Rhode Island’s Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello will keep his seat, after another close race against Republican challenger Steven Frias. Mattiello widened his margin of victory this time around.
The last time these two faced off, the race came down to just 85 mail ballots. This year, Mattiello won by more than 300 votes, according to the unofficial Board of Elections returns.
“He’s done a lot for Cranston, continues to do a lot for Cranston,” said Lee Ann Mancini standing on the rainy steps of her polling place at the Cranston Christian Fellowship.
And she said she didn’t know much about Mattiello’s challenger, the Republican Steve Frias.
“Don’t need to know. Seriously, not even interested. Mattiello has done a lot. He’s come to the neighborhood several times, he’s cleaning up our neighborhood,” said Mancini.
Mancini and her husband Richard, echoed a lot of voters in this western Cranston district, citing Mattiello’s experience, visibility, and his dedication to the community, as well as his effort to reduce the state’s widely unpopular car tax.
“He’s probably the only real Democrat left,” said Leonard Giampiedtro. “All the rest of them are wacko.”
He said Mattiello is the only Democrat he’ll vote for these days. He said he likes the way Mattiello keeps to the center on most issues.
“I used to vote Democratic all the time.,” said Giampiedtro. “Now I rarely do. The gun control, the immigration, these are real issues. They’re talking, ‘let everybody in, no guns for you.’ I don’t know where they came from I don’t know who these people are.”
Mattiello’s centrist positions have made him a target of criticism from progressives. But many voters in his rural and suburban district identify as independents or moderates, who will gladly split their votes between the two major parties. It’s a district that voted for President Donald Trump in 2016.
“This was no ordinary campaign.”
Republican Steven Frias ran on a campaign of anti-corruption, which resonated with voter Toni DiSimone, who braved the pouring rain to vote.
“[Mattiello’s] entire party, really has been in trouble over and over again with, you know, the law,” said Disimone.
But Frias waited until the summer to announce his campaign, and that may have been too late. Word of Mattiello’s win came early on election night. Standing in the hall at the Oaklawn Grange, a wood-floored community space, dozens of supporters cheered as Mattiello and his family entered.
“This was no ordinary campaign,” he told them. “There was the most coordinated effort and attack on us, that people in political life haven’t seen in 50 or 75 years. The worst ever.”
In addition to attacks on from the right, Mattiello faced increasingly vocal opposition from progressive groups, who blamed him for stalling bills on sexual harassment and abortion rights. And just days before the election, a group of Democratic lawmakers announced they would not support Mattiello again as House Speaker. Mattiello says he has the votes to overcome this opposition, and he says he will continue to work with his now divided party.
“I’ve always believed that every voice is important, and every voice continues to be important, but we’re not going to let a minority voice that everybody else would reject,” said Mattiello. “So it’s all about compromise and working together.”
In an election year where even the smallest races felt magnified by national controversies, this one remained local for many residents. Mattiello told his supporters he would continue to focus on local issues during his next term.
“We’re going to concentrate on our education system, we’re going to concentrate on jobs and the economy, we’re going to concentrate on infrastructure.”
Mattiello commended his team for a big campaign effort, at least two voters even complained about the sheer number of mailers Mattiello sent them. Some supporters say they believe that with President Trump is not yet facing re-election, there were fewer Republicans heading at the polls to vote for Frias.
Frias said he thinks pushback against Mattiello actually hurt him in some traditional Republican strongholds.
“And I think that has something to do with the fact that some of the progressive groups were so openly involved with my race,” said Frias. “I think that had a negative impact with Republican voters.”
But back at the Oaklawn Grange, Jackie Hersey was sitting in the front row with a couple of friends. She said she’s lived in Cranston all her life, and she thinks the district would have lost a champion if Mattiello was defeated.
“Without him, we were dead in the water,” said Hersey. “His opponent had nothing to offer, couldn’t do anything. This is a man who could do it all and has been doing it all.”
As for whether Mattiello will keep his job as House Speaker, Democrats are expected to Caucus Thursday, where he will work to drum up the support he needs for another term at the helm of the Rhode Island House.
