Republican Steve Frias is searching for votes while knocking on doors in Cranston.
He’s running for the state representative seat held by Democratic House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello. During a race for the same seat in 2016, Frias lost by just 85 votes. So Frias started early this year. He began canvassing in July, and he covered almost the whole district by early October.
“Either you’re satisfied with the way things are going and where they’re headed, or we can do something really different,” Frias said. “And I believe in trying to get our tax structure more like Massachusetts, so we can better compete with our neighboring states and also government reforms to clean up the Statehouse.”
Frias has hammered Mattiello over a range of issues, including how some past members of his leadership have been convicted of crimes. And how one of the speaker’s top aides, Frank Montanaro Jr., who has a $150,000 annual salary at the Statehouse, got about $50,000 in free tuition from Rhode Island College until the perk was exposed by Channel 12.
“People see that as a waste and an abuse and have concerns about that,” Frias said.
Winning voters in this district is a high-stakes fight. That’s because Mattiello has to win re-election as a state rep to have a chance of maintaining his powerful post as speaker.
Not everyone wants to talk with Frias when he knocks on their door and offers a card with details on his campaign. But he finds a receptive audience at the home of Kellie Moreaux, as her dog Daisy barks in the background.
Moreaux is a teacher in Johnston. She said she’s concerned about taxes, outdated school buildings and she views the state general fund as a sinkhole for taxpayer dollars. Moreaux said there are too many temporary fixes in Rhode Island.
Kellie: “I get tired of putting a Band-aid to fix a problem, as opposed to really taking a look and handling the problem properly …”
Frias: “Right …”
Kellie: “and that kind of goes through everything …”
Frias: “… Yes, we’re a kick the can kind of state. We have a problem, we kick the can down the road. We do little budget gimmicks to try to get through every year.”
After this exchange, Moreaux says she’s leaning toward voting for Frias. “I do think RI could use a shakeup,” she said.
Speaker Mattiello has represented this Cranston House district since first winning election as a state rep in 2006. We talked over lunch at one of his favorite local restaurants, Tommy’s Pizza on Oaklawn Avenue, in early October. As Mattiello sat down, an older woman approached to say she’s 100 percent behind him, and she applauded his stance on the PawSox.
Mattiello backed a deal that shielded taxpayers from exposure for a new PawSox stadium. Instead of staying in Rhode Island, the team decided to relocate to Worcester after getting a far more generous offer there.
Mattiello also touts how he won a recent award from the Washington, DC-based Tax Foundation “for achieving positive change in Rhode island’s tax policy. We went under my leadership from the 47th most onerous tax burden state up to 37, so in the four and a half years of my speakership, we have passed 10 states.”
When it comes to his opponent’s criticism over a top aide’s perks from Rhode Island College, Mattiello says he got Frank Montanaro to agree to pay back the tuition money, even though the perk had no direct Statehouse connection.
“It was a union-negotiated legitimate benefit that he was entitled to, and I asked him to waive that,” the speaker said.
The growing progressive faction in the House has clashed with Mattiello’s more conservative approach on issues like abortion and gun control. A small but growing number of Democrats now say they want someone else to be House speaker.
Mattiello points to his support for phasing out the car tax as evidence that he’s delivering positive change. He said the tax cut has improved voters’ mood in his district, and that his work as speaker is not done.
“We’re going to continue achieving – better work training programs, more qualified, better trained workforce, better educated young students, ready and prepared for the future. My vision is to improve the quality of life all folks,” Mattiello said.
But Mattiello’s political life has gotten increasingly complicated since he became speaker in 2014. And now, Mattiello faces questions about his handling of allegations by East Providence Representative Katherine Kazarian that she was harassed by Burrillville Representative Cale Keable.
Keable denies any harassment. Mattiello called the emergence of the harrasment claim through a leaked email – “another attempt by ultra-progressives to impact this election cycle.”
This last-minute controversy adds heightened drama to a high-stakes race, with both sides predicting victory on Election Day.
