Gorham is asking the Board of Elections to declare Urso’s nomination void, which would leave Palocsik as the only Senate District 8 candidate on the Nov. 5 ballot. The Board of Elections is set to take up the matter when it meets at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
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Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairwoman Liz Beretta-Perik said she took extra steps to ensure that the proper process was followed in replacing Cano last week, including a unanimous vote for Urso by the Senate District 8 Democratic Committee.
“We took a lot of extra steps that I thought were necessary in an incredibly short time period,” she said. “We have a letter from the District Committee. If they would like the letter, they can have the letter. That is what we based our decision off of.”
Cano, a Pawtucket Democrat, resigned from the Rhode Island Senate on Thursday amid State House buzz that she’s being vetted by President Biden’s administration for a job with the US Small Business Administration. Cano also withdrew from the Senate District 8 race, just two days after winning an uncontested Democratic primary on Tuesday.
On Friday, Rhode Island Democratic officials picked Urso, president and CEO of the Old Slater Mill Association in Pawtucket, to replace Cano on the ballot. Beretta-Perik sent a letter to Secretary of State Gregg M. Amore, saying the party executive committee had met and voted to submit Urso’s name ahead of Friday’s deadline.
But in a statement Monday, Palocsik announced that she is challenging Urso’s nomination.
“The upcoming hearing at the Board of Elections will reveal how the attempted coronation of a new candidate by the state Democrat Party leaders has failed,” she said. “I am running to represent the interest of the great people of Pawtucket; not the special interests, insiders and party bosses.”
Urso told the Globe that she provided all the information requested by party officials, and that the Senate District 8 committee did vote for her nomination.
“I believe the process was followed,” Urso said. “I am very excited to campaign for the office. It is a huge honor. I was not handed a Senate seat. I was given an opportunity to campaign and run for office, and that is what I’m doing. A coronation is when you install a king or queen. That is not what is happening.”
On Tuesday, Beretta-Perik provided a detailed explanation of the steps the party followed in replacing Cano.
She said she received a phone call at 3:15 p.m. Thursday from John E. Fleming Jr., chief of staff to Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio. She said Fleming was in Secretary of State Gregg M. Amore’s office with Cano, Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien and others, and they alerted her that Cano was resigning.
Beretta-Perik said she spoke with the party’s longtime compliance consultant, Susann Della Rosa, who had also spoken with Deputy Secretary of State Rob Rock. Beretta-Perik said Della Rosa and Rock concurred that party bylaws gave her as the state party chair the power to pick a replacement for Cano.
“But I was uncomfortable with that,” Beretta-Perik said. “I didn’t think it was appropriate that I decide for District 8 who their Senate candidate would be.”
So Beretta-Perik said she asked that the Senate District 8 Democratic Committee vote on the matter, and the committee voted unanimously for Urso on Thursday night. The committee members voting were chairman Kevin Crawley, vice chairman Patrick J. McBurney, Laureen Grebien (who is married to Mayor Grebien), and state Representative Karen Alzate.
“We firmly believe Lori Urso can make an impact in the Senate 8 seat,” those committee members said in a statement. “She was unanimously backed by everyone to support her and vote for her in the upcoming election.”
Beretta-Perik said she asked Urso to send her a letter explaining why she wants to be the Senate candidate, and she asked her team to do a quick background check on Urso’s voting record, campaign contributions, and social media posts. The rapid vetting turned up no problems, she said.
At 11 a.m. Friday, the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee met in Zoom meeting and interviewed Urso for about 30 minutes, Beretta-Perik said. “She really did a very, very good job,” she said.
Beretta-Perik said Urso talked about her role in nonprofits such as the Old Slater Mill Association and the Pettaquamscutt Historical Society, in Kingston. She also talked about working as deputy chief of staff/senior policy adviser and director of executive operations for state General Treasurer James A. Diossa, who is Cano’s fiancé.
She said Diossa, who is the state Democratic Party’s first vice chairman, did not take part in the Zoom call with Urso or vote on her nomination. But the rest of the Democratic State Committee ended up voting unanimously for Urso.
And Beretta-Perik then sent a letter to Amore, stating, “The members of the Executive Committee of the Rhode Island Democratic State Committee met this morning. In accordance with Rhode Island General Laws 17-12-5 and 17-15-38 the committee voted to appoint the following candidate to fill the vacancy for Rhode Island Senate District 8: Lori Urso.”
Gorham said Section 17-15-38 does allow for a substitute nominee for a Senate seat such as this, but he argued that it allows only the Senate district committee to nominate Cano’s replacement.
“It is unclear why the Senate District Committee was not allowed to make the nomination,” Gorham wrote. “According to their report, they were duly organized and could easily have made the nomination, but they did not. In such circumstances, only the Senate District Committee, not the State Committee, may meet, vote, and file such a nomination. They did not, and it is now too late.”
Palocsik thanked Gorham for representing her in the matter before the Board of Elections.
Gorham, a former Republican state legislator from Coventry, said he was asked to represent Palocsik. “I have always believed the General Assembly would be better if there was more balance, and there isn’t,” he said. “It’s perhaps the most one-sided state legislative body in the country, and that is never good for a body politic.”
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.
