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Rhode Island
Christian Nationalists have plans for Rhode Island
Pastor David Aucoin is not a well-known figure in Rhode Island, but his Christian Nationalist organizing, which has had trouble gaining traction for years, is starting to bear fruit. I wrote about Pastor Aucoin and his Rhode Island Family Institute (RIFI) here when he announced that RIFI was sending three Rhode Island Senate Republicans to a Family Policy Alliance (FPA) “Statesman Academy” in Washington D.C. to “help train and equip legislators to have a Christian Worldview as they carry out their legislative duties.”
RIFI is networked with a host of anti-LGBTQ extremist groups, and on their site, they claim Robert Chiaradio as a board member. Chiaradio last year conducted a tour of Rhode Island school committees and school boards to testify against the life-saving Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Transitioning Student Policies mandated by the Rhode Island Department of Education and federal law. Toward the end of Chiaradio’s year-long tour, he tapped into national Trump agenda trends. He targeted Title IX policies that allow transgender students to play sports on teams that reflected their gender identity. The Republican-controlled United States House of Representatives is currently targeting Title IX.
With Trump due to ascend once more to the Presidency, local Christian Nationalist extremist groups are poised to push the Rhode Island General Assembly to pass laws that target the rights of LGBTQ+ people (but especially trans children) and women.
In a newsletter to his followers, Pastor Aucoin outlined his agenda. [Note: Pastor Aucoin uses terms such as “gender confused” when describing queer, transgender, and gender-diverse children. Pastor Aucoin’s use of such terms is consistent with his bigotry.]
“As we move forward to the new year, we are optimistic that with a new administration in Washington D.C., there will be opportunities to pass legislation that will honor God nationally and in Rhode Island.
“Here are some plans that the Rhode Island Family Institute has to fulfill our mission and make Rhode Island a state where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive, and life is cherished.
“In January, I will be meeting with the Senate and House minority leaders to help them with support for passing pro-family legislation for 2025 in the following areas:
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Banning Gender surgery on minors;
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Removing counseling restrictions for gender-confused minors;
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Enforcing obscenity laws in schools and libraries;
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Promoting School Choice Options to help Private Schools and Home-Schoolers;
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Protecting minors from adult porn websites; and,
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Raising awareness of the dangers associated with recreational marijuana and the need to restrict ‘Pot Shops’ that are multiplying in RI neighborhoods.”
Some notes on the list:
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97% of gender-affirming surgery on minors is breast reduction surgery, and it is performed on cisgender males. These are boys who identify as boys and who don’t want to have breasts.
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In 2017, the General Assembly passed a ban on conversion therapy – a range of dangerous practices that seek to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. RIFI seeks to reverse that ban when they call for “removing counseling restrictions.”
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“Enforcing obscenity laws in schools and libraries” is a call for book banning. Rhode Island has been the target of proposed book bans against books such as Genderqueer. Robert Chiaradio pushed for such a ban in his hometown of Westerly. Bills are being introduced in the General Assembly this year to protect librarians and libraries from these attacks. These bills have failed in prior years.
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School Choice is a nice-sounding name for policies that divert money from public education to private schools, homeschoolers, and religious schools. See here.
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No one wants children accessing inappropriate or misleading information about sex. But we have to be careful how we go about “protecting minors” when we take on complex First Amendment-impacting legislation.
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Currently, cannabis is legally available in Rhode Island. Public health notices about the potential dangers of cannabis use may be appropriate, but restricting so-called “pot shops” has to be done in a way that does not further the racist policies of the failed war on drugs.
Pastor Aucoin said he will meet with Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz and House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale to discuss RIFI’s priorities. One might hope these Republican legislators will be wise enough to reject most of RIFI’s ideas. Still, in the likely event that they are not so wise, I hope that the General Assembly will not only reject RIFI’s Christian Nationalist agenda but take action to protect Rhode Islanders from it.
Bonus: Here’s a video of Pastor Aucoin calling for the reopening of churches during Covid:
Hear about the $30 million in infrastructure money for Tidewater
Pawtucket’s Tidewater Landing project gets $30 million for infrastructure
PROVIDENCE – Former CVS executive Helena Foulkes still leads Gov. Dan McKee by double-digits in the Democratic primary race for governor, but her whopping 34-point lead of last April has shrunk to 20 points in the wake of McKee’s TV attack ads, according to a new University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll.
The survey sampled 337 likely 2026 Democratic state primary voters, 145 likely Republican state primary voters and 664 likely general election voters between June 18 and June 23.
Among the key findings of the survey:
If the Democratic primary had been held while the survey was underway, 42% of likely primary voters would have chosen Foulkes and 22% would have chosen McKee, with restaurant owner Gregory Stevens and Wil Gregersen each getting 1%, the poll said. Thirty-one percent of respondents were undecided.
“Pluralities of moderates (46%), liberals (46%), and progressives (46%) support Foulkes, while two-thirds of socialists (66%) are undecided. McKee does best among those aged 65 and older (31%) but still trailsFoulkes (46%) among this group,” according to this poll.
McKee has narrowed the gap somewhat since the last UNH poll in April, when 45% of likely primary voters chose Foulkes and only 11% McKee.
Bottom line: Incumbent McKee, a former Cumberland mayor and lieutenant governor who has been governor since his predecessor Gina Raimondo quit mid-term in March 2021, “remains quite unpopular among likely Democratic primary voters: only 18% have a favorable opinion of him, 56% have an unfavorable opinion,” according to the poll released on Tuesday, June 30.
And then there’s this: In a hypothetical matchup between Foulkes, whoever emerges as the Republican nominee and independent Ken Block, the poll showed 38% of likely general election voters would vote for Foulkes, 22% would vote for the Republican nominee and 19% for Block.
If, however, McKee won the Democratic nomination, the potential matchup “would be very close,” with both McKee and Block getting 27% of the likely general election vote and the GOP nominee 23%; 2% would vote for another candidate. Twenty-one percent were undecided, according to the poll.
The poll is the latest in a string of bad news for the 74-year-old McKee, including his failure to clinch the endorsement of the state Democratic Party on June 20.
Depending on how you do the math, he fell three votes short of the endorsement, making him the first Democratic governor in Rhode Island to fail to win his party’s endorsement for a reelection bid since the modern primary system was created in 1948.
In the days since, Foulkes has racked up city and town Democratic committee endorsements, while McKee has only won endorsements from Pawtucket and North Providence Democrats. On Tuesday, June 30, he touted one more from the East Providence Democratic City Committee.
But McKee campaign spokeswoman Sophie Mestas hailed the poll as evidence that “the more Rhode Islanders learn about Helena Foulkes – a corporate executive who built her career on cutting healthcare access and fueling the opioid crisis – the more they want no part of her empty promises.
“More Rhode Islanders now view her unfavorably than favorably, and it’s not hard to see why,” Mestas said. “Rhode Islanders know the difference between a Governor who delivers for them and an executive who cashed in at their expense – and they’re choosing the Governor who’s always fought for working families.”
Her statement reflects disputed allegations in McKee’s TV ads about Foulkes’ record.
On the Republican front, those surveyed chose retired comedian Elaine Pelino, who has campaigned almost exclusively on Facebook (38%), over the state GOP’s endorsed candidate, Aaron Guckian (19%), an advance man and driver for former Gov. Donald Carcieri who most recently worked for the Rhode Island Dental Association.
Flying athletes in with the Special Olympics Airlift
Getting athletes to the games takes more than airplanes. Textron Aviation coordinates the effort while AccuWeather provides forecasting support to make weather-informed decisions.
Rhode Island athletes took home five gold medals, nine silver medals and 11 bronze medals at 2026 Special Olympics USA Games in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which wrapped up on June 26.
The Rhode Island Special Olympians left for the games in private jets provided by Textron on June 15. A total of 50 members, including 24 athletes and their families, traveled to represent and cheer on Rhode Island.
“Once we went to the hangar on the way out to Minnesota, and there was a big rally, my husband Steve and I were looking at each other saying, ‘This is big. This is huge being invited to the USA games,’” Rena Megrdichian, mother of softball player Garen Megrdichian, said. “I guess we just didn’t realize what an honor this whole process was.”
After preliminary events on June 22 to group athletes accordingly, the medal rounds across multiple sports began the next day.
Rhode Island picked up three gold medals, three silver medals and four bronzes in bowling, swimming, powerlifting and track and field events on June 23. Despite the heavy medal count for the smallest state, one athlete’s finish went viral on social media.
Thomas Poirier, of North Providence, was placed in lane 5 of group 4 in the 400-meter after finishing fifth in his preliminary race with a time of 1:20.54. The race started, and Poirier hustled as hard as he could, but coming into the final 100 meters, he found himself in fourth place. Then, he kicked it into another gear. He passed the runner in third, then second and suddenly he was gaining on the leader he was about 25 meters behind just a few seconds prior. With 25 meters left to go, Poirier passed Noah Lamusga, of Minnesota, and took the lead and the gold medal.
Poirier finished with a time of 1:17.24, three seconds faster than his time in the preliminaries.
“I saw my time in the prelims, and I was like ‘That’s good, but I just need to work harder,’ and so I did,” Poirier said.
The clip of him running the final 100 meters and his post-race interview where he says, “Rhode Island… I’m coming home golden,” currently has over 100,000 likes on Instagram.
“At first I was a little embarrassed, but I slowly and surely got used to it,” Poirier said. “I’m not used to getting fame like this.”
Poirier’s mom, Dora, was able to attend the games with her husband and daughter, Poirier’s twin sister. When they saw Thomas cross the finish line, the only emotions they could convey were shock and tears of joy.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Dora said. “We’re like, ‘Oh my god, he actually might do this.’ I honestly couldn’t believe that he did it. We hoped he would come home with something. I was so happy for him, overjoyed.”
Dora said that the family had no idea that Thomas had gone viral until later that night. They had received a few videos of friends recording the TV when the race first ended, but they kept receiving more videos, and that’s when they realized he had his viral social media moment.
Thomas also competed in the 200-meter run and 4 x 100-meter relay, where he won silver in both with a time of 30.59 and 1:07.83, respectively.
Thomas noted that the quick turnaround to compete in the three events was hard, but he knew he had to power through.
“It was definitely a little hard, but I slowly adapted to it, and I gave it my all,” Thomas said. “In the end, that other guy was just a little faster, but I still gave it my all, and I’m happy with what I came home with.”
Another one of Rhode Island’s five gold medals came from the softball team. The team had lost its first two group stage games 17-8 and 18-3 against Delaware and Connecticut, respectively, on June 22. They were able to salvage one win, a 12-9 victory against Arkansas the next day, before losing to Florida in its final group stage game on June 24.
The team suffered a couple of injuries during the group stage games, one of which was Jamar Abney, who suffered a hand injury in the final group stage game. Abney’s injury was a rallying cry for the rest of the team as they developed a slogan, “Win for Jamar,” that would define the rest of the team’s run, according to Special Olympics Rhode Island President and CEO Edwin Pacheco.
In the first game of the medal round, Rhode Island was paired up against Arkansas once more. The team was down 9-3 at one point but rallied back in extra innings to pull off the 11-10 win and advance to the gold medal game.
“The enthusiasm, the excitement that came from the team was just contagious,” Pacheco said. “You think about all the memorable moments, whether it be the Red Sox or the Patriots, and these come-from-behind wins that people still talk about 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 years later, that game between Rhode Island and Arkansas was one of those moments.”
In the championship, it was another rematch, this time with Connecticut. No miracles or comebacks were needed in this game, though, as Rhode Island won 21-7 to take home the gold.
“I feel like in the gold medal match, I thought we had a lot of energy coming into this game,” said Garen Megrdichian, of Hope. “We had some urgency, and we had some confidence, so I’m really happy that we got the gold medal, and I’m just happy for our guys.”
Garen’s mom Rena attended the games and watched her son and his team’s run to the gold medal. The emotions ran high throughout the week.
“The nail-biting and anxiety that the parents go through watching them go through all this, it really was a nail-biter,” Rena Megrdichia said. “We couldn’t be more proud. We really couldn’t be more proud of what not only Garen accomplished, but this whole team, how they came together, [and] how they supported one another.”
She spoke about the team’s camaraderie despite the struggles and the emotions all the parents felt after they took home the gold.
“They just kept saying, ‘We’re going to win this for Jamar,’ and not only did they FaceTime Jamar right after the game, [but they also] called his mother to say we won this for Jamar. So, the support they all had for each other – we were just in tears. It was just one of those times where they overcame being beaten down and not doing well, and then all of a sudden, they turned it around, and they did very, very well.”
Megrdichian’s mom noted that the teams, despite it being a competition, all became friends with one another.
“They want to play each other again,” Rena Megrdichia said. “That’s how much playing against them meant to them that they would love to get together again and play these teams again. Because it was so fun for them and they really enjoyed it.”
Poirier and Megrdichian both described just getting the call that they had made it to the USA Games as a “dream come true,” and that earning the gold medal just added to an already incredible experience.
Special Olympics Rhode Island invites any Rhode Islander with an intellectual or developmental disability to join the organization and participate in a sport at no cost, according to Pacheco.
Find the full results of the USA Games here.
Local News
The vehicle’s three occupants are believed to still be inside.
A car carrying a family of three went into the Seekonk River in Rhode Island Sunday evening, authorities said.
The vehicle entered the river near the Taft Street boat ramp shortly before 7:30 p.m., Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said in a statement.
A bystander riding a jet ski heard the car dive into the water and attempted to help, while another witness called 911, according to Goncalves.
First responders arrived within three minutes of the emergency call, Goncalves noted.
The vehicle’s three occupants are believed to still be inside, The Boston Globe reported.
Recovery efforts resumed Monday, with Pawtucket police and fire personnel working alongside Rhode Island State Police and other state agencies to remove the vehicle from the river, Goncalves said.
“Conditions are extremely challenging for dive teams due to the strong current and poor underwater visibility,” she added.
A video released by the Globe shows the car being recovered from the water Monday afternoon.
Authorities have not released the identities or conditions of the occupants.
“We ask that you please keep the family and their loved ones in your prayers as our first responders continue recovery efforts,” Goncalves said.
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