RI's Presidential Electors Vote for Clinton & Kaine
GoLocalProv Political Team
RI's Presidential Electors Vote for Clinton & Kaine
The four presidential electors are Representative Grace Diaz, Frank J. Montanaro, Herbert Claiborne Pell, and L. Susan Weiner.
As stated in Title 3, Chapter 1 of the U.S. Code, electors representing the political party of the candidate who wins the popular vote for president in each state officially elect the president and vice president by casting votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. The number of electors from each state is equal to the number of representatives and senators it has in Congress.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTSee more on the electoral college in the charts below
Clinton and her vice-presidential running mate Kaine won the election in Rhode Island on November 8, so the presidential electors for Rhode Island were chosen by the state Democratic Party.
On January 6, 2017, Vice President Joe Biden will preside over a joint session of Congress. The certificates from the electors of each state will be opened in alphabetical order by state and read aloud to Congress.
After the votes are counted, the vice president will announce the results and will call for any objections. All objections must be made in writing and include the signature of at least one representative and one senator.
If there are no objections and one candidate for president and one candidate for vice president have received at least 270 of the 538 Electoral College votes, November’s election results will be official.
The Ceremony
The ceremony started at noon on Monday when Kentish Guards in colonial military attire escorted Governor Raimondo, Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea, the Honorable William E. Smith, the state’s Congressional delegation, Postmaster Ronald Pauline, Rhode Island’s Presidential Electors, and other dignitaries from the State Library to the House Chamber, where the event took place.
Ponaganset High School Chamber Chorus from Glocester sang the national anthem and the Rev. Israel Mercedes gave the invocation.
This year middle and high schools that participated in mock presidential elections also attended the event to see the process through to the casting of the electoral college votes.
“Civic engagement goes beyond voting in a presidential election. There are ways you all can make a difference in your schools and in your communities. This sort of civic involvement and selfless dedication towards others will be critical to our success as a state,” said Secretary Gorbea.
See more on the electoral college in the charts below
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.
