Foulkes holds 11 point lead

Sabrina Matos in statistical tie for LG

By the Salve Regina University’s Pell Center

Democratic candidate Helena Foulkes leads the Rhode Island gubernatorial race with 39% support among likely voters, while the race for lieutenant governor remains statistically tied, according to a new survey from Salve Regina University’s Pell Center. 

The survey was directed by Pell Center Associate Director and Fellow Katie Sonder and fielded by Embold Research between October 5-8, 2026. The survey included 815 likely Rhode Island midterm voters and has a margin of error of ±3.6 percentage points.

Foulkes leads by 11 points, followed by Independent Ken Block (28%) and Republican Aaron Guckian (17%). Foulkes leads across major demographic subsets and has the strongest support among women (44%), people of color (53%), and college-educated voters (43%). While support for Block and Guckian does not individually outweigh support for Foulkes, their combined vote share surpasses hers in some demographic groups, including across all Rhode Island counties. Thirteen percent of likely midterm voters remain undecided. 

Gawdawful candidates are hurting the GOP’s hopes of holding power.

The GOP’s parade of horribles

Paul Waldman

In Rhode Island, our top terrible Republican is
Floridian Vic Mellor. Proud MAGA, part of the
January 6 storming of the US Capitol building and
a REGISTERED AGENT of the Government of Cuba.
Seriously. He's campaigning against US Rep. Seth
Magaziner.

Any list of the worst candidates running for office in 2026 would have to start with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Utterly lacking in charisma, Paxton is a flaccid campaigner with a stunning history of corruption whose greatest professional achievement may be staying out of jail. With just weeks to go before the election, a series of embarrassing stories has dogged him, the latest of which is the emergence of a video of him partying in Dubai with his mistress and a couple of fugitives from American justice.

Paxton only defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary because of President Trump’s support — yet Trump can barely speak his name without saying that Paxton is inarticulate, ugly, and a terrible dresser.

The answer to the obvious question — how could someone as unappealing as Paxton get as far in politics as he has? — lies in the internal dynamics of today’s Republican Party.

But the GOP’s problem goes far beyond Paxton. They are confronting a political emergency in this year’s midterms, and doing it with an absolutely stunning collection of lemons, lunkheads, and losers.

From a risky election to a potential catastrophe

Rhode Islanders protest against Mellor. Photo by Steve Ahlquist

At the start of 2026, the idea that Democrats would have had even the tiniest chance of taking back the Senate in the midterm elections was almost absurd.

Needing a net gain of four seats to take control, Democrats have to defend two seats in states Donald Trump won in 2024 (Michigan and Georgia), plus another five seats Kamala Harris won by single digits. Meanwhile, Republicans have to defend only one seat in a state Harris won (Maine), and one in a state Trump won by double digits.

The opposition party always does well in midterms, but in order to take the Senate, Democrats will have to nearly run the table, winning every close race — an extremely tall order.

Yet today, it appears more likely than not that they will do just that.

FiftyPlusOne puts the odds of a Democratic takeover at 72 percent, while the Cook Political Report rates six Republican-held seats as Toss-Ups and one (North Carolina) as Likely Democratic; just one Democratic-held seat (Michigan) is in the Toss-Up category.

The most important reason Republicans are in this position is, of course, Donald Trump. But in race after race, Republicans would be in a far better position if their candidates weren’t so poor.

Paxton is the most obvious, but it’s happening all over the country. A brief tour:

Who can best represent Charlestown and the rest of the Second District in Congress?

First debate between US Rep. Seth Magaziner and carpetbagger Vic Mellor shows the contrast between the two candidates

By Alexander Castro, Rhode Island Current

Vic Mellor wants to represent YOU. He already represents
the government of Cuba. Screenshot from his registration.

Clang clang clang went the cowbells as supporters of Republican congressional candidate Vic Mellor gathered outside WPRI 12’s studios Friday ahead of his first TV debate with incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner, who had his own posse of fans congregating before his arrival.

Inside was at first quieter, with Magaziner and Mellor shaking hands before and after the taping. While cordiality reigned over their limited offscreen interaction, the televised back-and-forth was decidedly more acrimonious, with each man impugning the other’s character as much as his politics.

“So he wants to abolish ICE,” Mellor, 56, said of Magaziner’s stance on the immigration enforcement agency at one point. “That’s basically what he said there. He just doesn’t have the gonads to say it.”

Magaziner, meanwhile, described his opponent as a fly-by-night opportunist.

Mellor told the US Justice Department he lives in Florida.
He told the Federal Election Commission he lives
in Warwick. One of these two federal filings is a lie. 

“Vic Mellor is treating Rhode Island like a pit stop between Florida and Washington,” the 43 year-old congressman said, a reference to Mellor moving from Florida back to his native state and beginning his congressional campaign within the same month.

“He hasn’t lived here since 1997,” Magaziner noted, and twice said that when Mellor last lived in Rhode Island, “‘Titanic’ was No. 1 at the box office.”

The candidates also clashed over Iran, healthcare and stock trading.

And inevitably they engaged on Mellor’s embrace of the Jan. 6, 2021, march on the U.S. Capitol, a choice which he reiterated Friday came with “no regrets.”

“You know he tried to do a stunt, and that backfired on him,” Mellor said of Magaziner’s Sept. 10 press conference outside the Rhode Island State House, in which Magaziner enlisted police officers who had been harmed in the events of Jan. 6 to make the case that Mellor’s participation that day was repugnant and disqualifying.

“Rhode Islanders don’t care about Jan. 6,” Mellor said, then turned to his opponent, “What they do care about is the riots that happened here in Providence with the socialists, the DSA, and the defund the police movement, which you marched with in solidarity.” Editor's note: WTF? What riots?

Our federal Representative presents multi-point plan to address energy inflation

Representative Magaziner releases plan to lower energy costs for Rhode Islanders

Steve Ahlquist

From a Representative Magaziner press release and original reporting

“The number one thing I hear from Rhode Islanders is that life has become unaffordable,” said United States Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02) during a press conference on Thursday. “While big oil companies are making record profits, working people can barely afford to fill their tanks and keep the lights on. When Democrats are in the majority, we must come out of the gate fast with real plans to lower costs, and that is exactly what this agenda is about.”

Rhode Island households are spending an average of $557 more on gasoline since the start of the war in Iran. Gas prices in Rhode Island now average $4.36 per gallon, and diesel has climbed to $6.32 per gallon. With winter approaching, many Rhode Islanders also worry about whether they can afford to heat their homes. Meanwhile, Exxon, Shell, and Chevron made $36.4 billion in profits in Quarter 2 of 2026 alone, including Chevron’s highest quarterly earnings ever.

During the press conference, Magaziner outlined his agenda to lower energy costs, including:

Republican challenger to US Rep. Seth Magaziner must be accountable for his role in the January 6 insurrection

Magaziner invites D.C. police officers to talk about Victor Mellor’s participation in the January 6 Capitol attack

Steve Ahlquist

Harry Dunn, Seth Magaziner, and Daniel Hodges

In opposition to Republican challenger Victor Mellor’s campaign for Congress, incumbent U.S. Representative Seth Magaziner (D-RI) (whose district includes Charlestown) stood outside the Rhode Island State House on Thursday alongside two police officers, Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges, who fought to defend the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 United States Capitol attack. Mellor has spoken proudly about his participation in the riot, calling it one of the “top 5” moments of his life and saying, “I’m a J6er, and will not apologize for it.”

Here’s the video: Magaziner v Mellor - YouTube

Representative Magaziner condemned the January 6 United States Capitol attack and Donald Trump’s pardons for the rioters, which included those found guilty of assaulting law enforcement officers.

Mellor's campaign in a nutshell (photo by Tom Ferrio)

“Five years ago, a violent mob attacked our nation’s Capitol and the police officers sworn to protect it,” said Representative Magaziner. “They did this because they wanted to overturn a presidential election. Their candidate, Donald Trump, lost that election, so they tried to stop the count through violence and rob the American people of their voice.

“The rioters punched and trampled police officers, beat them with sticks and rocks, sprayed them with mace, and electrocuted them with tasers. Over 170 officers suffered injuries, including broken bones and concussions. Four officers died by suicide in the months that followed. Hundreds of Capitol and DC Metropolitan Police officers bravely did their duty that day and put their lives in harm’s way to protect the building and our democracy. We must not forget the sacrifices that those officers made, or let anyone rewrite the history of what happened on January 6, 2021.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: Vic Mellor is a registered agent of the government of Cuba. Here's a screenshot of Mellor's filing showing which Cuban government entities he represents. Mellor also needs to explain this.

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.  

Trump screws Rhode Island again by denying FEMA funding to cover state costs for historic blizzard

McKee calls FEMA’s denial of Rhode Island’s blizzard relief request ‘a new low’

By Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

Gov. Dan McKee and Rhode Island’s congressional delegation are blasting the Trump administration after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) again rejected the state’s request for $19 million to cover recovery costs associated with February’s historic blizzard.

McKee’s office appealed FEMA’s initial denial of the state’s April request for funding relief  under the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act on July 15. The law allows governors to either request support for disasters caused by severe weather or if “the situation is beyond the capability of the state.”

In a letter to McKee on Wednesday, FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton wrote the agency reviewed Rhode Island’s initial request and appeal only to determine financial aid was not warranted for the hurricane-strength blizzard that buried the state in over 3 feet of snow.

Hamilton’s letter did not explain why Rhode Island failed to meet the criteria for federal aid. But in a post on X around 5 p.m. Wednesday, he elaborated on the denial, which also applied to similar requests from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

“Winter weather is not new to the Northeast,” Hamilton wrote. “Federal disaster aid is not a backstop for routine state & local budgeting.”

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.

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.

Charlestown Dems complete endorsements, urge you to vote in the Sept. 9 Primary

 

C-Town Dems News

August 2026

Early voting has begun!

You may cast your vote in person at Charlestown Town Hall Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM–4:30 PM

The Charlestown Democratic Town Committee has endorsed the following candidates:   House District 36 Tina Spears Senate District 34 Samantha Wilcox Senate District 38 Victoria Gu US Senate Jack Reed US House of Representatives District 2 Seth Magaziner Governor No endorsement was made Lieutenant Governor Xay Khamsyvoravong Secretary of State Gregg Amore General Treasurer James Diossa Attorney General Kim Ahern Charlestown Town Council Deborah Carney, Jill Fonnemann, and Cynthia Drummond Chariho School Committee Holly Eaves, Craig Louzon, and Linda Lyall

Thanks to all who attended our Summer Fundraiser

School Committee candidate Craig Louzon mans the grill.

Our next meeting date is September 2, 2026 Join us at the Charlestown Police Station at 6 PM. All registered Democrats are welcome!

If you'd like to donate to the Charlestown Democratic Committee, you may   Send checks payable to: Charlestown Democratic Town Committee P.O. Box 1088, Charlestown, RI 02813  or Scan the QR code  or Click the button below   DONATE

Volunteer for Tina Spears! Click here to help send Tina back to the State House.

Call for Volunteers Your Charlestown Democratic Town Committee needs you! We are looking for active participants who want to help support Democratic candidates and causes. If interested, visit charlestowndemocrats.org and click VOLUNTEER. Please consider joining us!

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The Charlestown Democratic Town Committee manages the affairs of the Democratic Party in the town of Charlestown, RI subject to RI Election Law, State Party rules and its own bylaws. We meet the first Wednesday of every month at 6:00 PM at the Charlestown Police Station. Any Charlestown registered Democrat is welcome to attend.

P.O. Box 1088, Charlestown RI 02813