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| Three reasons for Charlestown progessives to celebrate - Rep. Larry Valencia, Senator-Elect Cathie Rumsey and Rep. Donna Walsh - all won! |
By Bob Plain in
RIFuture.org
Brendan Doherty, Mark Binder and even, to some extent, Mitt
Romney, all made Rhode Island progressives nervous throughout the 2012 campaign
season. But once the campaign was over and the votes were counted, it turned
out to be a great election day to be a local liberal.
Easily the biggest victory was Congressman David Cicilline
handily disposing of Doherty. I must admit, I was nervous yesterday … but in
the end, the inexperienced Republican was probably done in by two things: he
ran a confusing campaign – the two prevailing themes of it were integrity and
negativity – and Rhode Islanders don’t like his politics. And even if he’s half
as moderate as he claimed to be on the stump, which me and Don Carcieri don’t
buy for one second, he failed to convince voters of this.
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| And two more reasons - Donna's close South County allies Rep Teresa Tanzi and Sen Sue Sosnowski also won big |
Ironically enough, the CD1 race was a trust election, and voters
didn’t trust Doherty.
Cicilline and his staff deserve a lot of credit for running a
great campaign – especially given that it often seemed as if he was running
against the local media as well as the entire Republican party. He kicked
Doherty’s ass in progressive Providence, and won handily in Newport and
Woonsocket. Cicilline sticks up for the working class, and in return the urban
areas of his district stuck by him.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse capturing more than 64 percent of the
statewide vote and Abel Collins getting almost 10 percent in CD2 are important
wins too. Whitehouse, the unofficial leader of the local progressive community
now has a clear mandate. And Collins’ strong performance shows that his
progressive message resonated with Rhode Islanders. I’m certain Jim Langevin,
already a solid liberal, will take note.
The second biggest victory of the 2012 election cycle for local
progressives belongs not to a candidate but an issue. With big victories for
Ryan Pearson, Cathy Cool Rumsey and Stephen Archambault, there’s a new
landscape for marriage equality in the state Senate. Given that House Speaker
Gordon Fox promised to pass the bill (that I’m guessing will bare his name)
through the House early, there’s going to be tons of pressure on Senate
President Teresa Paiva Weed. I believe this is an issue whose time has come.
Fox’s victory is another big win for progressives. Besides
marriage equality, he also said he’ll reconsider the state’s voter ID bill and
even indicated he’ll go into the session with an open mind on tax increases for
the rich. (I literally have no idea what Ted Nesi is talking about when he
writes Fox stumped for tax and pension cuts.) The challenge
for progressives will be to convince Fox to govern like he campaigned. His
district will want him to do so, but now that the election is over, the
pressure will be coming from elsewhere…
Perhaps the biggest local loss of the night belongs to American
Legislative Exchange Council, the ultra-right wing bill mill that had gained a
toe hold in the General Assembly. Both state chairs – Jon Brien and Frank Maher
– lost. Unless others step up – and they will – one of the most conservative
outside influences on the legislature has been all but eliminated. Good
riddance!!
Brien’s defeat also means the legislature’s DINO caucus is on
notice.
We’ve also got another four years of Obama, as opposed to Mitt
Romney, and both chambers of Congress moved left.
Across the board, local progressives have reason to celebrate.
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.