providence or beyond for routine care or just giving up and going without a primary care provider. 

There is no single solution to this problem. Last year the General Assembly began the process of increasing primary care reimbursement rates and reduced prior authorization requirements to make Rhode Island more attractive to primary care providers, but it’s not enough to just hold onto the providers we have: we need a supply of new primary care providers to make up the gap. 

That is why the Senate launched a commission last year to study the feasibility and impact of starting a primary-care-focused medical school at the University of Rhode Island. I served on the commission and I believe that its conclusion that “a state medical school would provide transformative long-term benefits for the state’s healthcare system, economy and communities” goes double for South County. 

A medical school at URI would be a sustainable pipeline of homegrown doctors in our backyard that we sorely need. 

Sen. DiMario, Rep. Fogarty introduce legislation to address loopholes in campaign finance law

Bills need action before General Assembly session ends 

Here is a prime example of the kind of election abuse
this legislation is designed to fight. From the League
of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB) which set up
40 PACs and is running candidates against nearly
every Democratic woman legislator in South County.

Sen. Alana M. DiMario and Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty have introduced legislation to close a variety of loopholes in state campaign finance law.

“As elected officials, our constituents expect us to represent their best interests and not the best interests of wealthy donors,” said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham). 

“Furthermore, our state constitution charges the General Assembly with setting limits on political donations and ensuring that campaign donations and expenditures are clearly and publicly reported. But as with many laws that we pass, we have to keep an eye on them so that they work as intended. This bill seeks to close the gaps between intention and practice in campaign finance by closing loopholes that have become apparent over the years. It’s time for the letter of the law to reflect the spirit of open, fair and transparent campaigning set down in our constitution.”

The bill (2026-S 2720, 2026-H 7450) would strengthen Rhode Island’s campaign finance laws in a variety of ways, including closing a loophole that allows campaigns to receive unlimited donations from vendors if those vendors agree to allow an outstanding invoice for their services to remain unpaid for an indefinite period of time. The bill would set a time limit for unpaid invoices before they must be classified as donations.

“This is critical legislation that closes loopholes surrounding election donations and campaign expenditures,” said Representative Fogarty (D-Dist. 35, South Kingstown). “Our laws are clearly intended to place reasonable limits on the role of money in politics and make sure its influence is transparently reported. But we’ve been falling behind upholding these ideals as donors, candidates and political action committees have found and exploited loopholes since our laws were last updated. By addressing areas where our laws are coming up short, this bill will increase transparency and boost public confidence in the electoral process.”

The bill would also prohibit using multiple political action committees under the control of the same person or group of people to evade the annual $2,000 limit on contributions to a political candidate — a practice already outlawed in federal elections — and strengthen the penalties for illegal straw donations that are similarly used to subvert contribution limits.

It would also clarify the definition of an in-kind contribution, require campaigns to itemize payments to vendors, tighten rules for political action committees to stop them from scamming donors by spending the bulk of their funds on overhead and close a loophole that could allow corporations that are banned from donating to candidates in Rhode Island to evade the ban by donating paid personal services.

Senator DiMario and Representative Fogarty’s legislation was supported in committee by the Rhode Island Board of Elections, the Campaign Legal Center and Common Cause Rhode Island, the latter of which wrote “together these changes will make our campaign finance limits and reporting more effective and reduce the role of money in our politics.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: LORIB has targeted Charlestown state Rep. Tina Spears as well as our state Senator Victoria Gu. The authors of the legislation, Rep. Kathy Fogarty and Sen. Alana DiMario are also targets, as are Rep. Teresa Tanzi, Rep. Carol McEntee, and Sen. Bridgette ValVerde. Many of these challenges take the form of putting up a DINO (Democrat in name only) candidate up against a real Democrat in the September 9 Democratic Primary. That's the case in Charlestown where a pro-gun lawyer specializing in defending clients charged with sex crimes is up against our hard-working state Rep. Tina Spears.    - Will Collette

Stand up for our neighbors

What’s inside the Rhode Island Senate’s 2026 health care bill package

Rhode Island is on its own in fight to improve health care

By Alexander Castro, Rhode Island Current

The Rhode Island Senate on March 12 released its third annual bundle of health care bills for this year’s legislative session, with proposals from ensuring the 988 hotline stays live to guardrails on AI usage in psychotherapy to initial funding for a proposed medical school at the University of Rhode Island (URI).

The 17-bill package is nearly double the size of last year’s collection, which sported nine pieces of legislation.

“These are complex issues we’re facing,” Senate President Valarie Lawson said at a State House event Thursday introducing the package. “And this is a long, long process.”

Lawson said the chamber’s priorities reflect listening to consumers and primary care providers over the last couple of years as well as the work of a special Senate-led commission which determined in January that a medical school at URI would help alleviate the state’s primary care workforce shortage.

Senate Committee Health and Human Services Chair Melissa Murray joined Lawson and bill sponsors in the Senate Lounge to present their lawmaking to-do list, which Murray described as orbiting three major themes:

• One suite of bills aim to support people in crisis by improving access to behavioral health resources.
• Another tranche would boost the Ocean State’s health care workforce.
• The last set seeks to protect patients and providers via initiatives like further regulation of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and updated vaccination schedules for children.

“While we know that solving the crisis cannot be accomplished through any single piece of legislation, or any one collection of bills, those being highlighted today build on our past progress and help address the most pressing needs of this moment,” Murray said in a statement. “Achieving our goals will be a long-haul effort, and our chamber remains truly committed to seeing it through.”

Before Thursday, six of the package bills had already been introduced and await hearings in their respective committees. The remaining 11 bills were introduced Thursday and await hearings.

Sen. DiMario introduces legislation to address workforce shortages through loan assistance

DiMario wants to help with student debt

Sen. Alana M. DiMario has introduced legislation to attract and retain much-needed workforce talent by establishing a fund to provide partial loan repayments to Rhode Island workers employed in high-need professions.

“Student loan debt is a burden facing so many of our young professionals, and having a program established to assist them will allow the state and its employers to quickly put available workforce development dollars from any source to effective use to attract and retain much-needed talent,” said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham). 

“In the short term this could address our state’s health care staffing crisis by helping to recruit and retain professionals in high-demand areas, including primary care providers and mental health practitioners, but it would work equally well for other sectors of our workforce that might experience shortages in the future. Additionally, administering this program through the existing Rhode Island Student Loan Authority cuts down on administrative costs for the state by reducing duplicative programs and means that participants could maximize their repayment and tax benefits.”

The bill (2026-S 2662) would establish a fund under the administration of RISLA to provide loan-repayment assistance to workers in high-need professions who have committed to work full-time in their profession for a prescribed term of service.

Rhode Island Republicans applaud McGee's renewal energy roll-back; others DO NOT

Environmental groups and labor respond to Governor McKee's push against renewable energy and energy efficiency

Steve Ahlquist

Environmental advocates, state legislators, and labor union leaders spoke out at a State House press conference to oppose Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee’s budget proposals and executive order on clean energy. The event was sponsored by Acadia Center, Climate Action Rhode Island, and the Green Energy Consumers Alliance.

“Slowing the transition to clean local renewables is a shortsighted plan that doesn’t address the long-term energy affordability and undermines Rhode Island’s economic competitiveness and clean energy future,” said Emily Howe of Clean Water Action. “The investments we make today in energy efficiency make homes more comfortable, use less energy, and reduce energy demand, resulting in lower costs for all rate payers.”

Acadia Center’s Emily Koo put it bluntly: “Cutting clean energy doesn’t protect Rhode Island rate payers. It protects an outdated energy system and keeps us dependent on dirty, expensive fossil fuels. These so-called state mandates, like our renewable energy standard and the charges that support renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, help reduce the largest and fastest-growing component of your bill: supply and delivery costs. It’s a glaring omission to report clean energy costs while ignoring all cost savings, one of the primary reasons for undertaking the energy transition in the first place. Clean energy isn’t at odds with affordability. It’s essential to it.”

The Governor’s bad policy decisions around renewable energy and energy efficiency programs did please at least one group in Rhode Island: Senate Republicans.

“Senate Republicans warned these mandates were unaffordable, we debated the adverse effects on ratepayers on the Senate floor, we have submitted legislation to increase transparency on utility bills, and to fully repeal costly mandates,” said Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz. “It is good to know the Governor supports our advocacy and, at long last, realizes the detrimental effect of the policies he has historically championed. Now is the time to put partisanship aside and correct the failed policies that have given rise to some of the highest electricity rates in the country.”

“Rhode Island’s mandates on renewable energy rely heavily on taxpayer-funded subsidies. Those costs are borne by ratepayers across all socio-economic backgrounds and present significant financial challenges for businesses and the economy,” said Senate Minority Whip Gordon Rogers. “If the governor’s efforts to solve problems he helped create do not include a full repeal of mandates and a significant reduction in taxpayer subsidies, then he is gaslighting the people of Rhode Island – it’s just too bad that gaslighting can’t be used to heat and power our homes.”

Save now, pay later: Critics warn McKee’s plan to ease energy bills comes with a tab

McKee plays the energy card to boost his re-election chances

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Gov. Dan McKee framed his proposed rollbacks of green energy incentives around affordability — saving Rhode Island ratepayers $1 billion in their energy bills over the next five years, according to analysis by the state budget office.

Tina Munter, Rhode Island policy advocate for Green Energy Consumers Alliance, offered a different summation of the governor’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal on energy bill charges.

“It’s mind-boggling,” Munter said in a recent interview. “Rhode Island’s reliance on natural gas for heating and electricity is what keeps the region in flux with energy prices. The longer we rely on natural gas, the longer we’re stuck in a cycle of seeing [energy] bills spike, seeing ratepayers be confused and shocked and surprised, versus having more stability.”

This logic persuaded lawmakers in 2022 to enact the most ambitious renewable electricity timeline of any state in the nation. The Renewable Energy Standard law, heralded by McKee at the time of its passage, required Rhode Island to gradually transition to entirely renewable energy sources for its electricity needs, reaching 100% by 2033. 

Now, McKee wants to push the deadline to 2050, which is the same deadline for the state to achieve net-zero emissions overall under the separate Act on Climate law. The proposed 17-year postponement, with immediate relaxation of existing incremental benchmarks, accounts for more than half of the $1 billion projected savings to Rhode Island ratepayers, cutting nearly $64 million from bills in 2027, and $572 million over the next five years, according to the state Office of Management and Budget.

South County women under attack from MAGA gun nut

Charlestown’s Rep. Tina Spears and Sen. Victoria Gu among them

By Will Collette

A new right-wing political group hopes to decimate the ranks of Democratic state legislators representing most of South County. It’s called “The League of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB)” which has set up 40 political action committees all over the state – one in each municipality and the state PAC.

This new group was founded by Trump supporter David Levesque, a Warwick coffee shop owner who says he was motivated by the state’s passage of a ban on assault weapons. In addition to gun rights, the League is also vehemently opposed to taxes on the rich such as the state’s new Taylor Swift law that levees a state surcharge on high-priced absentee-owned property.

The League has already announced a slate of candidates and plans to recruit more who will push Levesque’s MAGA agenda. Most of his targets are women, all are Democrats. Most of the targets voted to ban military-style assault rifles.

Who is on the LORIB target list in South County?

•     Rep. Tina Spears (Charlestown, Westerly, Block Island, So. Kingstown)
•     Sen. Victoria Gu (Westerly, Charlestown)
•     Sen. Alana DiMario
•     Sen. Bridgette ValVerde
•     Rep. Carol Hagen McEntee
•     Rep. Kathy Fogarty

Levesque is looking for candidates to challenge:

•     Rep. Teresa Tanzi
•     Rep. Julie Casimiro
•     And to challenge for the open seat being vacated in North Kingstown by Rep. Bob Craven

In all but one instance, the League is backing DINO candidates in the hope of unseating incumbents in the Democratic primary. The exception is Sen. Victoria Gu – LORIB’s only Republican pick is MAGAnut Westin Place who was trounced by Victoria twice (2022 and 2024).

Levesque also has a major South County footprint as a Narragansett resident and principal in the following businesses:

I am hoping Levesque’s focus on the primaries will backfire. By definition, only registered Democrats can vote in those primaries and primary voters tend to pay more attention than voters in the General election. Democratic Town Committees will need to make sure voters understand what’s at stake and may need to prepare to counter business-sponsored mailer blitzes.

The Providence Journal says the League of Rhode Island Businesses “pledged full financial support” to its endorsed candidates. Whether Levesque can actually raise enough money to back up that pledge remains to be seen. It’s not showing up in any serious way in their most recent Campaign Finance reports.

The League of RI Businesses Charlestown reported a cash balance of $15. Its registered office is in Cranston.

Last October, attorney Leah Boisclair was among the first of the LORIB candidates to declare, bagging a Westerly Sun “top story.” The article was pretty much a news release, light on detail and high on puff. However, looking a little deeper into Boisclair’s record, there wasn’t much there besides her defense of criminal defendants.

She’s a defense attorney who, according to her website, defends clients charged with violent crime, domestic abuse, crimes against property and sex crimes.

She is a self-described "Sex Crimes Defense Attorney." I'm not making this up.

Of course, under the Constitution, everyone is judged to be innocent until proven guilty and is entitled to a defense. Here is a list copied directly from her website listing the types of sex crimes she defends:

Sexual Assault

• First-Degree Sexual Assault (Rape)
• Second-Degree Sexual Assault (Sexual Contact)
• Third-Degree Sexual Assault (Statutory Rape)

Child Molestation

• First-Degree Child Molestation (Rape)
• Second-Degree Child Molestation (Sexual Contact)
• Third-Degree Child Molestation (Statutory Rape)

Sex Crimes Charges

• Indecent Exposure
• Video Voyeurism
• Unauthorized Dissemination of Indecent Material

Child Exploitation or Harm

• Possession of Child Pornography
• Distribution of Child Pornography
• Indecent Solicitation of a Minor
• Exploitation for Commercial Purposes
• Electronic Dissemination of Indecent Material to Minors
• Cruelty to or Neglect of a Child
• Child Endangerment
• Patronizing a Minor for Commercial Sexual Activity

Prostitution-Related Offenses

• Procurement of Sexual Conduct for a Fee
• Loitering for Prostitution
• Solicitation of Prostitution
• Promoting or Permitting Prostitution
• Trafficking an Individual
• Sexual Servitude
• Forced Labor

I’m not making any of this up – this is from HER website.

Again, while everyone is entitled to a defense and presumption of innocence, I’m sure glad I’m not the one doing the defending. Further, I’m not very comfortable with this promotional piece, especially the stilettos and underwear, shown in this screenshot from her website:

Given her portfolio, her practice would probably be very successful in Washington, DC with its abundance of pedos and sexual predators. Maybe her MAGA sponsor felt that this portfolio was a plus for her. This is a question that I hope will be explored during the campaign.

I didn’t see much in her history about any sort of public service or civic engagement. She waitressed at the Homestead on Route 2 and staffed a booth for the Grange at the Washington County Fair, but that was about it. She’s running as a Democrat, but I’ve never seen her at any local Democratic function.

Maybe we’ll learn more about her as the campaign year progresses.

I’ll also be curious to see whether the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) weighs in. The CCA backed Libertarian Republican Blake “Flip” Filippi in his defeat of long-time District 36 state Rep. Donna Walsh. Will they support the LORIB PAC effort to oust Rep. Spears and Senator Gu?

But for now, Charlestown has an outstanding state representative in Tina Spears who is running for reelection to a 3^rd term. Compare her record of community service and legislative effectiveness to Boisclair’s and I believe the choice is clear.