Dan McKee and Seth Magaziner win RI Democratic endorsements

CRANSTON — Dan McKee won the Rhode Island Democratic Party endorsement for governor and Seth Magaziner took the endorsement for Congress at the party's 2022 State Convention on Sunday.

McKee got the votes of 81 of 159 delegates, edging out Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, who took 58 votes. Matt Brown and Helena Foulkes got six votes each; Luis Daniel Muñoz got one vote, and seven delegates voted for no endorsement.

"I get to be here tonight to talk about actual things we have got done," McKee told the crowd of Democratic Party delegates at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in the Edgewood section of Cranston before rattling off a list of the things passed in the recently completed legislative session.

"We have worked to make sure the economy is strong, people are healthy the schools are open and we are focused on equity across all 39 cities and towns," he said.

In the 2nd Congressional District primary, Magaziner picked up the party endorsement with 67 out of the 81 votes cast by delegates. David Segal received five votes, Sarah Morgenthau received four votes, and five delegates voted not to make an endorsement in the race. Democratic candidate Joy Fox did not seek the nomination.

Former Central Falls Mayor James Diossa will be the endorsed candidate for general treasurer. He edged out former commerce secretary Stefan Pryor 84 to 73.

In a news release Sunday night, Diossa called it "a telling testament to the movement we have built over the past few months."

Pryor described the result as "not surprising."

"My opponent serves as the 2nd Vice Chair of the state committee and has been campaigning for this endorsement for many months," Pryor wrote.

Incumbent Sabina Matos won the endorsement for lieutenant governor, picking up 83 of 162 votes. Rhode Island Political Cooperative candidate Cynthia Mendes received 12 votes, 56 delegates voted for no endorsement and 11 abstained.

State Rep. Deb Ruggiero did not seek the party endorsement.

State Rep. Gregg Amore received the party endorsement for secretary of state unopposed.

Incumbent Attorney General Peter Neronha's reelection bid also received the endorsement without competition.

The convention provided a chance to see the candidates for governor in the same room pitch their platforms as the race begins to heat up in advance of the September primary.

Gorbea said she would bring "transparency, accountability and results" to the governor's office and called on voters to "ignore the old politics" and vote for her.

Foulkes said it was a "failure of leadership" that only 20% of students are proficient in math and it takes more than an hour to speak to someone at the Department of Human Services.

She called for the state to "ban assault weapons" and produce "real action" on climate change.

Matt Brown said he knew his attempts to oust the current leadership of the party meant he wouldn't be endorsed.

He then called on the party not to endorse any candidates who voted against enshrining abortion rights in state law and named all of the members of the General Assembly who did and are facing primary challenges. (Legislative endorsements are not made by district committees.)

"The root of the problem is that there are people in the leadership of the party who are opposed to reproductive freedom and voted against codifying Roe v. Wade – even though reproductive freedom is part of the party platform," he said.

Muñoz said for a long time marginalized communities in the state have called for change.

"But have governors listened in the state of Rhode Island? Instead we often witness appropriation and tokenization of our lived experience," he said.

Abortion rights and the recent Supreme Court decision were a central theme for most candidates, especially those running for Congress.

Magaziner, the general treasurer, targeted Republican candidate Allan Fung and the Republican Party in his endorsement speech. He said his campaign has "built a coalition that can win in November, keep this seat in Democratic control" and "bring Rhode Island values to Washington."

"Together we can keep this seat blue and win up and down the ballot," he said.

Sarah Morgenthau said that "we have never sent a Democratic woman to Congress from Rhode Island. Full stop. We are reeling from the news on Friday that Roe v. Wade was overturned."

While she didn't get a local endorsement, Morgenthau on Sunday announced the endorsement of New York U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

In his speech to delegates, David Segal said we need to do more than "just be better than the other side.

"We need a clear agenda that benefits working class, middle class and lower income voters."

Election 2022 Updates: House Speaker, Senate President endorse McKee in crowded race for governor

$13.6-billion budget: The RI General Assembly session is over. Here's what passed, and what didn't

panderson@providencejournal.com

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Dan McKee and Seth Magaziner win RI Democratic endorsements