By Bob Plain in
RIFuture.org
While there was no
landslide for liberal State House candidates, Tuesday’s primary still proved to
be a big victory for the progressive agenda.
Gayle Goldin easily
beat charter school advocate Maryellen Butke in one of the most ballyhooed
contests of the primary. Goldin’s victory ensures that Rhoda Perry’s former
seat will stay in the hands of a true progressive.
West Warwick’s Adam
Satchell, a supporter of marriage equality, collective bargaining rights and
renewable energy, was another big win. He beat Michael Pinga, a foe of gay
marriage, by a healthy margin.
But even more
important is who lost. Woonsocket’s Jon Brien, an ALEC board member and one of
the most conservative members of the General Assembly, fell to local
firefighter Stephen Casey. While Casey could prove to be a good progressive,
Brien was a sworn enemy of left and the legislature gets demonstrably more
liberal with his absence.
While both Laura
Pisaturo, of Warwick, and Bob DaSilva, of East Providence, lost, they both had
strong showings and only lost to powerful incumbents by a total of of less than
300 votes. That doesn’t speak well for Michael McCaffrey or Dan DaPonte, who
beat them, both who are committee chairmen and are in the good graces of
leadership. Their votes may not change on marriage equality because of the
nail-biting victories (though DaPonte was on the fence) others may swing once
they see that even powerful incumbents can be vulnerable.
It wasn’t a great
night for House leadership either. Peter Petrarca, the House Deputy Majority
Leader, lost to Greg Costantino. And even more significantly, Rep. Spencer
Dickinson, a fiscal progressive from South Kingstown, beat Kathy Fogarty, the
chosen candidate of House Speaker Gordon Fox.
Popular progressives
like Art Handy, Chris Blazejewski and Grace Diaz all won by comfortable
margins.
But the primary wasn’t
without it’s defeats for progressives as well. Gus Uht lost to conservative
Karen MacBeth; Libby Kimzey lost to John Lombardi; and Frank Lombardi beat Gene
Dyszlewski.
Bob Plain is the editor/publisher of Rhode Island's
Future. Previously, he's worked as a reporter for several different news
organizations both in Rhode Island and across the country.