Is RI's left turning on itself? General Assembly challenges ignite debate

The Rhode Island Political Cooperative fired the first shot in the next battle for control of the General Assembly on Wednesday, announcing a slate of 2022 candidates, many of them looking to unseat fellow Democrats. 

The progressive group founded in 2019 promising to take on the Democratic Party establishment will field candidates against 11 General Assembly incumbents, nine of them in Democratic primaries.

But some of the Co-op challengers are taking on incumbents who themselves have identified as progressive or have championed important progressive causes, prompting questions about whether the left is turning in on itself.

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The challenges include Co-op member Jennifer Jackson running against Sen. Dawn Euer of Newport, who was the lead Senate sponsor of the Act on Climate, the most aggressive climate-change legislation the state has passed.

And in the House, the Co-op's Tarshire Battle is challenging Rep. Karen Alzate of Pawtucket, who last year was endorsed by the Working Families Party, the progressive group that's organized progressive primary challenges over several cycles. Alzate last week endorsed General Treasurer Seth Magaziner for governor. 

Complaints from within the progressive movement came soon after the announcement of the Co-op slate Wednesday morning.

Former state representative and lieutenant governor candidate Aaron Regunberg called some of the primary challenges "an absurd waste of resources" and suggested egos were involved. 

"As someone who’s dedicating my career to climate action, I find it wild that an ostensibly climate-focused group is primarying [Euer] the senator most instrumental in passing the strongest climate statute we’ve ever had," Regunberg tweeted, "while leaving actual anti-climate Dems unchallenged." 

At the same time, many of the incumbent state lawmakers who ran successfully under the Co-op banner last year are not on the organization's slate of candidates.

Sens. Jonathan Acosta, Tiara Mack and Kendra Anderson; and Rep. Michelle McGaw will run independently of the Co-op in 2022, the organization confirmed. (Incumbent Sen. Jeanine Calkin and Rep. Briana Henries are on the Co-op slate.) 

"Some of our 2020 candidates — because of what we built together last cycle — already have the infrastructure to run their own campaigns this time around," Co-op spokesperson Camilla Pelliccia wrote in an email. "They’re still part of the Co-op community and are listed with our 2020 cohort on the website."

Acosta on Wednesday framed his situation as having "moved to alumni status with the organization."

"We no longer pay dues or have voting power, but we have the same philosophical priorities," he said. "We are not committed to the Co-op slate of candidates."

McGaw described it as a "mutual parting of ways."

"Those of us who won in the last election were reassessing what our needs were for the next election cycle," she said, adding that it was important to her that constituents in her district know what she is advocating for "is what the district wants and not what leadership wants or the Co-op wants or any other outside influence." 

Several Democrats on Wednesday, retweeted environmentalist Bill McKibben crediting Euer, Rep. Lauren Carson and House Majority Leader Chris Blazejewski on the Act on Climate passing.

After last year's election, Rep. Brandon Potter, who unseated a leadership-supported incumbent with the Co-op's backing, was purged from the group before being sworn into office when he voted for K. Joseph Shekarchi for speaker.

“This is about a movement of people across this state taking our government back from the ultrarich and the corporate lobbyists,” Jennifer Rourke, co-chair of the Cooperative and candidate against Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey, said in the news release announcing the Co-op slate.

The Co-op challengers announced Wednesday include several rematches, such as North Providence nurse and Co-op member Lenny Cioe taking on Senate President Dominick Ruggerio; Rourke v. McCaffrey; Maggie Kain challenging Sen. Susan Sosnowski in South Kingstown; Melanie Dupont challenging Sen. Stephen Archambault in Smithfield and Jennifer Douglas taking on Republican Sen. Elaine Morgan of Hopkinton.

Other Coop newcomers are setting up potential races -- pending the upcoming decennial redistricting -- against incumbents who have previously run unopposed. 

They include Clara Hardy challenging Rep. Arthur Corvese in North Providence, Jenna Magnuski challenging Sen. Louis DiPalma on Aquidneck Island and Zak Pereira challenging Rep. Joseph Solomon in Warwick.

And in the general election, the Co-op announced that Michael Niemeyer will be running against Senate GOP leader Dennis Algiere, who has not had a Democratic opponent in a decade. 

panderson@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @PatrickAnderso_