Mattiello and Shekarchi to Lead Rhode Island House
Friday, November 11, 2016
Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello prevailed in District 15 in Cranston, after the Board of Elections announced the unofficial results after having finished counting mail and absentee ballots -- and Representative Joe Shekarchi was tapped as the new Majority leader, as first reported by GoLocalProv.com.
As GoLocal reported Thursday afternoon:
Mattiello had 3582 votes to Steve Frias' 3517 in House District 15, after the Board of Elections completed its mail and absentee ballot count on Thursday for its unofficial vote count.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFrias announced following the results that he is not conceding the race, after filing a complaint earlier on Thursday alleging voter fraud in at least one instance, which the Board decided to continue -- meaning if Frias wants to pursue the complaint, the Board will take it up next Wednesday.
Mattiello, who had declared victory on Election Night saying he had the necessary mail ballots after trailing Frias by 147 votes, weighed in following the mail ballot count on Thursday.
"I would like to thank the voters of District 15 in Cranston from the bottom of my heart," said Mattiello in a statement.
New Majority Leader
As GoLocal was first to report prior to Thursday's caucus, Shekarchi had worked for -- and lined up -- the votes necessary to be Majority Leader.
GoLocal reported:
GoLocal has confirmed that Warwick State Representative Joe Shekarchi will be elected Majority Leader of the House beating back a challenge from progressive Chris Blazejewski. The election is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Cranston.
He replaces John DeSimone who was defeated by Marcia Ranglin-Vassell. The election of Shekarchi could mean so many things to the future of the legislature and the House's relationship with the embattled Governor Gina Raimondo.
Shekarchi, who ran Raimondo's campaign for General Treasurer in 2010 will now need to floor manage the House Democrats agenda -- which may be at odds with Raimondo's political efforts. With the Hillary Clinton losing Tuesday to President-elect Donald Trump, Raimondo's dream of a high-level federal appointment is now gone. Raimondo's only political option is to run for reelection
Twin River Ensures Local Approval
The fate of a new Twin River-owned casino in Tiverton was solidified on Thursday, as the Rhode Island Board of Elections finished its tallying of mail and absentee ballots.
After Election Day, the local vote to approve a casino was up 270 votes, but nearly 800 mail ballots were in play.
Following the mail and absentee ballot count, the local vote -- question 8 -- was 4,305 votes approving, to 3,939 voting no.
"We will now begin the process of developing the Twin River-Tiverton Casino-Hotel. We will do so understanding the town’s great sensitivity to the environment; the critical need for traffic improvements near the casino; and the importance of public safety," said Twin River Chairman John Taylor. "As important, residents of Tiverton and those statewide have spoken about what this project means for the local and statewide economy from both a revenue and jobs perspective. Mindful of those possibilities, we will move as expeditiously as possible ensuring to keep the commitments we have made to the town and the state."
"We recognize that our vision for Twin River Tiverton isn’t shared by all. We still have some work to do with respect to earning the trust of those who preferred a different outcome, and to that end, I pledge that we will work very hard to earn that trust," added Taylor. "We take our role as a good corporate citizen quite seriously, and that just doesn’t stop with this successful outcome. Nor does our conversation with the community of Tiverton. We will continue to listen closely and work hard to be a good corporate neighbor in our new community.”
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