I can’t do justice to the data collected here in this piece, but I can offer some highlights and encourage people to explore the data themselves. Thank you to the tireless researchers who provided me with this data.
Data from the Rhode Island Board of Elections ERTS showing contributions to the campaigns of Providence City Council Ward 6 candidate Jenny Mercado and Ward 12 candidates Belen Florez and Robert Ricci paint a not-so-pretty picture of landlords, lobbyists, charter school activists, and conservative Democratic politicians (many who don’t live in the city) spending hundreds and thousands of dollars to unseat incumbent progressive Democrats Miguel Sanchez (Ward 6) and Althea Graves (Ward 12).
See the data here
Who is contributing? The following is a smattering:
Landlords
Former Providence Mayor and influential downtown Providence real estate investor and landlord Joseph Paolino Jr. donated $2000 to Robert “Bob” Ricci to unseat Althea Graves, who was one of the nine city councilmembers to support the rent stabilization bill vetoed by Mayor Brett Smiley.
Controversial landlord Dustin Dezube, who some activists have called a slumlord, gave $250 to Bob Ricci.
Charter School Advocates
Carol Aguasvivas and Victor Capellan both work for the Rhode Island Collective for Education, a charter school advocacy group, and contributed $650 and $250, respectively. Though the Collective frames its mission around equitable public education, it actively lobbies and organizes support for public charter school expansion.
Conservative Democratic Politicians
Jenny Mercado, appointed to the Providence School Board by Mayor Brett Smiley, received a $500 check from the mayor for her effort to unseat councilmember Sanchez, an outspoken progressive. [See below for more on Brett Smiley’s contributions.]
North Providence Mayor Charles Lombardi and a majority of the North Providence Town Council want to see Graves, the popular, longtime community advocate, unseated and replaced with Democratic Party insider Bob Ricci.
Conservative Representative Arthur Corvese (Democrat, District 55, North Providence) gave $200 to Bob Ricci. Corvese is not a Providence resident.
The entire Rhode Island State Senate Leadership team, Valerie Lawson and David Tikoian, gave Bob Ricci contributions. Of course, Ricci worked with all of them as Secretary of the Senate from 2017 to 2022, so maybe it’s a friendship thing. This might also explain the contribution he received from Senator Jacob Bissaillon and the Friends of [the late Senate President] Dominic Ruggerio PAC.
There is more to the list than can be easily digested, $44,081.74 worth in fact. Given that a run for city council typically costs between $ 10,000 and $15,000, $44,000 for two races suggests forces are very interested in preserving landlords’ profits and eroding public education unions through the expansion of charter schools. (For instance, the three candidates running for the open Ward 3 City Council seat have so far spent a combined $27,000 according to the Providence Journal.)
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley is spending quite a bit of money to influence elections, which is unsurprising, since he is outspending his opponent, State Representative David Morales, by around 10 to 1. In other words, he has money to spare and isn’t shy about using it. Some of his spending is going towards propping up city councilmembers who voted against rent stabilization, such as John Goncalves, Ana Vargas, Pedro Espinal, and Oscar Vargas. He is also supporting candidates challenging progressive city councilmembers such as Joseph Casoli (challenging Justin Roias in Ward 4).
Mayor Smiley is also supporting allies in the General Assembly, such as Speaker of the House Christopher Blazejewski, Senate President Valerie Lawson, Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone, Representative Nathan Biah, Senator Samuel Zurier, Senator Jake Bissillion, Senator Tiara Mack, Representative Scott Slater, and Representative Ramon Perez. He is also supporting Santos Javier, who is running against Enrique Sanchez in District 4, and Jo-Ann Ryan, who is running to take the Open District 7 seat. In Ryan’s case, the Mayor has thrown $2000, the maximum contribution, into the race.
Mayor Smiley gave $1000 to Representative Perez, a Democrat whose campaign was run by the head of the Providence Republican Party, David Tallon, and who has consistently voted against reproductive healthcare rights while introducing bills to undermine them permanently.
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The money around politics in this state is gross. I know this happens everywhere, but it feels like an especially tricky web here.
Too bad all this money is not being used to help food banks given the current cost of groceries
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