Mattiello and Shekarchi to Lead Rhode Island House
GoLocalProv News Team and Kate Nagle
Mattiello and Shekarchi to Lead Rhode Island House
As GoLocal reported Thursday afternoon:
Mattiello had 3582 votes to Steve Frias' 3517 in House District 15, after the Board of Elections completed its mail and absentee ballot count on Thursday for its unofficial vote count.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFrias announced following the results that he is not conceding the race, after filing a complaint earlier on Thursday alleging voter fraud in at least one instance, which the Board decided to continue -- meaning if Frias wants to pursue the complaint, the Board will take it up next Wednesday.
Mattiello, who had declared victory on Election Night saying he had the necessary mail ballots after trailing Frias by 147 votes, weighed in following the mail ballot count on Thursday.
"I would like to thank the voters of District 15 in Cranston from the bottom of my heart," said Mattiello in a statement.
New Majority Leader
As GoLocal was first to report prior to Thursday's caucus, Shekarchi had worked for -- and lined up -- the votes necessary to be Majority Leader.
GoLocal reported:
He replaces John DeSimone who was defeated by Marcia Ranglin-Vassell. The election of Shekarchi could mean so many things to the future of the legislature and the House's relationship with the embattled Governor Gina Raimondo.
Shekarchi, who ran Raimondo's campaign for General Treasurer in 2010 will now need to floor manage the House Democrats agenda -- which may be at odds with Raimondo's political efforts. With the Hillary Clinton losing Tuesday to President-elect Donald Trump, Raimondo's dream of a high-level federal appointment is now gone. Raimondo's only political option is to run for reelection
Twin River Ensures Local Approval
The fate of a new Twin River-owned casino in Tiverton was solidified on Thursday, as the Rhode Island Board of Elections finished its tallying of mail and absentee ballots.
After Election Day, the local vote to approve a casino was up 270 votes, but nearly 800 mail ballots were in play.
Following the mail and absentee ballot count, the local vote -- question 8 -- was 4,305 votes approving, to 3,939 voting no.
"We will now begin the process of developing the Twin River-Tiverton Casino-Hotel. We will do so understanding the town’s great sensitivity to the environment; the critical need for traffic improvements near the casino; and the importance of public safety," said Twin River Chairman John Taylor. "As important, residents of Tiverton and those statewide have spoken about what this project means for the local and statewide economy from both a revenue and jobs perspective. Mindful of those possibilities, we will move as expeditiously as possible ensuring to keep the commitments we have made to the town and the state."
"We recognize that our vision for Twin River Tiverton isn’t shared by all. We still have some work to do with respect to earning the trust of those who preferred a different outcome, and to that end, I pledge that we will work very hard to earn that trust," added Taylor. "We take our role as a good corporate citizen quite seriously, and that just doesn’t stop with this successful outcome. Nor does our conversation with the community of Tiverton. We will continue to listen closely and work hard to be a good corporate neighbor in our new community.”
Winners and Losers - 2016 Election
Winner
Joe Trillo and John DePetro
While most Republicans in Rhode Island were hiding in the bushes, Trillo (the former GOP lawmaker) and DePetro (the WPRO talk show host) were loyal advocates for Donald Trump from the beginning and through the rough spots.
Both could be big winners and could score slots with the administration -- want to go to the White House? You now know the rings you need to kiss.
Winner
Donald Trump, President of the United States
The most unlikely candidate pulled off the biggest victory in Presidential history. The billionaire developer was underestimated which set forth much of his success during the primaries and in the election. The next four years will never be dull.
Winner
General Michael Flynn
The Rhode Island native and URI grad will have a major roll in the Trump Administration and America's foreign policy. As top GOP consultant Ian Prior wrote in GoLocal in July about Flynn when he was on the VP shortlist:
Of course, there are any number of national security experts that can prosecute the case against Hillary Clinton, but Flynn is unique. He is a registered Democrat that was appointed by President Obama in 2012 to serve as Director of the DIA. Even more importantly, he resigned two years later over what he believed to be a misguided approach by the administration as it concerned ISIS.
Loser
Nellie Gorbea, Secretary of State
This year's election was one of the the most mismanaged in modern Rhode Island history. First, the Chief-of Staff of the Secretary of State's office gets into a battle with talk show host John DePetro on social media. The action seemed inappropriate at best for the head of the office administering the election.
Then, the state's Presidential election hit a number of rough spots with faulty equipment and a failed repair and triage system that lead to long lines and frustration in a number of communities across the state.
The job of Secretary of State has three major components:
1) Take care of the State's achieves
2) Maintain a database of businesses
3) Run the state's elections
She needs to assure voters that she understands the problems and correct the mistakes.
Loser
Brandon Bell, GOP Chair
Both Democratic Congressional candidates won big. The GOP had a net loss in the legislature.
Bell went all in on taking out Speaker Nick Mattiello -- a pro-business legislator, instead of recruiting a large number of competitive candidates. If Mattiello delivers of paper ballots like his campaign claims - Bell will have wildly miscalculated at every level and will have left the GOP a weaker party.
Losers
Cicilline and Langevin
A Trump win greatly increases the likelihood that Rhode Island will lose a Congressional seat in the next federal redistricting. Rhode Island will be more like Vermont and Delaware -- two Senators and just one House member. This will mean a big loss for Rhode Island's clout in D.C.
Winner
Allan Fung, Republican Mayor of Cranston
Fung had just the kind of night he wanted to have. He ran up big numbers against Democrat Mike Sepe and put parkinggate in his proverbial rear window.
The margin of victory is impressive -- Fung ran up 68% of the vote and has established himself as one of the top Republicans in Rhode Island.
Now, the personable Fung is the GOP frontrunner to challenge Raimondo as it does not look like she is going to Washington, D.C. now.
Loser
RI's Broken Technology Infrastructure
No money, no car, and no vote.
Lets see if we got this right. You have to wait in line to vote in some locations for as much as two hours because not enough scanners were deployed. Some days you can't register your car because the Hewlett-Packard system is not deployed and the state is now suing the company. And, tens of thousands of folks most in need have not been able to get their most critical benefits (or the from benefits) because the UHIP technology was flawed despite hundreds of millions being spent.
Winner
Speaker of the House, Nick Mattiello
If Mattiello does hold on to his House seat, he will be a stronger Speaker than ever before. He has added more Democrats to his majority and was the architect to many of the Democrats victories.
The simmering stress between Mattiello and Raimondo will turn into a vibrant boil over during the next two years. Raimondo was no help to Mattiello or House members -- they had to clean up for her truck tolls and absorb her unwillingness to release 38 Studios documents.
Loser
Gina Raimondo, Governor
Raimondo's options and national political network just took a major blow. No longer can Raimondo jump to the Clinton Administration to avoid a difficult reelection. Moreover, national Democratic connections are now in Siberia as the Presidency, the House and the Senate are all in Republican hands.
Loser
Peter F. Neronha United States Attorney District of Rhode Island
In a short period, it is highly likely the Neronha and a few other high profile political appointees will be replaced by the Trump White House.
The impact of Ray Gallison and others is an unknown.
