East Side Political Musical Chairs: Candidates Announce for Vacant Senate Seat

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

GoLocalProv Political Team

 

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PHOTO: File

There are lots of East Side candidates who are potentially looking to run for office in 2022, but not enough political seats.

State Senator Gayle Goldin is out. On Tuesday she resigned her State Senate seat to take a job in the Biden Administration. One would think this adds clarity to the political landscape, but, in fact, this may make the race more complex.

As she leaves, there first will be a special election to fill her Senate seat and that will help give to 2022 campaigns more clarity.

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The first to announce for Senate District 3 seat on Tuesday was Geena Pham. The public school teacher declared that if elected, she would be the first Asian-American in the Rhode Island General Assembly.

“At the start of each day, I say the pledge of allegiance with my students. We promise them ‘liberty and justice for all’ but we fail to deliver,” said Pham. “I am running because I see my students graduating into a world where everyday people struggle to afford housing, breathe clean air, drink clean water, and find their children quality education. I also see my Black and brown students disproportionately face these challenges. We must build a state where ‘liberty and justice’ extends to all Rhode Islanders.” 

Pham was born to a single mother who immigrated from Vietnam. After growing up in public housing, she became the first in her family to attend college and earned a degree in education at UMass Boston. She works as a public high school English teacher in Massachusetts. She also volunteers as a board member of Cozy Rhody Litter Clean-up – an organization that brings people together to keep parks and neighborhoods free of litter. 

Pham will run as a member of the Rhode Island Political Cooperative — the political group that former Rhode Island Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Matt Brown helped found. She said she will "proudly fight for a Green New Deal, universal healthcare, racial justice, high-quality public education, and living wages for residents of the East Side.”

“I’ve seen the way that Geena is moved by her students to fix our broken schools, fight systemic racism, and combat the climate crisis. She is deeply guided by her principles and is undoubtedly the progressive choice in this election,” said Jennifer Rourke, Co-Chair of the Rhode Island Political Cooperative.

RI NOW, author and law school student Hilary Levey Friedman also announced that she too is a Democratic candidate for the seat. 

In April, Levey Friedman announced an exploratory campaign for the General Assembly -- without declaring a seat -- saying, “This is about being ready no matter what happens. A year ago, who would have thought Rhode Island politics would look the way it does now?”

“I began exploring a run for office because I believe in being prepared. After spending time knocking on doors and listening to voters in my community, I am ready to run. I have heard so much about the division that exists in our politics today. It is important to have a leader who can help build the bridges we need to address the policy issues facing our state. I am ready to do that work,” she said.

Levey Friedman holds degrees in Sociology from Harvard, Princeton, and the University of Cambridge. She is currently a JD candidate at the Roger Williams University School of Law. She has written two books and taught in the Department of Education at Brown University; her husband, John, is Chair of the Economics Department at Brown University.

She has two children that attend private schools.

 

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