Joe Powers reelected to lead RI GOP for two more years. What his challenger said.

• Rhode Island Republicans on Saturday reelected Joe Powers to a second term as party chairman.
• Powers won 111-45 against challenger Jessica Drew-Day, who had questioned his effectiveness in getting Republicans elected during his first term.
• Former House Republican leader Patricia Morgan sought to postpone the vote, alleging that Powers had eliminated voters to secure his victory, but she was ruled out of order.

Rhode Island Republicans on Saturday reelected Joe Powers to a second term leading the state party.

Powers defeated Jessica Drew-Day 111-45 in the vote for party chairman at a meeting at the Event Factory in Warwick. Three other members of his slate of party officer candidates also won.

“Now is the time to unite, put differences aside, and get to work implementing our game plan to grow the party, engage voters, and advance conservative solutions that benefit all Rhode Islanders,” Powers said in a news release after the victory.

Niyoka Powell was elected vice chairman over Angelo Kapsimalis, 129-29.

Mary Lou Sanborn was elected party secretary over former House Republican leader and U.S. Senate candidate Patricia Morgan 118-36.

Linda Jamison was elected treasurer. She was unopposed.

Powers, a 52-year-old Cranston real estate agent, was first elected chairman in 2023. Most of the Rhode Island GOP establishment backed his bid for another term.

Powers’ leadership effectiveness questioned

Drew-Day, of South Kingstown, had been Powers’ vice chair for the last two years but challenged how effective he has been getting Republicans elected, even as Donald Trump was elected president and came closer to winning Rhode Island than any GOP presidential candidate in decades.

Republicans currently hold 14 seats in the 113-seat Rhode Island General Assembly.

Both Powers and Drew-Day have run unsuccessfully for seats in the state House of Representatives in the past.

Morgan accuses Powers of eliminating voters

Morgan, who had a turbulent relationship with some fellow House Republicans, backed Drew-Day and Kapsimalis as part of an alternative to Powers’ slate of candidates.

The morning of the vote she accused Powers of eliminating “more than a dozen” voters by not recognizing city committees in her hometown of West Warwick as well as Burrillville and Pawtucket. She moved to postpone the election of party officers but was ruled out of order.

“Joe has outdone Xi Jinping,” Morgan wrote to the media before the vote, referring to the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. “In this case, Joe clearly knows he is losing to Jessica Drew-Day and her slate and must eliminate votes that he knows will go against him.”

Powell called for party unity after the vote.

“Being the minority party in this state means nothing is handed to you and you have to work twice as hard in a constant uphill battle,” Powell said. “Only together do we rise.”