Politics & Elections
Election 2026 coverage
Grassroots coalition calls on Redistricting Commission to eliminate Prison Gerrymandering
“Prison gerrymandering unfairly inflates the voting power of whiter, more rural communities while diminishing voting power for more diverse and urban communities. It’s time we end this harmful practice in Rhode Island once and for all," writes Jane Koster, president of the League of Women Voters of Rhode Island.
Rep. Felix calls on redistricting commission to end prison gerrymandering
The RI Redistricting Commission will hold a special hearing on November 10 at 6pm in room 310 the Rhode Island State House to take up the issue of prison gerrymandering.
The RI Redistricting Commission hearing that wasn't
The saddest thing is that this could have been avoided. Instead of stuffing this commission with political insiders that have little interest in redistricting, we could have established an independent redistricting commission.
Redistricting Redux: How RI's redistricting process could wreak havoc on progressive movements and divide communities
Progressive groups have been moving towards electorialism while still engaging in other important organizing work like education and direct action. That shift underscores the importance of the redistricting process as a tool for progressive electoral power in Rhode Island. In the fight against inequality, political bias in redistricting plays a key role, as the conservative Democratic incumbents who control the state legislature will again try to redraw maps to benefit their own electoral chances first and foremost.
A conservative Republican with freckles of libertarianism, Alex Cannon is running for State Senate
"It comes down to solutions," said Senate District 3 candidate Alex Cannon. "There are problems we face as a society. There are solutions that government is authorized to address and is best suited to address. How do we implement good solutions when we use the government to do that?"
A big love for education: Democrat Sam Zurier is running for State Senate
"I have a big love for public education. In the ideal it could bring different parts of our community together. It could allow everybody to achieve the American dream. It would also advance democracy in our country if people were well-educated and that's something I've been working on ever since I went to Classical High School. That's really something I would want to work on."
If RI Redistricting fails to act within 8 days, racist prison gerrymandering will persist for 10 more years
The RI Redistricting Commission is on a time crunch. There are only two more hearings before these preliminary hearings end and Election Data Services takes a few weeks off to draw maps for commission approval. Once the maps are drawn, some changes can be made, but a major overhaul, such as ending prison gerrymandering, will be all but impossible.
Kate Coyne-McCoy surprised RI Democratic Women's Caucus released her letter
"So that's how they want to play. Okay. I sent it as a private letter to them," said Senior Advisor to the Rhode Island Democratic Party Kate Coyne-McCoy. "I didn't want to deal with it in the press, but I guess that's how they want to do it."
Interview: Brett Smiley is running for Mayor of Providence as an experienced administrator
"What I hope is part of the conversation in the year and a half to come is, 'How are we going to properly manage and run the city better and who has the right experience to do that?' That's why I'm excited to do this job," said Providence mayoral candidate Brett Smiley. "I want to actually run a better city."
Rankings Held to Assign Proper Accountability
By this time of the year our full General Assembly rankings sets would normally be published. However, we made the decision last month to hold back our 2021 releases and re-factor our Environmental Rankings to ensure the utmost accountab...