RI Governor Dan McKee's Last Best Chance At Trying to Win Reelection
Tie the State’s Many Mishaps Back to...US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo
Feel free to check the entire blog archives from “Political Pulse” & “Salzillo Report” on the 2024 primary cycle, rural outreach, redistricting litigation, base dynamics, campaign organization, the current media landscape, the issues at stake, Project 2025, Build Back Better, the progressive movement, the 2024 Election Autopsy, the true story about former 2024 VP contender Gina Raimondo, and much more.
Happy New Year everyone!
Over the break, I have also been reading some absolutely fantastic books. 2 of the latest 3 books were from current or former CNN anchors. This only goes to show how much the Zaslav corporate media business model forces real journalists to abandon real journalism in favor of placating Trump (to help Zaslav with mergers & acquisitions). Otherwise, the Zaslav model sidelines these real journalists and effectively replaces them with cheap and melodramatic sensationalism.
All of which is why I have been following CNN much less than I used to.
But I digress. Per the old saying, those who fail to know their history are doomed to repeat it. And considering the times we are in, I highly recommend reading these books on what the US has dealt with in the past:
Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel Maddow
America’s Deadliest Election: The Shocking True Story Of The Election That Changed American History by Dana Bash and David Fisher
Countdown 1960 by the one and only Chris Wallace
Hopefully, after I read the Navalny memoir, I will be able to write more about that as well.
In other news, I wanted to recommend CBS News’s excellent segment on how Iowa farmers are going to wind energy sources and supply to make up for losses in dwindling agricultural profits. So much for Trump’s outstanding support of everyday Middle America family farms. For these farmers, wind turbines are lifelines, not death machines. Just ask the farmer featured in CBS’s story who debunked Trump’s “windmills kill massive amounts of birds” conspiracy. Something that The Donald might want to keep in mind.
I also should recommend the Street Sights magazine website for those who want to learn more about homelessness in Rhode Island.
Finally, my brother’s terrific tribute to President Jimmy Carter on Salzillo’s Two Cents.
And now, once again, it is time to touch on a story a bit closer to home.
For outsiders who don’t know, current Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee is very unpopular. A September poll had his approval rating at 34%, and that was before the acceleration of our local homeless crisis, the prolonging of demolition delays on our Washington Bridge, and a major cybersecurity hack that impacted 650,000 Rhode Islanders.
I have to feel badly for him. Especially because, if he ever wants to run again, the primary will be less than 2 years for now.
Let’s be clear: McKee has struggled at tackling the crises that have been on his plate recently. Take homelessness. The homelessness crisis—much like across the country—is only getting worse in Rhode Island. Unfortunately, Rhode Island actually has it worse than most other states. Of those experiencing homelessness in our state, 48% are “chronically homeless.” That gives Rhode Island the dubious honor of having the 2nd highest rate of chronic homelessness, behind only Washington State.
This is more than just a “quality of life” issue, as some people would have it. It’s life or death for people out in scorching heat or in the fatally freezing cold. Even if it’s not life or death to some people, it leads to shortened life expectancy and worsening medical conditions. Further, it’s a public safety hazard for those without shelter, one that leaves them to be mugged or assaulted by anyone.
It is a burden on local resources. By having people on the streets instead of being housed in some basic capacity, the local government eventually ensures that the expenses of hospitalizing the unhoused and the rest fall on the local taxpayers.
Sadly, like in many places, state leaders are woefully and unacceptably tone deaf to the desperation, misery, and death on the streets.
Pallet shelters that were supposed to be open in April of last year are still vacant for fire code safety issues. That would be understandable in any normal world—if not, of course, for the real deaths and suffering of people who are out in the cold this winter.
In truth, McKee’s electoral troubles run deeper than just one controversy or issue. The general state of the economy, and the state’s budget remains in dire straits, something Ian Donnis of The Public’s Radio regularly brings up year after year. There is a larger-scale housing crisis in general, linked together with rising rent costs, healthcare restructuring with the shedding of primary care doctors, and energy needs and utility rate hikes. Meanwhile, education remains a significant issue, maybe more so than even a decade ago. The ILO Group episode and the Cranston Street Armory bidding humiliation did not help either.
But the political albatross hanging on Governor McKee’s neck has been bridges: the Washington Bridge and RIBridges. Both impact hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders. Whatever happens there will decide McKee’s fate in 2026.
He is very vulnerable to a primary challenger, with former 2022 competitor Helena Foulkes—who reportedly has the strong backing of outgoing Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and her national network—gearing up to run against him in 2026. Yet given that the DOJ recently filed a lawsuit against CVS, the company she ran throughout much of the time period covered in that lawsuit, her entry into the race could actually help McKee politically.
After all, if you were McKee, wouldn’t you want to run against a woman whose company—from the highest levels—was found legally responsible for knowingly failing to prevent the distribution of illegal prescriptions for opioids and other drugs on an unconscionably large scale?
Foulkes has been given the rightful moniker of “Raimondo 2.0,” something that could again actually help McKee in a two-way race. McKee has been hesitant to call out Raimondo. Rather, he has done the opposite by bending the knee. But with Raimondo’s DC clout waning, and his poll numbers plummeting, McKee needs a change in tactics. He needs to separate himself from Raimondo’s disastrous choices.
I am the first to tell you I am not a McKee apologist (honestly, it would be nice if there was a 3rd candidate, such as Gregg Amore, Peter Neronha, or almost anyone, since the McKee-Foulkes duel would be a particularly nasty, brawling dogfight).
Although here’s the truth about McKee’s tenure as Governor: Dan McKee inherited a lot of messes from his predecessor, who made things worse by leaving him completely out of the decision making process for 6 years. Even during one of the most deadly pandemics in American history.
COVID-19 vaccinations? RI was 50th of 50 states for distribution before Raimondo left for Washington in hopes of her presidential aspirations. McKee had to clean that up. To his credit, he did. Without Raimondo’s help.
Eleanor Slater Hospital? Rhode Island learned about that as McKee became Governor. To their credit, it was Governor McKee, Speaker Joe Shekarchi, and the Senate President (as well as AG Neronha) who decided to look into the matter. Both to make sure Eleanor Slater was more financially stable and to make sure patient care for those with disabilities didn’t reach the crisis point it would have if Raimondo kept it under wraps for any longer.
DCYF? Admittedly, the issue has lingered for decades. But Raimondo bears responsibility in her own way from her tenure, especially considering that she left RI with an acting director for DCYF from 2019 up to her departure in March of 2021.
RIBridges? That is a new name for an online benefits portal formerly known as UHIP. UHIP was one of Raimondo’s most infamous blunders, and one she tried to blame on lower-level subordinates instead of herself. Here are the facts: Raimondo chose to roll out Deloitte’s UHIP system prematurely and against the advice of experts in the field. This despite their infamously poor national track record. That horrid track record now extends to the data breach that has compromised the personal data of hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders. That information is now on the dark web. Yes, McKee extended Deloitte’s contract in 2021, but Raimondo did the exact same thing back in 2019, even after the first fiasco.
The Washington Bridge? Maybe the Gina Jam was a precursor to the trouble to come. But to get the full story on Gina’s role in the Washington Bridge debacle, we will have to see what the pending investigations have to say about the matter. At any rate, in 2016, Raimondo authorized the RI Department of Transportation to issue NDAs which potentially barred contractors from reporting deficiencies on the bridge earlier.
The RhodeWorks truck tolls? More money has gone to the tolling gantries and legal bills than they have to the state coffers themselves, as McKee himself would know.
Providence Public Schools? The state takeover initiated in 2019 by Raimondo is a complete and total disaster, something my family has firsthand experience to knowledge of. No better way to summarize this than in the current Education Commissioner herself being a pro-charter school network Raimondo appointee.
Medicaid reimbursement rates? Well, they are a point of discussion now precisely because of Raimondo’s devastating cuts to the state program and to other social services that are squeezing out those primary care providers.
Commerce Corporation expansion? Fair to say it did not revitalize the I-195 District area as many leaders promised would happen, Raimondo included. Nor did it improve the business climate, even according to the very places Raimondo looks up to most, like CNBC and WalletHub.
And the housing crisis? Even there, RI has been last of all the states in housing construction per capita for several years. That is also on Raimondo’s shoulders because of her lack of focus on the issue at all until her final two years in state office.
See the pattern? A lot of what has happened is also a reflection of Raimondo’s own messy record, as the local press itself is covering more in depth recently. It is then that Governor McKee may have much more to gain than to lose by simply telling the truth: her problems are ones he had to inherit and address from Day One.
Too bad the press won’t be able to question her on her past judgment and record more aggressively now that she will soon be unemployed from the federal government.
My guess is Gina won’t be looking for any more 60 Minutes-style puff pieces. If there were any time for a Raimondo disappearing act, that time is now.
Great post, Michael!