RI Working Families Party Grows Its State Legislative Bloc; People Power in Providence

PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Working Families Party celebrates massive general election victories that mark growing power for working people in Rhode Island state politics. Two first-time candidates – Veronicka Vega, HD49 and Dr. Nelly Burdette, SD17 – unseated conservative, corporate-backed Republican and independent incumbents, joining working-class voters nationwide in delivering a clear message: enough is enough.

Dr. Nelly Burdette, a clinical psychologist and Lincoln mom, unseated Senate Deputy Minority Leader Tom Paolino in Senate District 17. She will be the first woman to represent the district and the first psychologist in the Rhode Island Senate. In Woonsocket, Veronicka Vega defeated Rep. Jon Brien, Rhode Island State Chair of the corporate lobby ALEC, and will be the first person of color to represent House District 49 – or any Woonsocket seat. Both campaigns were built and powered by RIWFP and our partners, without significant help from the Democratic Party establishment. For the past six weeks, volunteers have been hitting doors, holding phonebanks, and texting voters to get out the vote for these two working families champions. These wins enable both the WFP-aligned Senators and Representatives and the Democratic caucus to pick up a seat in each chamber. 

The Party also defended the majority of seats in the WFP caucus, including Rep. Megan Cotter who held House District 39, a seat Republicans have targeted for years. You can view the full list of endorsed candidates here. 

In Providence, David Morales and a WFP-backed City Council majority head to City Hall with a mandate to deliver rent stabilization in their first 100 days.

“Rhode Island is at an inflection point, and tonight voters chose leaders who will step into the breach instead of defending the status quo,” said Anusha Venkataraman, Rhode Island State Director for the Working Families Party. “Nelly and Veronicka won because working people organized for them door by door, without waiting for the party establishment to show up. Voters are hungry for candidates who are rooted in their communities and the issues they live with every day, not in the party machine.”

“Put that next to what just happened in Providence, and the picture is clear. We’ve spent ten years building this power, election by election and seat by seat, until working people have the numbers to set the agenda, not just fight to get on it. Now we have a governing majority in City Hall and a growing bloc in the State House. In the next 100 days, Providence will move to pass rent stabilization, fund our schools fairly as they return to local control, and build a City Hall that answers to residents instead of donors..”

The victories were powered by the largest coalition of working-class organizations Rhode Island has seen in years: RIWFP, Reclaim RI, SEIU 1199 New England and the RI SEIU State Council, AFT 6516, the Providence Teachers Union, and tenant organizations, all running on a shared slate and governing agenda.