Donald Trump’s first presidency led to restrictions on funding for reproductive health organizations like Planned Parenthood and to the nomination of Supreme Court justices who two years ago struck down federal abortion rights. Gretchen Raffa, Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer of Planned Parenthood Votes Rhode Island, spoke to us about what to expect from Trump’s […]
2024 Elections
Posted inLocal, Politics, South County Bureau
How Democrats won over Richmond Republicans
Politically speaking, Richmond is a purple town with some interesting voting patterns. Donald Trump won the rural Southern Rhode Island town this year. But down the ballot, Richmond had a virtual blue wave, with Democrats dominating races for town council, school committee, and state representative. Longtime Republican Richard Nassaney doesn’t shy away when it comes […]
Posted inLocal, Politics, South Coast Bureau
How the Democrats lost their grip on Fall River
For a long time, the glue that held together the various constituencies of Fall River politics was the Democratic ward committee. The city’s nine ward committees were little outposts of the party with a presence in every neighborhood of Fall River. Each committee had up to 35 members elected from the surrounding neighborhood, many of […]
Posted inNPR
Traffic on Bluesky, an X competitor, is up 500% since the election. How will they handle the surge?
Unlike other social media sites, Bluesky allows users to create their own algorithm. The site does not have ads, nor harvest data for artificial intelligence training. But it is still very small, and it does not make money.
Posted inNPR
Outspent 4-to-1, Republicans still made gains in state legislative elections
Despite outspending Republicans, Democrats didn’t achieve some ambitious goals in state legislative races. The GOP continues to control more legislatures, though Democrats notched some victories.
Posted inImmigration, Local
How can immigrants in our region prepare for a second Trump presidency?
President-elect Donald Trump has said that he plans to launch the largest deportation operation in American history. Now that he’s been elected, Trump’s campaign promises are causing fear among immigrants in our region. Morning host Luis Hernandez spoke with Helena DaSilva Hughes, president of the Immigrants’ Assistance Center in New Bedford, about some of those […]
Posted inLocal, Politics
How Trump gained voters in parts of Rhode Island
Our political reporter Ian Donnis sat down with two local observers to discuss that question: state Representative Jon Brien, a conservative Democrat-turned-independent from Woonsocket; and Lauren Niedel, a progressive Democratic State Committee member from Glocester. TRANSCRIPT This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Donnis: Jon, Lauren. Thank you for joining me. Jon Brien: […]
Posted inNPR
2020’s debunked election fraud claims are coming back due to Trump’s 2024 victory
Election deniers have spent the past four years focused on false claims that 2020 was rigged. This year, it raised similar alarms about fraud — only for those claims to evaporate as returns came in.
Posted inPolitics, The Weekly Catch
What do the election results mean for Rhode Islanders?
With Republicans soon in control of the White House, Senate, and possibly the House, what could it mean for Rhode Islanders? Political reporter Ian Donnis and political scientist Wendy Schiller join us to talk about that and other takeaways from Tuesday’s elections. Also, how are the state’s young voters feeling about the election results? We talk with a group of students from Johnson & Wales University to get their take. And the Rhode Island Philharmonic has a new music director. She won’t take the seat until early next year, but she is conducting the orchestra in a concert this weekend. That and more on this week’s show.
Posted inLocal, Politics, TGIF
TGIF: Ian Donnis’ Rhode Island politics roundup for Nov. 8, 2024
With the 2024 election in the books, we’re on the fast-track to the holidays … and the quiet phase of a statewide election looming in 2026. Welcome back to my weekly column. You can follow me through the week on threads and what we used to call the twitters. Here we go. *** Want to […]
