In RI, Closing Days of Campaign Are About Lawsuits and Complaints, Not Messaging
Friday, November 04, 2016
Forget articulating messages about ideas or policies, in Rhode Island we are about complaints and lawsuits in the closing days of the bitter campaign season.
Here are a few examples.
Lawyer Brandon Bell, Chair of the GOP, files a complaint with the Board of Election about a mailer that fellow Republican Shawna Lawton sent out for Democratic Speaker Nick Mattiello.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTState Senator Stephen Archambault, a lawyer, files a defamation lawsuit against GOP Chair Bell on another matter.
The Progressive Democrats file a complaint against the GOP-focused Gaspee Project. The Gaspee Project claims the Progressive Democrats’ complaint was riddled with errors and filed against the wrong organization.
Then, there is the battle over the recall of Kevin Jackson in Providence. That legal brawl has attracted seven different lawyers representing four different entities and has already had hearings and conferences before one judge (Richard Licht), and another governmental body (Providence Board of Canvassers).
That barn burner has generated more than 100 pages of complaints and responses and has triggered the city to hire one outside law firm at $200 per hour -- which was awarded to a significant campaign donor, Bill Dolan.
Dolan’s legal bills are just beginning and a collection of charges and counter charges have just begun in that skirmish.
And the RI Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has weighed in as well.
All of this is in about the last week.
Welcome to Rhode Island's election season.
