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| Mattiello won. Progressive lost. For Mattiello, it's pay back time. For Progressives, it's damage control. |
Big time props to the Marcello 6, who stuck by their speaker candidate
even after realizing he didn’t have the votes to win. They are:
Greg Constantino of Lincoln, Paddy O’Neill of Pawtucket, John
Lombadi of Providence, Linda Finn of Middletown, Joy Hearn from Barrington and
– of course – Marcello himself. These six are now effectively the loyal
opposition in the House of Representatives and I hope other progressives join
them.
They are now effectively the loyal opposition in the House.
Hopefully the 5 Liberal Abstainers will join them. They are:
West Warwick Republican Pat Morgan also abstained, but her
reasons for doing so were certainly different. She disrupted the formal vote to
try to give a speech about her reasons, which seemed to be that she wanted
something for her support. This generally drew ire from both parties, though
Minority Leader Brian Newberry defended her on procedural grounds.
Some progressives legislators also voted for Speaker Mattiello,
including Frank Ferri, of Warwick, Art Handy of Cranston and Chris Blazejewski.
Blaz, of course, was initially a leader of Team Marcello and Handy was an early
supporter. Handy said his decision to jump ship was an attempt to remain
chairman of the Environmental Committee.
“Staying as chair and having more access to leadership is one of
the best things I can do for the progressive causes I care about,” Handy said.
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.