So what happens next?
By Will Collette
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| They both won big |
Locally, we're going to get the change that many of us wanted (in fact, the majority). We flipped both open General Assembly seats representing Charlestown from red to Blue. We elected Victoria Gu to the state Senate, replacing retiring Dennis Algiere (R). Tina Spears will be our new state Representative, replacing the odious Blake "Flip" Filippi (Trumplican).
Tina and Victoria both won by impressive 20+ point margins.
But perhaps the biggest news is that for the first time since 2008, the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) failed to win a Council majority, soundly beaten by Charlestown Residents United (CRU). In fact, it looks like only incumbent Susan Cooper will represent the CCA on the Council. Oh, I forgot, all these CCA people are "independent," right?
Deb Carney easily won the most votes, so she will return as Council President. Rippy Serra came in second, earning the position of Vice-President. Deb is a Democrat and her three CRU colleagues - Rippy, plus incumbent councilor Grace Klinger and Steve Stokes - are Republicans.
Hopefully they'll be able to work and play together and Charlestown can be different than the rest of the country.
There probably is no joy in the CCA clubhouse, wherever that is, tonight. It wouldn't surprise me if Ruth Platner starts planning to storm Town Hall to overthrow the election results. Imagine the CCA insurrectionists marching up West Beach Road from Quonnie to Town Hall.
It wouldn't be the first time that the CCA organized a riot at Town Hall. In 2011, they lead a mob of non-resident property owners to scream about a proposed Homestead Tax Credit that would have given full-time Charlestown residents $1000 off their tax bills.
There may be some small shifts in the town election numbers when all mail-in ballots are counted, but it is very unlikely to affect the outcome on the Council.
One race where counting every ballot carefully will be critical is House District 39 where Democrat Megan Cotter holds the lead over radical Trumplican Justin Price by ONLY 4 votes!
Charlestown Democrat Jennifer Douglas had her third swing and miss at unseating radical Trumplican incumbent Elaine Morgan. Even though Morgan was caught committing campaign finance fraud, it wasn't enough to sway the vote.
Last but not least, Charlestown voters approved the idea of a cannabis store in Charlestown by almost 10 points. I'd still like to see the Narragansett Tribe get the state license and re-purpose the Smoke Shop. They wouldn't even need to change the sign. We'll see if the new Council majority is open to it.
