Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

But its cash flow woes are even worse than previously aired in public. The national hospital chain operator owes more than $1 billion to more than 100,000 creditors, but has just $3.4 million cash on hand, Paul Rundell, Prospect’s chief restructuring officer, wrote in testimony ahead of a federal bankruptcy court hearing in Dallas on Tuesday.

“It is my understanding that, without post-petition financing, the Debtors will be unable to meet their next payroll cycle,” Rundell wrote in the Jan. 13 filing.

Prospect declares bankruptcy, says sale of Roger Williams and Fatima hospitals will continue

Even Chris Callaci, who represents the 1,200 United Nurses & Allied Professionals members who work for Prospect’s Rhode Island facilities, was taken aback.

“That was more grave than we thought in terms of a brush with disaster of not making payroll,” Callaci said in an interview on Wednesday. “We thought they had access to a little more capital.”

The 12,500 Prospect hospital employees, including the 2,500 in Rhode Island, will get their next paycheck, after a federal bankruptcy judge in Dallas authorized a $100 million line of credit on Tuesday.

Not that it offered much assurance to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, whose office has been keeping close tabs on Prospect’s management of Roger Williams and Fatima for the last decade. Anticipating the potential for bankruptcy, Neronha’s office also brought on New York bankruptcy attorney Andrew Troop last year; Troop attended the hearing in Dallas Tuesday on the AG’s behalf.

“We wanted to be ready,” Neronha said in an interview on Wednesday.

In search of investors

But the proactive approach may not be enough to save Rhode Island’s safety net hospitals, whose fates hinge on their cash-strapped owners’ ability to drum up the money to sell the facilities. The $80 million sale to The Centurion Foundation was expected to close this month, following a yearslong application and review process, which included a set of 85 conditions set by state regulators.

Both Prospect and Centurion insist they still intend to go through with the deal, using a clause in federal bankruptcy code that allows debtors to sell certain assets through private sale, according to court documents.

But first, they have to finish securing the $160 million in financing — $80 million for the sticker price of the sale plus another $80 million injected directly into hospital operations — required by state regulators. Neronha said Wednesday the companies had not finished raising the funds required.

Callaci doubted Prospect would be able to entice investors, given its bankruptcy declaration, and feared the company would ask state regulators to ease up on the financial strings attached to the sale.

Neronha maintained that his office did not intend to change its conditions. Joseph Wendelken, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Department of Health, said in an email Wednesday that the agency was “committed to ensuring the hospitals have new ownership.”

Dr. Jerry Larkin, state health director, stressed the importance of keeping Roger Williams and Fatima open in pre-filed testimony to the federal bankruptcy court. The two hospitals, with 500 beds between them, account for more than 50,000 emergency room visits per year. Together they have 104 beds for behavioral health patients, representing more than 20% of behavioral health beds available statewide.

“It is certain that an abrupt closure of RWMC and/or OLF will disproportionately impact vulnerable and underserved populations, creating deeper inequities in access to care,” Larkin wrote. “The closure of these RI safety net hospitals would overwhelm RI’s healthcare system and create significant barriers to care for individuals already facing profound health disparities.”

Surgeries rescheduled

Not that operations have been running smoothly now. Rundell testified in bankruptcy court Tuesday that the company also owes millions of dollars to vendors at its 16 hospitals, forcing delays in surgeries, according to news reports.

Otis Brown, a spokesperson for CharterCARE Health Partners, Prospect’s Rhode Island subsidiary, confirmed in an email Wednesday that two spine surgeries scheduled for that day in Rhode Island had been moved to Monday, Jan. 20 because a vendor “unexpectedly requested pre-payment.”

“We are actively working with them to resolve it,” Brown said of the payment problem, adding that the rescheduling of surgeries was “without incident.”

It’s not the first time the hospital operator let bills at its Rhode Island hospitals pile up. In November 2023, Neronha’s office sued Prospect for missing $24 million in payments to vendors at Roger Williams and Fatima, forcing elective surgeries to be canceled due to lack of staff, supplies and equipment. Paying its bills on time and keeping day-to-day operations running was one of a host of conditions set by Neronha’s office in 2021, when Prospect’s ownership composition changed.

A Providence Superior Court judge sided with Neronha, demanding Prospect fork over the longest overdue vendor payments — $17 million — and blasting the company for using its Rhode Island hospitals as a “line of credit” to pay off debts elsewhere. A Prospect executive confirmed it had paid the $17 million balance as of July, but in November, filed a new affidavit that the company again let bills pile up beyond the 90-day payment deadline.

Prospect intended to rectify the late payments by the time its pending sale of Roger Williams and Fatima to The Centurion Foundation closed at the end of January 2025, George Pillari, Prospect’s senior vice president and chief performance officer, wrote in the Nov. 15 Rhode Island Superior Court filing.

“For years, they’ve been playing this game of slow walking on paying their bills, gimmicks like that to save a buck,” Callaci said. “Our guys consistently, for years, have been telling us it’s a struggle to do their jobs in a timely fashion.”

Union members who work at Roger Williams and Fatima had not indicated that daily operations had worsened in recent weeks, Callaci said.

While the union railed against the pending sale to Centurion, citing the debt financing used to fund the deal and Centurion’s lack of experience, Callaci now considers hospital closure a worse outcome.

McKee ‘missing in action’

Potential buyers were few when Prospect first sought interest in 2023. And Neronha isn’t hopeful that the pool will be larger now, given Rhode Island’s uncompetitive reimbursement rates relative to neighboring states, and his criticism of Gov. Dan McKee.

McKee attempts to rally his team in 2025 State of the State

McKee in his 2025 State of the State Tuesday night acknowledged Prospect’s financial crisis with a single line, saying he was “in conversations” with Prospect and Centurion executives.

Neronha, who sat in the front row for the packed State House event, called McKee’s statement “meaningless.”

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Neronha said Wednesday. “He’s not involved in any talks with Prospect.”

Callaci blasted McKee for being “missing in action.”

“He ought to be making unequivocal affirmative commitments to the 2,500 to 3,000 people who work in that system and the tens of thousands of people who use those facilities,” Callaci said. “He’s chief executive officer of this state. It is his job to do the job.”

Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for McKee’s office, offered further explanation on McKee’s State of the State remarks in an email Wednesday.

“Discussions have centered on a potential carve-out for Prospect’s Rhode Island facilities and ensuring that the sale of Roger Williams and Fatima moves forward,” DaRocha said.

She did not respond to requests for comment on criticisms of the governor made by Callaci and Neronha.

A second hearing on Prospect’s request for short-term financing is set for Feb. 12 in federal bankruptcy court in Dallas.

Updated to include comment from Gov. Dan McKee’s office and from the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Forty-five years and a world of ideological differences separate Senate President Dominick Ruggerio from Sen. Tiara Mack.

But that didn’t stop Mack, a 30-year-old Black, queer woman who describes herself as an abortion fundraiser, from pounding the pavement in North Providence for 75-year-old Ruggerio in his primary against progressive challenger Lenny Cioe.

“I’ve talked with Lenny as well, he’s a good friend of mine,” Mack, a two-term incumbent representing Providence’s Senate District 6, said in an interview on Monday, the day before the primary election. “But I’ve also been happy with the leadership under the current Senate President.”

The alliance between Mack and Ruggerio was one of the more surprising partnerships showcased on social media leading up to Sept. 10 primary, in spite of, or perhaps because of, the lack of competitive elections.

I am grateful to every single person who has helped out on our campaign. You have my back, and I will always have yours. Your efforts have led us to success #TeamRuggerio pic.twitter.com/vMslrQFLkX
— Dominick Ruggerio (@SenatorRuggerio) September 8, 2024

More than half of the 105 state lawmakers running for reelection are unopposed in both the primary and general elections, Mack among them. Just 12 sitting lawmakers, all Democrats, faced primary challengers, including Ruggerio, who defeated Cioe with more than 70% of the vote, according to unofficial results published by the Rhode Island Board of Elections.

Mack canvassed for Ruggerio once during the summer, devoting most of her time to help fellow Providence progressive Enrique Sanchez in his reelection bid for Providence House District 9. Mack also knocked on doors in Westerly for peace activist Jonathan Daly-LaBelle, who lost by 30 percentage points to incumbent Democratic Rep. Samuel Azzinaro in the House District 37 primary.

Sanchez and Daly-LaBelle’s progressive platforms more closely align with Mack, who ran under the backing of the Rhode Island Political Cooperative in 2020. But Ruggerio, known for conservative stances on gun rights and abortion access, has also voted in favor of some progressive-led policies, including a 2024 bill sponsored by Mack making it easier for residents to change their names in municipal probate court. The policy signed into law by Gov. Dan McKee on June 27 was praised for inclusion and safety for members of the LGBTQ+ community and domestic violence victims.

In 2023, Ruggerio also cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee that allowed the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act to advance to the full Senate, where it also passed and was signed into law.

The most senior senator has not budged on his opposition to other progressive priorities, like passing an assault weapons ban.

Which is why Mack’s support for Ruggerio rankles Sen. Sam Bell.

“That was absolutely the wrong decision,” Bell, a Providence Democrat representing District 5, said in an interview. “It’s disrespectful for any Democrat to canvas for, or in any way support, the Senate president. His values are not the values of Democratic voters.”

Bell attributed Mack’s support for Ruggerio to political pressure.

She framed it differently.

“Elections are only one piece of the puzzle in getting good legislation passed,” she said. “I have seen how to build movements, and I recognize the work of leadership to prioritize my bills. Democracy is not about agreeing 100%.”

Rep. Brandon Potter, speaking on iGaming legislation on the House floor on June 15, 2023. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

‘You’re much better off having a good relationship with him’

It’s also not about personal vendettas.

But that’s what Cranston Rep. Brandon Potter says drove Ruggerio to recruit a Democratic challenger to run against Potter in his reelection bid for House District 16. Potter, a progressive Democrat aligned with the Rhode Island Working Families Party, accused Ruggerio of recruiting Joseph Graziano to run against him after Potter voted against Ruggerio’s iGaming bill in 2023. Ruggerio and Graziano both denied these allegations.

Potter, who trounced Graziano with more than 75% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary, said he understood why progressives might align themselves with Ruggerio.

“He’s one of the most powerful people in the state,” Potter said in an interview on Thursday. “It’s not a crazy concept to understand that you’re much better off having a good relationship with him than having a poor relationship with him if you are able.”

Especially in Rhode Island, where power rests almost entirely with legislative leaders, who control which bills advance to their respective chambers for votes.

“If you’re a rank and file member and you want to have any success with legislation, it might be wise to support the leader,” John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said.

Mack and Ruggerio are hardly the first example of a surprising alliance within the Rhode Island Democratic Party. Among the most unlikely Democratic duos was former Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea and former House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello. Gorbea knocked on doors for the former House leader in his 2016 reelection bid, despite their opposing views on abortion access and gun safety, among other issues.

Still, some lines are too far to cross.

“You wouldn’t see Brian Newberry doorknocking with Joe Shekarchi,” said Marion, referring respectively to the Republican House minority leader and the Democratic House speaker.

Legislative leaders’ control extends beyond the confines of the State House. Particularly for Shekarchi, a top fundraiser who can share his campaign wealth, along with that of the legislative PAC, with candidates of his choosing.

“Leadership controls the party machine,” Marion said. “Many of the employees from the General Assembly volunteer on campaigns. So leadership signaling support for a rank-and-file candidate is also a signal to the machine they control.”

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi is shown at the podium in the House chamber on the last night of the 2024 legislative session on Thursday, June 13, 2024. (Will Steinfeld/Rhode Island Current)

Shekarchi’s sphere of influence

Shekarchi said in an interview that his support drew upon personal relationships, not policies. He backed every incumbent Democratic representative, offering sizable campaign donations of $1,000 to many of them, including Potter and progressive Pawtucket Rep. Cherie Cruz, according to campaign finance statements filed with the Rhode Island Board of Elections.

One exception to Shekarchi’s generous donation list: Sanchez, one of three Democratic representatives to abstain in the vote to reelect Shekarchi as speaker in 2023.

“I am not involved in that race at all,” Shekarchi said. “Enrique didn’t vote for me, but I don’t hold that against him. Honestly, I don’t think my support would really be a welcome asset in that race.”

Sanchez secured a second term after beating his two Democratic, primary challengers with more than 50% of the vote.

On the other end of the spectrum, conservative Democratic Rep. Charlene Lima, of Cranston, enjoyed Shekarchi’s support and a $1,000 campaign contribution, despite the policy differences over gun safety, abortion access, and, during the pandemic, school masking requirements.

Lima, a three-decade legislator, also touted an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Jack Reed on her campaign website. She ultimately defeated Working Families Party-backed challenger Giona Picheco by a 14-percentage-point margin.

Georgia Hollister Isman, New England regional director of the Working Families Party, acknowledged the influence that top name endorsements lend to candidates. In Lima’s case, Reed’s endorsement “legitimized” her policies in a way that might be misleading, given her conservative voting record, Hollister Isman said.

Lima and Reed did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment.

Still, no single legislative leader, no matter how powerful, can determine the election outcome.

“Nobody matters as much as voters in the district,” Hollister Isman said. “It’s a cliche thing to say, but it’s true.”

Hence, why Potter never truly considered Graziano a serious threat to his reelection bid.

“I am known to be a really strong campaigner,” he said. “I was in a pretty strong electoral position.”

Potter continued, “From what we saw not just in my race, in many other races, voters care about people who are focusing on issues and paying attention, and they support people who are really fighting for core Democratic values.”

Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com. Follow Rhode Island Current on Facebook and X.

A $200 political donation is hardly a game-changing sum for Rep. Marvin Abney of Newport, or Rep. Scott Slater of Providence, Rhode Island.

But the pair of contributions to the top two lawmakers on the House Committee on Finance from Citizens Bank’s political action committee came a day before the panel approved a revised fiscal 2025 budget. They were part of Citizens’ session-long spending strategy to drum up support for a controversial bank tax rewrite.

The political check-writing appears to have paid off. The bill signed into law by Gov. Dan McKee on June 24 will reduce Citizens’ state property tax bill by allowing the bank to eliminate in-state payroll and property from what it owes.

The Rhode Island-based financial services giant celebrated the win for its wallet, bringing the Ocean State in line with Massachusetts, which enacted a similar tax change Jan. 1.

The private tax savings will cost the state an estimated $15 million in annual tax revenue — most of which would come from Citizens, although other banks’ tax payments may also change. The state has declined to disclose information about any individual taxpayers, including Citizens.

McKee pushes state tax rewrite to keep Citizens Bank rooted in Rhode Island. But will it fly?

Citizens’ proposal was originally boohooed by legislators, who said they needed more time to consider the complex proposal. But in an about-face, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi revived the bill days later, whipping it through the multi-step legislative approval at warp speed.

Abney and Slater, who were among the 64 state representatives to approve the bill on the final day of session, each did not respond to calls for comment on Monday.

But victory doesn’t come cheap. In addition to spending $25,000 on an extra lobbyist for the final month of the session, the bank through its political action committee also shelled out nearly $7,000 in donations, much of it to lawmakers with direct influence over the budget, according to financial reports filed with the Rhode Island Board of Elections.

Eleni Garbis, a Citizens spokesperson, declined to comment when asked how, if at all, donations were used to win support for the tax change. The $6,825 in contributions made by the Citizens Bank PACOM from Jan. 1 to June 30 marks a 64% increase over the $4,174 in donations made during the first six months of 2023, as well as the highest total contributions for that time period over the last five years, according to Rhode Island Current analysis of campaign finance reports.

‘Rhode Island is no different’

It’s not unusual for companies to leverage political donations and hire lobbyists to curry favor with legislators or office holders. International Game Technology and Bally’s Corp. (then known as Twin River World Holdings) spent half a million dollars on lobbyists in 2019 when lawmakers were considering a 20-year-contract extension with the Rhode Island Lottery to run the state’s gambling operations, WPRI reported.

“It’s well-established that political donations are a way to buy access to politicians, and Rhode Island is no different than every place that relies on private donations to fund elections,” John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said.

But in more than half of states, lobbyists, political action committees and other influential power players are prohibited from making campaign donations during the legislative session, according to information from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Since Rhode Island is not one of them, lawmakers can leverage their policymaking power to boost their campaign coffers.

“Rhode Island leaders have learned how to maximize the benefit of that system by holding fundraisers at the end of the legislative session,” Marion said.

Citizens made a flurry of small-dollar donations to lawmakers in the final week of the legislative session, just as the tax change bill was revived. But financial records show that campaign contributions to big names on Smith Hill began as soon as the session started, with negotiations over the policy proposal having begun late in 2023, Shekarchi said previously.

Shekarchi, who as House Speaker controls the purse strings on the final state spending plan, was the biggest beneficiary of Citizens’ PAC donations, with $1,400 across three contributions this year. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio and McKee received $900 and $500, respectively.

‘Personal friend’

The trio of power players received donations from the PAC in years past: $1,000 apiece in 2022 and 2023, with $1,500 given to McKee in 2021. This year, they also benefited from separate, individual campaign donations from Mike Knipper, Citizens executive vice president and head of property and procurement. Knipper, who warned lawmakers that failure to make the tax change could make the bank pull its jobs and headquarters from the state, gave $1,000 to McKee, $750 to Shekarchi and $450 to Ruggerio.

Last year, Knipper gave $250 to Shekarchi and nothing to McKee or Ruggerio. In 2022, when all three officials were up for reelection, Knipper donated $500 to McKee and $200 to Ruggerio.

Shekarchi in an email on Monday said his campaign donations do not have any impact on legislative policy discussions.

“I worked very hard in the final weeks of the session with Governor McKee, his Budget Office and the Senate to adopt legislation to collaboratively keep Rhode Island’s banking tax structure competitive with Massachusetts,” Shekarchi said. “Citizens Bank has 4,200 employees in Rhode Island and I didn’t want to be considered as the Speaker who lost these good-paying jobs to a neighboring state.”

He also called Knipper a “personal friend.”

Mike Trainor, a spokesman for McKee’s campaign, also said campaign donations did not affect his decisions as governor.

“In making his decisions as Governor, Dan McKee’s sole criteria is what he believes is best for Rhode Island,” Trainor said. “There is no connection here with any political contribution.”

Ruggerio responded similarly.

“As with every decision I make, the decision to address the banking tax code was made entirely on the merits of the policy,” Ruggerio said in an email Monday night. “In this case, the change to our tax code kept Rhode Island on par with neighboring Massachusetts, treated banks similarly to other corporations, and helped keep thousands of quality jobs here in Rhode Island.”

The governor and chamber leaders were not the only beneficiaries of Citizens’ financial favor. The Citizens PAC donated $2,650 to 13 other state lawmakers, including Slater and Abney, House Majority Leader Christopher Blazejewski, Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson, Senate Finance Chairman Lou DiPalma, Senate Majority Whip Valarie Lawson and Rep. Joe Solomon, who sponsored the bill.

A $500 donation was also made to the RI Senate Leadership PAC, the same day lawmakers unveiled a revised $13.9 billion budget proposal, sans Citizens’ requested tax rewrite.

Less than two weeks later, on June 10, Shekarchi announced the tax change was back on the table, and on June 13, the final day of the legislative session, both chambers approved the legislation with only slim opposition on each side.

None of the eight Democrats — two representatives and six senators — who voted against the tax change received campaign donations from Citizens PAC or from Knipper.

Updated to include a response from Senate President Dominick Ruggerio.

Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com. Follow Rhode Island Current on Facebook and X.

A small stack of clipboards spread across a corner table, flanked by an inches-high American flag, were the only indication of political activity inside Brewed Awakenings in Johnston on Wednesday.

Members of the Johnston Republican Town Committee sat scattered across the coffee shop, chatting and apparently unbothered by the task at hand: collecting nomination signatures for Republican presidential candidates ahead of the looming deadline 24 hours away..

Their demeanor stood in stark contrast to the urgent tone of the Rhode Island Republican Party’s email the previous day, at which time none of the six Republican presidential hopefuls had enough signatures to qualify for the state’s April 2 primary.

“This is not a drill,” Joe Powers, GOP chairman, wrote in the subject line of the Jan. 9 email. His message was punctuated with bolded font, underlined phrases and capitalization aimed at conveying the dire need for more signatures.

Presidential candidates have until 4 p.m. on Jan. 11 to turn in at least 1,000 signatures of registered voters to their local boards of canvassers to secure a spot on the state’s presidential primary ballot.

President Joe Biden, along with U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, had already crossed the 1,000-signature threshold as of midday Wednesday, although the results must still be double-checked by the Rhode Island Secretary of State. Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump hit the target a few hours later, but the other five Republican candidates still lagged behind as of 4 p.m.

Nick Acquaviva, Johnston Republican Town Committee member, didn’t seem worried.

But, he added, “This is not really a normal election.”

Acquaviva, a lifelong Johnston resident, blamed Biden for “trying to rig the election again.” How Biden was hampering local collection efforts, he wasn’t sure. More than half of Johnston voters backed Trump in 2020, including Acquaviva.

This time, though, he encountered voters who were reluctant to sign any candidates’ nomination papers, regardless of their political inclination.

“Some people are afraid to put their names down on anything,” agreed Sandra Taylor, chair of the Johnston Republican Town Committee. “They don’t want it to come up with their job, or anything.”

Hesitation might also have grown in the wake of alleged signature fraud which rocked Rhode Island’s congressional special election over the summer. Signature sheets for candidates have always been public information, but typically don’t garner the scrutiny of news outlets, or the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office, which is still investigating Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos’ papers for fraud.

While registered voters of any political party can sign a candidate’s nomination papers – including for multiple candidates – Taylor thought the attention given to Matos’ signatures has turned potential signatories away this time around. Not that it was stopping her, and other Republicans, from trying anyway.

“Voters deserve a choice,” she said. “We’re going to keep walking, keep knocking on doors and getting the word out.”

The final push

Back at the Rhode Island GOP headquarters in Warwick, meanwhile, Powers’ call to action appeared to be working. The four phone lines were ringing nonstop, while voters streamed in to sign nomination papers.

“There is less water pouring out of the Blackstone and Pawtucket River than what’s happening right here,” Powers said in an interview Wednesday afternoon. “It’s been packed.”

He hadn’t stopped to count the new John Hancocks collected, but expressed confidence that the 11th-hour push would bring the signatures needed. He wasn’t slowing down, preferring to play it safe rather than sorry, especially since some signatures had already been rejected by local boards of canvassers.

It’s not uncommon for some signatures to get tossed out, often because the handwriting can’t be matched against state records or the signer isn’t actually a registered voter. Powers in his email accused election administrators of rejecting signatures “without a clear reason,” but declined to elaborate on Wednesday.

“At this point, I am not concerned with the how or why,” he said. “Our focus is on getting enough signatures.”

Asked for comment about Powers’ accusations, Faith Chybowski, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s office, reiterated the process through which local boards of canvassers review and categorize each signature, offering a reason when applicable for why a signature might be rejected. There is also an opportunity to challenge the final count, including signatures that were tossed out, before the state Board of Elections certifies primary ballots.

In addition to Trump, five other Republicans filed paperwork indicating their intent to run in Rhode Island’s presidential preference primary: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Texas businessman and pastor Ryan Binkley. The state GOP has helped gather signatures for Trump, Christie, DeSantis and Haley, because those campaigns responded when asked if they wanted help with local signature collection, Powers said.

Other Democratic candidates vying for a spot on the presidential ballot include Michael Vandal, and online news personality Cenk Uygur, though Uygur’s paperwork remained under review by the Secretary of State as of Wednesday. Other states, including New Hampshire, have rejected Turkish-born Uygur’s attempt to appear on their presidential primary ballots because the U.S. Constitution stipulates presidential candidates must be “natural born” citizens.

Most Johnston Republicans at Brewed Awakenings were still undecided on who they will vote for, though that didn’t stop them from signing multiple candidates’ nomination papers.

The point is to have choices, especially as the state’s Republican presence grows, said Nicola Grasso, a Johnston Republican who ran unsuccessfully against Democratic State Rep. Deb Fellela in 2020.

“I think this is the strongest our party has been in a long time,” Grasso said. “I see a shift in the political makeup, even of my friends, who were old-school Democrats, becoming fed-up with the way things are being run. This is an opportunity for us.”

Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com. Follow Rhode Island Current on Facebook and Twitter.