How McKee’s Selection for Lt. Governor Could Impact Providence Mayor's Race
GoLocalProv News Team
How McKee’s Selection for Lt. Governor Could Impact Providence Mayor's Race
The dominos are about to fall and the impact will change the power structure in the Rhode Island State House and may transform the 2022 Providence mayoral race.
Gina Raimondo continues to refuse to resign as governor while her confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Commerce is being blocked by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX).
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe expectation is that Raimondo will be confirmed in late February or early March which will then set off now-Lt. Governor Dan McKee’s accession to the governor’s office and will trigger the need for him to appoint a successor Lt. Governor.
McKee has repeatedly voiced that he will select a candidate for Lt. Governor that will serve in partnership with him -- and he expects to move the Lt. Governor into the governor’s office. De facto, he expects that he and the Lt. Governor he selects would be a team that runs together in the governor's race in 2022.
Domino Effect
On Tuesday, McKee's office released the name of 60 individuals who signed up to be considered to serve as the next Lt. Governor of Rhode Island.
According to multiple sources with direct knowledge, two candidates are emerging as the front runners to be selected to serve as Lt. Governor.
Former Central Falls Mayor James Diossa, a long-time McKee loyalist is the front runner, but he has two weaknesses. One, his wife, Rhode Island State Senator Sandra Cano is leading the effort to unwind additional public charter school seats — directly in conflict with McKee’s greatest success — helping to create the Mayoral Academies.
Second, Diossa does not expand McKee’s northern Rhode Island base. For McKee to be viable in the Democratic primary in 2022, he must expand his political map and Diossa does not help him significantly in Providence — which would be critical in a gubernatorial primary. McKee defeated former State Representative Aaron Regunberg -- a Providence resident -- in 2018 in the Democratic primary by less than 2,500 votes.
Another front runner emerging is Providence City Council President Sabina Matos.
Matos expands McKee into Providence, puts a woman on the “McKee-ticket,” and diversifies his appeal. She is far more liberal than McKee and provides a door into the more progressive elements of the party.
She is also a candidate for Mayor of Providence and via her own $100,000 loan to her campaign has more than $223,000 on hand — more than McKee’s $166,000 cash on hand.
With Matos as McKee's running mate in 2022, that may impact the decision of Regunberg.
On January 7, Regunberg announced he was looking to run for Lt. Governor again in 2022, and said, "We almost got there two years ago, with thousands of volunteers and grassroots donors all across our state. And I know that this time around, together, we can get the job done.”
But, with an incumbent progressive minority woman in office, Regunberg would have to reconsider he option and according to multiple sources may shift to a run for Mayor of Providence.
Regunberg said in an email to GoLocal on January 10, "I also haven't officially announced I'm running [for Lt. Governor], just that I'm exploring a run..."
With Regunberg in the Providence mayor's race, the big loser would be Raimondo's Director of Administration Brett Smiley, who is counting on the East Side of Providence - Wards 1, 2, and 3 as his base.
Smiley already faces one obstacle with Ward 3 Councilor Nirva LaFortune telling supporters that she will be a candidate in 2022. Add Regunberg into the race too and Smiley would only be assured of Ward 2. Regunberg served in the House of Representatives in a district that primarily mirrored Ward 3 and overlapped a portion of Ward 2. Regunberg, arguably the leading progressive in Rhode Island, would also score well in Ward 2.
Three East Side candidates then changes the math for former chief of staff to Nellie Gorbea, Gonzalo Cuervo. If Matos is out of the race and LaFortune, Regunberg and Smiley are battling over the voter rich East Side, Cuervo has a far easier path to City Hall.
McKee's decision could trigger a lot of dominoes to fall.