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Construction lifts, staging and storage are shown on the grounds at the entrance to Belcourt Castle at 657 Bellevue Ave., Newport on the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 9, 2024. (Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)
Democratic party fundraisers appear to be still looking for a venue to host Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the coming weeks, and it’s unclear just how long the guest of honor could stay at such an event.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is invited to attend a fundraiser that organizers hope will raise $500,000, said Rhode Island Democratic National Committeeman Joe Paolino Jr.
Paolino, who is among those working to put the event together, on Friday reiterated the state party’s message that no details have been finalized.
“That’s all I can tell you. I’d hate to speculate since I don’t have all the facts,” Paolino said in an interview. “We want to do something, and if they tell us the date, we’ll be there for them.”
WPRI first reported that an invitation it had obtained suggested Walz would attend an event on Friday, Aug. 16, in Newport.
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi told the Boston Globe Wednesday that the “plan is to host something in Newport next Friday at Belcourt (Castle).” But the grounds of the mansion on Bellevue Avenue in Newport owned by Carolyn Rafaelian is being used as a construction staging area for an event across the street at the Miramar estate through Aug. 18, said the house manager David Bettencourt.
Bettencourt deferred to Rafaelian for comment, but she did not immediately respond to a message.
“That was one of many options,” House spokesperson Larry Berman said Friday of Belcourt Castle. Berman could not immediately answer how many venues were being considered.
City of Newport spokesperson Tom Shevlin told Rhode Island Current he was not aware of any assigned police details for a major fundraising event over the next week. Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairwomen Liz Beretta-Perik did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Whenever and wherever the state’s high-profile Democratic donors meet, Paolino said any money raised will go toward the Harris-Walz campaign efforts in battleground states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
“We need them there in order to win this election,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Harris-Walz campaign did not return a request for comment. Since Walz’s selection as Harris’ running mate Tuesday, Democrats have raised over $78 million in donations through their ActBlue platform, according to a third-party tracker.
This is a developing story.
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WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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