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Rhode Island
Independent state Senate candidate challenges R.I. Democratic Party’s nomination of Urso to replace Cano on ballot – The Boston Globe
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.
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.
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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