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| Sen. Sue Sosnowski (left) and then Senator Cathie Cool Rumsey (right) with former state Rep. Donna Walsh at the signing ceremony at Charlestown's Earth Care Farm for a ground-breaking bill they sponsored to greatly expand the composting of food waste. This was one of many achievements that earned the Sierra Club's endorsement for Cathie and Sue. Photo by Will Collette |
The RI Chapter of the
Sierra Club is endorsing 19 legislative candidates in the general election, 15
candidates for the state House of Representatives and only four for the state
Senate.
The newly endorsed
candidates are:
Senator in the General Assembly
Gayle Goldin District 3 Providence
Adam Satchell District 9 West Warwick
Cathie Cool Rumsey District 34 Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond, W. Greenwich
Sue Sosnowski District 37 South Kingstown/Block Island
Edie Ajello District 1 Providence
Chris Blazejewski District 2 Providence
Aaron Regunberg District 4 Providence
Daniel McKiernan District 7 Providence
John Lombardi District 8 Providence
Art Handy District 18 Cranston
David Bennett District 20 Warwick
Joe Solomon District 22 Warwick
Ryan Hall District 28 Coventry
Lisa Tomasso District 29 Coventry / West Greenwich
Carol Hagan McEntee District 33 South Kingstown/ Narragansett
Jay O’Grady District 46 Lincoln/Pawtucket
Cale Keable District 47 Burrillville /Glocester
Deb Ruggiero District 74 Jamestown
Lauren Carson District 75 Newport
“Our political committee based these decisions on a shared
questionnaire with Clean Water Action, sent to every candidate, that focused
heavily on what the two groups see as the top challenges and goals of the
upcoming legislative season,” according to a press release from the Sierra
Club.
“It was a call action and the
candidates below are the ones the Sierra Club believes are both
willing and capable of creating a truly resilient, renewable and
environmentally responsible Rhode Island.”
The local chapter endorsed 17 candidates in the primary, nine of whom
won. In the primary, 8 of the 12 Sierra Club-endorsed candidates won and only
one Senate candidate – Jeanine Calkin – prevailed.
While the House is
roughly twice the size of the Senate – there are 75 House members and 38
Senators – the Sierra Club saw fit to endorse more than three times as many
House members as senators for the General Election and almost 2.5 times more in
the primary.
No Republicans earned
the endorsement of the local chapter of the Sierra Club, one of the nation’s
best-known environmental advocacy groups.
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.
