Rhode Island General Treasurer, a Democrat running in the 2nd Congressional District, is the guest this week on Political Roundtable.
The topics include a new Boston Globe poll and his potential November showdown with Republican Allan Fung.
Magaziner is serving his second term as general treasurer.
IAN DONNIS: General treasurer Seth Magaziner. Welcome back to The Public’s Radio.
SETH MAGAZINER: Great to be here. Thank you.
DONNIS: You have a lot of advantages heading into this race in Rhode Island’s second congressional district you’re very well known Rhode Island voters have shown an overwhelming preference for Democrats. Nonetheless, a Boston Globe poll out this week shows you trailing Republican Allan Fung by six points in a hypothetical general election matchup. How come?
MAGAZINER: Well, listen, I’m in this race for Congress because the stakes in this election are so high. I want to help Rhode Island and our country transition to a clean energy economy. The Republicans in Washington have no interest in that. I want to enact a codification of Roe v Wade nationally so that a woman’s right to choose is protected and not in the hands of politicians. Republicans in Washington want to pass a national abortion ban. I want to protect Social Security and Medicare and the Affordable Care Act. The Republicans want to privatize Social Security repeal the Affordable Care Act, the list goes on and on. Let me the stakes are very high.
DONNIS: Let me stop you there because you’ve been very clear for a long time about where you stand on the issues. Nonetheless, this poll shows Allan Fung in a potentially strong position. Why is that?
MAGAZINER: Well, the reason that we are going to win this race and be successful is because where I am on these issues is where most Rhode Islanders are and where Allan Fung is, is very much to the extreme and outside of where most Rhode Islanders are. So again, let’s go through them on choice. I want to codify Roe v Wade protect the right to choose. Allan Fung opposed codifying Roe at the state level and opposes it at the federal level. I want to transition to a clean energy economy he has no interest in that. I want to pass common sense gun safety laws so that my child, my baby doesn’t have to worry about lockdown drills and school shootings when he’s old enough to go to school. Allan Fung is ‘A’ rated by the NRA opposed red flag laws to take guns away from domestic abusers, opposes the assault weapons ban. And so I think what’s gonna happen as we get further into this campaign is voters will see those distinctions they will realize that on the issues, I am fighting for them, and I am on the same side as them and that the Republican agenda, which is Allan Fung’s, agenda is outside of the mainstream.
DONNIS: Independents or unaffiliated voters make up the biggest pool of voters in Rhode Island. So you must be concerned about how this Boston Globe poll showed Allan Fung with a big advantage among independent voters 58% to 20%. What’s your explanation for that?
MAGAZINER: Listen, Allan Fung thinks he’s going to win this race by obscuring his positions. Because even among independents and moderates, his positions are outside the mainstream. He’s against common sense gun safety laws. I’m for them. His first vote is going to be to put Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene in charge of Congress. Most Rhode Islanders do not want that. This poll confirmed two things that I’ve been saying since the beginning of our campaign for Congress. The first thing it confirmed is that this is going to be a competitive election in November. We knew that going in it’s a midterm year, and a district that is a competitive district. So we knew it was going to be competitive. The second thing that this poll confirmed is that we are the Democratic campaign that is best positioned to hold this seat, defeat Allan Fung and keep the seat in the Democratic column and the only Democratic candidate there.
DONNIS: Let’s move, let’s move on. The top issue for voters right now is inflation and the cost of living. Democrats have control of most of the federal government, the Senate is narrowly divided. Why should voters support a Democrat given how Democrats have seemingly been a bit slow in responding to the issue of inflation?
MAGAZINER: Well, the rising cost of living is really taking a toll on people and months ago, I ran an op-ed in the Providence Journal where I laid out a plan for what Congress can do to help Rhode Islanders keep up with the cost of living. I believe that we should temporarily suspend the federal gas tax, utilize the strategic petroleum reserves, and then speed our transition to a clean energy economy so that we’re not beholden on autocrats like Vladimir Putin to set our energy prices. There’s other things that we can do to lower the cost of healthcare, allowing the federal government to negotiate with the drug companies to lower the cost of prescription drugs would make a huge difference, particularly for older folks living on a fixed income. So there’s a lot of things that we can and should do to lower the cost of living and make it easier for working people to get ahead. But I will just say again, that the Republicans in Washington have no interest in any of these things. They’re going to try to repeal the Affordable Care Act, not strengthen it, and that will be a disaster for working people trying to keep up with the cost of living.
DONNIS: Different polls by WPRI and the Boston Globe have shown you with a significant lead over your five Democratic primary rivals. Nonetheless, your support seems to be hovering in the low 30%. After winning two statewide elections. Why is your support not stronger?
MAGAZINER: Well, our support in the primary and in the general is very strong. Listen, I’m the only Democrat in the race that the Boston Globe poll showed to be within striking distance of Allan Fung. We know that we are the Democratic campaign that is best suited to succeed in November.
DONNIS: Actually, the other Democrats were pretty closely behind in matchups with Fung.
MAGAZINER: Everybody else had a double digit gap between them and the front runner, we were the only ones within single digits. I’m the only Democrat in the race, who’s ever won an election in district two before we won the second congressional district twice, most recently in 2018, with more than 60% of the vote. And I have a record of delivering results across the district: fixing schools, building out clean energy projects, strengthening the state’s retirement system. So the reason that I’m in this race is because it is vitally important that we keep the seat in Democratic control. Our campaign is the strongest campaign to do that. As we’re recording this now, pretty soon, we’re going to be announcing the endorsement of Congressman Langevin in our race, because he knows that we are the Democratic campaign that is best suited to keep the seat blue in November.
DONNIS: You brought up the issue of Roe v. Wade. It’s been no secret, the Republicans for years have been trying to move the Supreme Court in a more conservative direction. We see the fruits of that right now with a series of decisions. Why have Democrats been so ineffective in countering that?
MAGAZINER: Well, at the state level, we have been effective. I fought alongside many advocates and leaders here in Rhode Island to pass a codification of Roe v Wade at the state level in Rhode Island, which by the way, Allan Fung opposed. And in Congress, one of my top priorities is going to be to codify Roe v Wade at the federal level, so that all across the country, women are free to make their own healthcare decisions instead of politicians making those decisions for them.
DONNIS: How do you see that happening? What are the first steps that people who support that should be taking now? And what are the subsequent steps?
MAGAZINER: Easy, the very first step is Democrats need to win elections, because right now, Democrats only have a four seat majority in the House and a 50/50 Senate. And if we want to not only codify Roe v Wade at the federal level, but prevent the Republicans from enacting a national abortion ban that would override the state level protections that so many of us fought for in Rhode Island. The first step is that Democrats have to win elections, we have to turn out to vote and elect pro-choice Democratic candidates.
DONNIS: How about after that?
MAGAZINER: Well, we’ve got to pass in the house, a national codification of Roe v. Wade, and then we push it to the Senate. In the Senate, there are the votes to get it done. If you make an exception or eliminate the filibuster, which President Biden came out in favor of today, which I support strongly as well.
DONNIS: Is President Biden the guy to lead the Democrats into the 2024 election season? Do you think he’s the best choice for President?
MAGAZINER: Well, listen, first, we’ve got to make sure that we keep Democratic control and expand Democratic control of Congress in this election. Because if we don’t, and Republicans like Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Allan Fung take over Congress, you know what they’re going to do in two years, they’re going to try to put Donald Trump back in power, whether he wins the election legitimately or not. The playbook has already been put out, we know what they’re going to do. So the first step is we have to keep the second congressional seat in Democratic control, we have to keep and expand Democratic control in Congress for the very future of our democracy.
DONNIS: Some people who follow politics are concerned that democracy is sliding into minority control by the Republican Party. They cite how the evenly divided, the Senate’s evenly divided, although Democrats represent about 40 million more Americans than Republicans, how a number of Supreme Court justices have been appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote. What is the fix for this, in your view?
MAGAZINER: Elect Democrats. Because again, the Republican Party right now in Washington, is the Donald Trump party. And they do not care a whit about our democratic system of government about our democratic heritage. They just care about amassing power and putting Donald Trump back in the White House. We cannot let that happen. We have to maintain the Democratic majority and Congress as a beachhead against these Republican onslaughts against our democracy. I want my son to grow up in a democracy. And that is what’s at stake in this election.
DONNIS: Who are you supporting in the race for governor in Rhode Island?
MAGAZINER: Well, I’m going to support whoever the Democratic candidate is. I look forward to campaigning with them in the fall and succeeding in November.
DONNIS: You loaned your campaign $800,000 when you first ran for treasurer in 2014. What was the source of that money?
MAGAZINER: Well, it’s no secret that, you know, I come from a well off family and that allowed me to make a personal contribution to my race for treasurer eight years ago. As have by the way most of my opponents I think, at this point in the congressional race have put personal money into their campaign as well. I have not in this cycle. Our campaign –
DONNIS: Could you be more specific that you talk to coming from an affluent family? Does that mean the money was yours or or where did it come from?
MAGAZINER: As I said, I come from an affluent family. That has allowed me to make a personal contribution into my race eight years ago, as have many other candidates here in Rhode Island, and across the country, there’s nothing unusual about it. I think what voters care about is who is going to fight for them, who’s going to fight to lower the cost of health care to lower the costs energy to protect Roe v. Wade, to keep the seat in Democratic control. Again, in this campaign in this race, 100% of our contributions have come from people and organizations that support working people who believe in our campaign, and who believe that we are the best campaign to keep the seat in Democratic hands. Many of my opponents at this point have made personal donations to their races to their campaigns in this race. We have not.
DONNIS: As general treasurer, your chief responsibility has been overseeing the state’s pension plan. I wonder, with the prospect for strong investment returns from the stock market being very uncertain right now. It’s unclear if Providence will pursue this plan to try to put out a bond and make money on the stock market. What do you think the solution is for the Providence pension, which only has about a quarter of the money needed to meet its long term obligations?
MAGAZINER: Yeah, so you know, I’ve had numerous conversations with Mayor Elorza, with leaders of the council, with other leaders in Providence. I’ve offered our office as a resource. I think what needs to happen is all parties in Providence need to get together, sit down and with a spirit of shared sacrifice, understand that there is no one silver bullet. What it’s going to require is everybody coming together to put the Providence pension system on a sustainable path once and for all. In my office, as state treasurer, I’ve worked closely with the city of Central Falls and the town of West Warwick, on changes to their pension plans that have dramatically improved the financial condition of those pensions. And I’m always available to work with and consult with leaders in Providence, if they’re interested in that.
DONNIS: You’ve been a big supporter of new school construction spending in Rhode Island East Providence is seeing the benefits of it. It has a shiny new high school that is very impressive. With an eye popping cost figure about $190 million. Less than half of that paid for by the city of East Providence. What do you say to people who just are gobsmacked by that amount of spending for a high school even if it is an important asset for the community?
MAGAZINER: Kids deserve it. I mean, every child in Rhode Island deserves to go to a school that is safe and warm and dry and equipped to teach the lessons of the 21st century. Five years ago, Governor Raimondo at the time came to me and asked me to lead a school construction task force because we had school buildings all across the state literally crumbling that were unsafe, that weren’t up to fire code, weren’t ADA compliant, and we launched a once in a generation program to repair and replace school buildings all across the state. I’m pleased to report two things now as we sit here four years later, five years later. The first is that that program that that I lead, has now allocated funding to repair or replace more than 200 schools across the state of Rhode Island, which is the majority of our public school buildings. That impact is being seen not only in East Providence, but new schools being built in Cranston and Johnston and North Providence, repairs in North Kingstown, Narragansett. The list goes on and on. The second thing I’m pleased to report is that in the budget that just passed for the General Assembly last week, we were able to secure an extension of that program for at least another year, so that the progress can continue.
DONNIS: Alright, general treasurer Seth Magaziner, a Democratic candidate in Rhode Island’s second congressional district. Thank you for joining us.
MAGAZINER: Thank you.
