What in this state hasn’t impressed you in the last 20+ years?

Ashley also stated that McKee should be freezing the utility taxes for Rhode Island as he has the power to do so with Emergency Powers.

So with the rising energy costs (along with everything else)....I am voting for Ashley as she said she would use the Emergency Powers to help RIers save $$$$.

Its all about the $$ for me. McKee is a dictator....Republicans are not that.

I’m voting for McKee because I cannot vouch for Kalus, either. She’s just more GOP bs.

I'm most likely going McKee. Kalus tax plan sounds good but highly doubt she will get it down. Her emergency energy plan is pointless. It's just pushing the payments out. You will still have to pay the new rates just at a later date. Not really helping. As shady and corrupt as McKee is He's atleast the devil we know. Just have to hope we get decent candidates next cycle.

Republicans are for business, not citizens. That is clear in their policies both at the state and federal level. They give tax breaks to the wealthy but present it as helping the regular folk.

McKee assumed a position during the height of COVID and I feel he did a great job. He’s investing in affordable housing, small businesses, and clean energy. RI made the top 10 in the country for GDP growth in Q2. I’ve seen good things and I want them to continue!

ashley kalus keeps promising in her commercials that she'll "make rhode island the most affordable place to live and raise a family". it is literally impossible to make ri cheaper than mississipi, oklahoma, alabama etc, and yet she keeps spending money to produce ads making this IMPOSSIBLE claim over and over

this is a child-like understanding of the economy, the powers of governor, basic geography

i don't know if ashley kalus is a moron, or she just thinks her supporters are but either way i'm not voting for someone who insults my intelligence with impossible promises

You mean the ones that have repeatedly called for violence against their political enemies, have gotten into personal decisions between a woman and their doctors, have banned books, are trying to make it so there's a permanent Republican minority rule, have arrested people just because they looked like they MIGHT have been protesting, have withheld medical equipment to kill their political enemies aren't dictators, and have staged an insurrection against a democratically elected government aren't dictators?

Please tell me who has called for violence? I know Maxine Waters and Lori Lightfoot have.

What Republican? I think you need to watch the Trump rally tonight to realize what Republicans are about its the Democrat cities with the violence.

Soon Rhode Island will be Chicago if RI doesnt wake up

>McKee is a dictator....Republicans are not that

This has to be a troll reply. Literally had a wannabee dictator in office from 2016 to 2020.

As for Ashley fixing energy costs, she's just pushing those costs out, the money will still be owed. This is a great example of a politician using a hot talking point to try and get votes with no real plan.

And Republicans dont care for these litter boxes in schools. Lmao

This statement is true for both candidates, they have both promised things that are not functionally under thier control.

Kalus impressed me with her knowledge. For being an outsider, she is well read and called McKee on valid options. I also think a little red would help this very blue state.

That being said this country as a whole cannot handle any more red. Difficult decision.

And people downplaying the McKee FBI investigation, is the Trump FBI investigation also no big deal. Sick of the hypocrisy

Red states have a higher rate of violent crime and murder on average than blue states. Chicago is not even in the top ten most dangerous cities yet you guys always like to cite it because you don't actually know anything. You really shouldn't source your info on violence from a guy infamous for lying compulsively.

Also, you're really still buying into the story of litter boxes in schools? That whole thing was based on a single video of a teacher talking about how they need to keep buckets and cat litter in every classroom so the students can go to the bathroom in the event of an active shooter situation, a problem that Republicans are determined to do absolutely nothing about.

You're free to piss off and live in the Mississippi backwater. Rhode Island's problem is not democrats, it's conservatives. We would do better without you.

Sure those people that can't think for themselves or are too lazy to get involved in the bills they are passing in Congress behind your back...are OK with being dictated to.

I am not ok with being dictated to....Dems are dictators.

Kalus has zero political history, her hero is Ron DeSantis, and has zero interest in the state of the state (outside her or her business partners’ potential financial gains).

Also BYE MCKEE! You were never voted for and the silent majority WILL WIN this time as we have a group of people to ensure the elections are not rigged this time.

I don't know and you don't know if Ashley has a "plan".

What I do know is McKee has the power to make costs easier on Rhode Island and he is choosing not to do so.

Lame ass POS

I voted libertarian because I don’t really like Kalus that much, + she’s not even a Rhode Islander, but at the same time Dan McKee is just another part of the problem in corrupt RI politics that people will continue to vote for no matter what. Also I’ve met him and he is not nice.

>What I do know is McKee has the power to make costs easier on Rhode Island and he is choosing not to do so.

What power exactly do you think he has? Please elaborate.

You can't call Republicans the silent majority when they never shut the fuck up and haven't won the presidential popular vote in decades despite typically having higher turnout. You really don't know anything, do you?

Kalus is a Republican. The Republican Party is the party of Maga, insurrection, the big lie, anti-choice, anti-LGBTQIA’s+. They’re promising to put SS and Medicare on the chopping block and are fine keeping company with white supremacy. They’ve gone kookoo for coco puffs over this Pelosi attack. A vote for Kalus is a vote for all that crap.

Is there a libertarian candidate this year?

https://www.heritage.org/crime-and-justice/report/the-blue-city-murder-problem

There is but only for governor.

You think that if there were litter boxes in schools that NO ONE has ever shown even a picture of? You think that if kids saw someone dropping a deuce in a litterbox at school they wouldn't get a video? Are you that gullible?

I don’t like McKee but I’m voting for him.

I don’t like McKee but after the far-right take over of the GOP it makes it hard to vote that way. I wish we had a viable third party option. Unfortunately my vote will be an utilitarian one.

She will be gone from RI in 6 months.

That’s a pleasant surprise even if it is just for governer

I think a little “old school” red wouldn’t be bad for RI. Problem is that the new GOP has succumbed to the far right and these guys are not problem solvers.

Edit: not sure why you are getting the downvotes. You make a good point.

My bet is it won't be that long. She'll have the movers on the phone next Wed after she loses.

Ashley Kalus is the best option. And just a minor correction, she wants to lower income tax for everyone making under $150,000, and if you make $50,000 or less, you’ll pay zero.

You're young, so you haven't noticed yet that most politicians are hypocrites at some level, and that many many voters choose a party and/or candidate first, and then selectively choose to celebrate or ignore whichever candidate traits support their decision. Then an indictment can either be a "scandal" or a "witch hunt."

She, like most candidates, makes promises she has no way of keeping. The governor cannot, by edict, lower taxes. That has to go through the legislature, and we all know that ain't happening. Fung talking about lowering energy prices...not a chance in hell he has any possible way of doing that - it's an international market. It's just like the price of gas...no president can do much about it. About the only thing a president can do is release oil from the reserve. That's it. The prices are not set in the US, and they can't lower (or suspend) the gas tax without congress sending him a bill to sign. Your best bet is to pay zero attention to political ads. They are all full of shit...especially the ones paid for (and produced) by national party organizations.

Voting for McKee could end up resulting in a faster “two-fer”, in terms of the time between his getting elected and then having to resign after the FBI investigation implicates him in the contracting scandal. We would then get a special “do over” election to choose another governor.

Whereas If Kalus wins, she’d first have to commit a McKee-like crime (which probably won’t take too long), then have it uncovered — which is what could take a while, and then we’d still have to wait for the outcome of the investigation before she resigns.

So a vote for McKee could be a vote for faster gubernatorial turnover …

(If Magaziner pulls a Hillary and loses to Fung, he’d probably run to replace either McKee or Kalus in the aforementioned special election, so it’d be like Langevin never left — although we’d be stuck with Fung in Congress …)

They’re getting downvotes because anything less than complete loyalty and obedience to democrats and their ideology gets downvoted on this sub. There is no place for discourse. Such is life on Reddit for the most part, so it’s just par for the course. Life goes on.

It’s kinda funny to me when people believe some of the things Kalus promises while admiring DeSantis et al. Could she possibly shock us all and actually follow through on her promises? Yeah. Technically that could happen. It’s just not likely to happen at all.

I’m not party affiliated, I lean left but occasionally I feel the right offers a better candidate. I’m not impressed by anyone in the current cycle but this year it’s an easy choice: dems across the board regardless of what I think about them. Choose republican and it might be the last real choice you get to make if they win.

McKee. After roe was overturned I realized woman's rights are not safe. I won't give a vote to someone who is against womans autonomy.

I’m also curious about this. In addition: OP references that they’re young, but they also aren’t impressed by politics in RI for the last 20 years. Just curious about it all.

Ah, yes. Ignorant blanket statements. So helpful.

Are you going to tell me I’m wrong with a straight face?

It’s unfortunate people who believe there are litter boxes in schools are going to be voting. Absolute brain broken

I’ll consider voting republican in the future when they clean up their act and stop with all the election denial bullshit. I’ve lost faith in the party. As a moderate I’m voting straight dem for the foreseeable future.

OP you aren't going to get anything other than people shilling for McKee and the democrats on this sub.

"You were never voted for"? He won election as the Lt. Governor, you dumbass. He was next up when Raimondo resigned...that's the way it works. Did you just move here too, like your pal Ashley Transplant?

Welcome to American politics. I’m curious which candidates in which races are making promises that can be feasibly achieved.

if you think either major party is for the citizens then you aren't paying much attention.

This is such a bizarre argument. Ik it has kind of crept into the mainstream discourse, but it still feels very tin-foil hat-ish.

There are plenty of good reasons to vote for Dems, particularly given the economy and the resulting need for reasonable social safety nets and tax plans that favor average Joes over big businesses. Saying if they lose, we’ll never have a choice again is just ridiculous

You get downvoted because people disagree with you. If someone disagrees stronger than a quick downvote then they comment. So yes, you’re wrong. Much like how I’ve demonstrated here.

lol you made his point

He was elected lieutenant governor

Have you paid any attention to the voter suppression efforts on the right? Trump himself has said that if everyone who could vote did vote, there would never be another republican elected to office. Combine that with election deniers in positions of voting authority in red states. So no, this is not a ridiculous argument at all, as much as I wish it was.

I've been seeing too many kalus ads. One in which she talks about how she plans to upgrade education. Not by spending more money in the schools, but by allowing (rich) people to choose where to send their kids.... So districts are basically gone, the buses will be packed with kids going out of town for school. No extra money on education and a program that only benefits people rich enough to send their kids to the best schools and leaving the worst schools to stay the worst for the poor folks who can't shuttle thier kids across the state every day. This is not a viable plan.

Same. Probably the least excited I've been to vote for someone since Obama 2nd term but no way in hell do I pull the lever for an R again until they reform the party / walk away from all their current bigotry.

Agreed, if "old school" red even existed but I think that died in 2012.

How does the governor lower state taxes?

I wanted to vote for a different candidate but I feel my vote will be wasted if I don’t pick between the two.

Have you paid any attention to American politics for the past 20+ years? Election denial has been a thing since at least Bush v Gore, although Trump was clearly the most extreme offender. That said, people including Hillary Clinton claimed for years that Trump was an illegitimate president. Likewise, Biden’s message of “you can only vote for our party if you want to preserve democracy” seems laughable. Thanks for telling me I only have one choice in this so-called democracy.

I voted almost solely for democrats in 2022, and I’ll likely begrudgingly support Biden or whoever the Dems run in 2024 because I could never support someone as radical as Trump (or Desantis), but to act like the Dems aren’t election deniers too seems willfully ignorant

This is my problem. She has no history that I can find so it makes me nervous.

I agree with no more red in congress. But I think the state would benefit from what Ashley is promising.

Although maybe McKee will straighten up with the feds watching him.

Yeah I’m not a fan of the Q anon, insurrection stuff either.

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They're both awful. McKee is less awful. Show up and vote in the primaries next time so we can get better candidates!

I’m not looking at the parties as a whole I think. I’m just looking at what I’ve seen from the individuals.

All of these new election laws that have passed will come in to play in 2024. Many states now give legislatures power over how votes are counted. The Republicans are hoping to get in enough election deniers in legislatures and secretary of states offices in 2022 so that they can manipulate the count and do so legally in 2024. So if the GQP gains power this cycle, they will never give it back.The laws in many states allow legislatures to cheat if bad actors are in place. The courts will not be able to do anything because those are the state laws. Also, expect more voter suppression laws to pass with even more GQP in office. This is not tin foil...this is real..and how autocracies are born. This is how it started in Hungary with Orban.

Have you not lived here long? Because if you think “a little red” wouldn’t be bad for this state then you don’t remember the years under Lincoln Almond and Don Carcieri. Also, why does Kalus being well read make her a viable candidate for governor? Reading comprehension should be a prerequisite, no? Wait, did the candidates put out summer reading lists? Oh wait! Kalus is part of the party that likes to BAN BOOKS. She is within the party that thought that it was pornography to have naked mice in the book MAUS. (It’s about the Holocaust if you don’t know it and wondering if there was an underlying reason why they want to ban it).

You haven’t demonstrated anything lol. If you don’t believe that anything even remotely critical of a democrat or their ideology is an instant downvote, just take a look at the comments on any post in this sub. You may find a very rare exception here and there, but it would be just that. But you’re also part of that mob, so you likely aren’t able to look at things objectively anyhow.

Through the general assembly I’m guessing. I’m supporting her but that’s one thing I’m skeptical about with her. She might have a really hard time getting these things passed through the GA.

Again, ignorant blanket statements against people that you consider “other”. You’ve been unable to do anything here except sound like a petulant child that doesn’t like when people disagree with them. It’s tough I know, but we all exist in a world of nuance. Welcome.

“If I’m elected class president, we’ll have pizza for lunch every day and recess will be twice as long and no more homework” rhetoric is pretty standard for any campaign

Hardly. I pointed out that downvotes aren’t part of some Pro-Democratic Conspiracy, but just people looking at something that they disagree with. Tough distinction for y’all apparently.

Gore admitted defeat for the good of the country, even though his case was not built on lies the way Trumps is. Calling Trump an illegitimate president has roots in issues with the electoral college vs Trump not winning the majority of the popular vote; easy enough to disagree with perhaps but again at least it’s based on rational argument and not willful deception. And while I’m far from a Biden fan, he’s not trying to take away your choice, you are free to vote for whomever you like, he’s just making it clear what the very likely consequences of giving the republicans the keys to our elections will be. I can’t say the dems have been terribly inspiring, but the alternative means the very real possibility of permanently rigged elections.

completely wrong. She is always out in the community each and every day and is passionate about hard working Rhode Islanders. Same can not be said for Dan McKee as he just seems happy he is invited to debate.

if she loses

source? Don’t think he said that at all

the president isnt elected based on the popular vote LOL

Same can be said for the far left. I dont think we have moderate dems anymore

Oh please, Clinton conceded the day after the election. Trump still has not conceded and lies about it everyday for two years. Trump tried to overthrow the election with a mob. No comparison.

Obviously, but that is the concept behind the illegitimacy of Trump’s term, he did not have a winning percentage of the voting population behind him, he simply benefited from the deeply flawed electoral college, gerrymandering etc.

McKee has to be one of the worst debaters and public speakers I’ve ever seen. Literally the absolute worst. However he has shown himself to be competent administrator albeit milktoast in his politics. Yes Rhode Island hasn’t been run great for decades, however lately with all the road improvements and public works projects, school constructions, etc, we’re doing far better.

Kalus loses on several points. Although she is well read and appears to grasp the issues better than expected for someone not even from here, her school choice stance is just another right wing Trojan horse to funnel money away from public schools. Big no no for me.

Here you go. In addition to the article there’s a clip of Trump phoning in to Fox News saying it near the bottom of the page.

https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2020/03/watch-trump-admits-if-democrats-make-voting-easier-youd-never-have-a-republican-elected-in-this-country-again/

Oh sure dude, just link me a "study" from a conservative think tank. You got me

We shouldn’t have to deal with anymore criminal politicians in RI.

I find the automatic professional victimhood in you very boring and predictable. It’s almost as if you are completely ignorant to the fact that you are the very thing you are accusing me of. You have zero nuance just like 80% of the posters on this sub who are democrat party shills who put party ideology over common sense and independent thought. You’re doing the exact things I have been talking about throughout this thread, but you are too dumb to see it.

Any option that has Fung in congress scares the shit out of me.

The Rhode Works was put in by Raimondo! She never gets credit for anything.

McKee is corrupt; I refuse to vote for corruption. I'm voting for Kalus because she's not McKee.

The way things are handled. We need more organization and open and easy access to programs and information. No jargon- just things everyday people can more readily understand, access, and use. FOR ALL PEOPLE from poor to wealthy RIers. Anything from roadways, social programs, taxes, criminal cases and the prison system, business restrictions etc.

I didn’t say politics I said the state of affairs. But I am not impressed by any of these shady politicians.

I’m voting for Gizzarelli. I like him better than either of the two main choices.

That is nonsense and propaganda to divide. I know because I know high schoolers* and they all agree that is outrageous. But everyone I know supports LGBTQ rights*

*edit

Individual or joint filers? What about households making 150-175k?

That’s a lot. And a bit general. What is being handled in way that you don’t agree with? Is it that you don’t understand what programs the state has available, or are unclear how to find that information? Do you understand where the taxes are spent? Or again, how to find that information? I’m not sure what you mean about the prison system, we have both state run and at least one private prison in this state. What business restrictions do you not agree with? I think it’s great that you are asking these questions and if you want information it might help to narrow your focus a bit.

Not wasted, shows that there are people that don’t agree with either major parties choice.

Trying to be general to avoid conflict. My views are very unconventional and unachievable to most people.

Personally I don’t want any more red in congress after Roe. I think we should be able to amend the constitution slightly to protect human rights and religious freedom at the same time. BUT I do not agree with democratic economics.

MY MAIN THING IS I do not understand how taxes are spent. I was trying to look it up last night but the charts make no sense (imo) to a normal person without a background in business and I took business in college.

There are way too many business restrictions I do not agree with.

I believe in full prison/court reform. Going through the system is very traumatic even at a low level or family court.

To add (edit): the school systems are awful and we keep pouring money into it for nothing to get better.

She took credit for a bridge that doesn’t exist and her team refused to tell me where this imaginary bridge is

And again- state resources should be made MORE clear to students beginning the careers or in colleges because I had to spend hours looking up all of this info. When we vote we should be able to easily access info and understand what we’re voting for.

That’s such a weak argument though. The electoral college has already been in place for how long? Sure, we can advocate for change and try to establish a new/better system, but if those were the rules going in, it’s ridiculous to try to claim victory or an illegitimate president based on winning some other metric (i.e. popular vote).

True- but what will they do about that? Probably nothing the way things are right now.

That doesn’t make him illegitimate, and you could argue it’s a threat to democracy to try to contest it on that basis, especially after the fact. I voted Hillary, I think Trump is a moron and uses dangerous rhetoric, but I still wouldn’t try to advance the claim that Trump is illegitimate or that Hillary won

I mean, you’re correct that Trump has been 10x worse in this regard. But to say Clinton’s actions aren’t problematic is just willful ignorance. She conceded shortly after the election but then proceeded to say the election was stolen and that Trump is an illegitimate president for years afterwards. This has become a new norm in American politics, and I’d be pleasantly surprised if there aren’t several losing candidates in 2022 who claim they lost due to a rigged election

Who said it was a conspiracy? You’re too much lol.

I agree, I’m just saying that at least there’s an understandable reasoning behind the claim.

I’m not claiming anything; I agree that the election was decided correctly. My point, and this was a tangential thing anyway, was that it was at least understandable why people would feel that way. The law doesn’t support them but more people voted against him so at least there’s a logic to it. Trumps claim of winning in 2020 is based on nothing more than his desire to remain in office, even his henchman Barr said there was nothing to support that.

I understand where you’re coming from. I want to again say I think it’s great that you are putting yourself out there to find information in such a chaotic time.

Let’s focus on taxes. I’m going to share how I find information and give you some links. They may not be exactly what you are looking for but hopefully it will be a solid ground for you to start from. Maybe someone on this thread can give a simplistic breakdown of the numbers, that’s just not my strength. Basically what you are looking for is the state’s budget. There’s so much information out there and most people break things down with a bias. It’s not always intentional, it’s a part of human nature. I find the best resource for state information is the official RI website. Here is the link to the Rhode Island office of management and budget. It explains what that part of our government does. Here is the link for this current year’s operating budget. Now there is a lot of information to unpack in these links. And it can be overwhelming. Don’t feel like you need to understand it all now. Everyone learns differently, so maybe just scan through and see what jumps out at you. Take that small bit of information and do some more online exploring about that specific thing.

Remember, our state politicians are paid public servants. The taxpayers of Rhode Island pay their salaries. They are our employees. The only reason their jobs exists is to make our lives COLLECTIVELY better. You have to remember the chances of their being one candidate who you completely agree with is unlikely. There’s about 1.1 million residents of Rhode Island, let’s say 600,000 are tax payers. All those people are not going to prioritize the same things. And yet one person has the job of speaking for the needs of 1.1 million people and answerable to approximately 600,000 bosses. I think, right now, it might help to get clear what YOUR top 3-5 priorities are for a happy life living in this state. You can have more, but prioritize them. The great thing about this is; You alone get to decide these. You are unique and so are your needs for a happy life. Once you are clear on your top priorities, start looking at which candidate meets all (if not most) of these. If there isn’t a candidate that does, this is when you start to affect change. There are many ways to go about this and that is for another time. And I’ve already rambled quite a bit here. Just remember, you are young and this world is for you and your peers to create however you see fit to live in.

*editing to add:

I don’t think you are alone in your frustration with the challenges of easily accessing information from the state. Is that something you’re interested in changing? I’m happy to help you find the current channels to go through to make changes in that area.

McKee is a poster child moderate dem lol

LOL laughable

Our state sales tax should be 6.5% it was in the law when internet sales purchased get taxed to drop the rate. Obviously these politicians didn’t want less money to spend so they axed it quietly with little to zero media coverage.

She’s “out in the community “ pretending to be a serious candidate. She’s a DeSantis wannabe and that’s enough to disqualify her from any consideration.

LOL where is dan mckee? why is he under FBI investigation? Damn rather take Ashley over Mckee any day!

Trump is under investigation but a lot of people who are voting R support him. Spare us the profound insights.

under investigation for what?

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Can confirm, she came to my place of work to talk to the people (with a camera crew) but when we said they couldn't record here she split. Fuck em.

Being a part of a “I know a guy” situation. If you’re not connected to McKee vote Ashley. I’m ok either way. But average RI middle class it’s best you go with her.

How’s McKee working out for any of us though? Seriously he’s the worst. And he is obviously crooked like the rest but not in the good old day type. Just the worst kind of political extortion type. He’s fucked and we are too

Trump? Tax fraud in NY, January 6th, and stolen records come to mind.

LOL you guys still believe in that lie? Not one of those do you think is political? If Trump committed tax fraud in New York why are we learning about it now? Stolen documents? another media lie. And Jan 6th really? Talk yo the FBI about Jan 6th

You’re seriously saying you don’t know any of the myriad things Don is being investigated for? LOL.

Lol dude he is under investigation for those things whether you want to believe he’s guilty or not.

ah yes but why has it taken so long to figure this out?

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Because that’s how long complicated issues take to resolve in the legal system. For example the parkland shooting happened in 2018 but the shooter, who everyone knows was guilty, was just sentenced this week almost 5 years later.

[deleted]

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The old joke about politicians being required to wear their special interest group logos as patches like NASCAR drivers comes to mind. Your point here is solid. They’ll never allow it because then the money becomes far too obvious to us the voters.

“School systems” as a broad brush is a good topic to bring up, but to act like every individual school system is terrible, or failing isn’t accurate. Where I attended school they’ve been upper-tier for more than a decade. Same for some of the neighboring towns. I think the ones that are failing their children are doing so rather drastically, but that doesn’t lower the successful systems with them.

Interesting

I didn’t say all. I’m keeping it general. But if you look at the providence school systems for example. I didn’t go to school there but I’ve seen articles. For another* example, where I went to school they vote for an increase in budget every year but it doesn’t seem like much has changed since I went.

Super helpful!!!

Also in the recent debates McKee said himself reading scores I think* went up while math went down. I’ve read we are one of the worst preforming school systems within the states BUT don’t quote me on that. I do agree with you tho not everything is broken. We just need improving.

> milktoast

This is neither here nor there, but it's "milquetoast".

But milk-toast is a fairly apt mental image for someone who is milquetoast.

No...after she loses. Paul Arpin will be in her driveway by week's end.