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rhode island
Ex-Biden Official Gabe Amo Defeats Progressive Aaron Regunberg in Rhode Island
"The inability to convert on a winnable race," wrote one observer, "should alarm national progressive groups."
Sep 06, 2023
Former Biden administration official Gabe Amo won the special Democratic primary for an open U.S. House seat in Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District on Tuesday, defeating frontrunner Aaron Regunberg, an ex-state representative who was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Regunberg's loss to Amo, who served as deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, was seen as a significant disappointment for progressives in the heavily blue district previously represented by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), who stepped down earlier this year.
If Amo defeats Republican Gerry Leonard in November, he will be the first Black person to ever represent Rhode Island in Congress.
Cicilline did not endorse in the crowded primary race, but Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)—a friend and political ally of Cicilline—backed Regunberg, as did the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, the Working Families Party, Our Revolution, Friends of the Earth Action, and other progressive organizations.
Justice Democrats, whose organizing work has been key to progressive primary victories in recent years, did not get involved in the race as the group struggles to raise money.
Some local left-wing groups, including the Democratic Socialists of America's Providence chapter, opposed Regunberg and criticized Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez for endorsing the Rhode Island Democrat, pointing to the backing his campaign received from a super PAC.
As The American Prospect's Luke Goldstein wrote in a recap of Tuesday's contest, Progress RI's support for Regunberg included "a $5,000 contribution from his mother and $125,000 from his father-in-law, an executive at a global investment firm."
Amo's fundraising also came under fire.
According to a memo released by the Working Families Party in the final stretch of the campaign, the former Biden administration official's campaign received tens of thousands of dollars from lobbyists working for companies that represent Big Pharma, the parent corporation of Fox News, the oil and gas industry, tobacco companies, and Wall Street.
HuffPost's Daniel Marans noted Tuesday that Amo "got a last-minute assist from former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who represented the House seat for 16 years before Cicilline."
After endorsing Amo, Kennedy "aggressively attacked Regunberg in a local television interview," Marans reported, "calling him an 'extreme' ideologue whose support for a smaller defense budget would jeopardize Rhode Island jobs―and even Democrats' hold on the House seat. (Biden carried the seat by 29 percentage points in 2020.)"
But Marans pointed out that "Regunberg would not have been a member of the left-wing 'Squad.'"
"He cited Cicilline as a model of effective progressive governance," Marans explained, "and touted his own work on the passage of state laws ensuring workers paid sick leave, raising the state's tipped minimum wage, creating a commission to study the use of solitary confinement, enacting online voter registration, and encouraging homeowners' adoption of solar panels."
Polling released in the lead-up to Tuesday's race showed that Regunberg was in the lead, but a significant percentage of voters surveyed were undecided in the days ahead of the special election.
Goldstein argued in the Prospect that "the inability to convert on a winnable race... should alarm national progressive groups as they limp into the next election cycle."
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AOC Endorses Aaron Regunberg for Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District
"As a community organizer, climate lawyer, and state legislator—Aaron has been a fierce champion for working people," said the New York Democrat. "I'm proud to support him."
Aug 31, 2023
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday joined the growing coalition of progressive lawmakers and groups backing J. Aaron Regunberg in the crowded Democratic primary contest for Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District.
Regunberg is among a several Democrats running in the September 5 primary for a November special election planned after Democratic Congressman David Cicilline left the U.S. House of Representatives seat in June to serve as president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation.
"As a community organizer, climate lawyer, and state legislator—Aaron has been a fierce champion for working people," Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. "He helped increase Rhode Island wages for the first time in 20 years and held Big Oil companies accountable for environmental crimes. Now, he's running for Congress to pass a $15 minimum wage and to fight for a Green New Deal. I'm proud to support him."
Regunberg is also aiming to establish Medicare for All, raise taxes on the rich, expand affordable housing, increase reproductive freedom, update labor laws to better serve workers, reform the U.S. Supreme Court, defend LGBTQ+ equality, and tackle gun violence and corporate monopolies, according to his campaign website.
"I'm really honored to have the endorsement of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, someone who's taken on corporate special interests to fight for a fair economy and a government that works for all of us," Regunberg said. "I look forward to working with her in Congress to build coalitions that can deliver Medicare for All and bold climate action for our communities, and to stand up against Republican attacks on our democracy."
Regunberg has also won the support of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Democratic Reps. Greg Casar (Texas), Ro Khanna (Calif.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Jamie Raskin (Md.), and Jan Schakowsky (Ill.) along with several state senators and representatives, human rights attorney Steven Donziger, and climate activist Bill McKibben.
Sanders on Sunday headlined a rally for Regunberg in Providence. According toThe Public's Radio, the senator told the crowd that "now is the time for a political revolution of working families coming together, telling the people on top this country belongs to all of us, elect Aaron and we're going to take a strong step forward in doing just that."
As Semaforreported:
As Sanders spoke to 1,000 people at the Columbus Theatre, a truck circled outside with an electronic billboard, paid for by a fringe candidate, attacking him for "NOT supporting a progressive woman" and "NOT supporting a person of color." Sanders and Regunberg spoke only after female, progressive allies talked about how the candidate helped pass an array of paid leave and wage bills, while convincing them to run for office.
"Why am I, a black Afro-Latina woman, supporting Aaron, over other people of color who are running?" said state Rep. Leonela Felix [D-61]. "The answer is very simple. More than identity politics, Rhode Island needs a champion who will fight to ensure that families not only survive, but that they thrive."
Organizations supporting Regunberg include the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Climate Hawks Vote, Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Food & Water Action, Friends of the Earth Action, Moms Demand Action, Oil Change U.S., Our Revolution, and the Working Families Party (WFP).
"It's clear why our country's top progressive champions are coming out for Aaron," Georgia Hollister Isman, WFP's New England regional director, said Thursday. "He's the clear progressive choice, and they know he's the only candidate in this race who will always take on the corporate interests holding people back. These endorsements send a clear signal to anyone who wants a real shot at bringing affordable housing, healthcare, and childcare to Rhode Island—with fierce allies like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, Aaron can deliver the types of big investments that actually improve people's lives."
The Boston Globe pointed out that "half an hour after the announcement of AOC's endorsement," the campaign of Gabe Amo—who left his job as deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and special assistant to President Joe Biden for this race—announced he has been endorsed by former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, who held the seat from 1995 to 2011.
Summarizing analysis from Providence College political science professor Adam S. Myers, the newspaper explained that while "the Kennedy endorsement of Amo reflects support among the Democratic establishment in Rhode Island," Ocasio-Cortez's endorsement "shows Regunberg has 'locked up' the support of national progressive groups and leaders who want to ensure the seat is filled by a progressive," though "support among local progressives is not unanimous."
The American Prospect noted in May that six members of the progressive Rhode Island Political Cooperative released a statement critical of Regunberg's candidacy and Democratic Socialists of America's Providence chapter issued a "no-endorsement" in the race.
"The Rhode Island Political Cooperative's attack on Regunberg is part of a rift within the state's left wing that's become more pronounced in recent years," the outlet explained, citing interviews with several Democratic activists. "The infighting has shades of a familiar dynamic dividing left-wing coalitions elsewhere, which most prominently came to the fore during the New York City mayoral election in 2021. The argument involves how much to emphasize working inside the political system versus organizing outside of it, and how adversarial the left should be against the Democratic Party."
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US Supreme Court's Blow to Big Oil 'Should Open the Floodgates for More Lawsuits'
"The high court's decision is a major victory for communities across the country that are fighting to hold Big Oil accountable and make them pay for the climate damages they knowingly caused," said one advocate.
Apr 24, 2023
Campaigners and frontline communities celebrated Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear five appeals from major fossil fuel companies hoping to shift climate liability cases from state to federal court, where polluters are more likely to prevail.
"Big Oil companies have been desperate to avoid trials in state courts, where they will be forced to defend their climate lies in front of juries, and today the Supreme Court declined to bail them out," said Center for Climate Integrity president Richard Wiles.
"The high court's decision is a major victory for communities across the country that are fighting to hold Big Oil accountable and make them pay for the climate damages they knowingly caused," he continued. "Now it's time for these polluters to face the evidence of their deception in court."
The new denials come after the nation's highest court handed fossil fuel giants a narrow win two years ago. They involve lawsuits brought against several companies—including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, Suncor, and Sunoco—in recent years by the state of Rhode Island as well as municipalities across California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Maryland.
"The decision sends a powerful message to fossil fuel companies: Evading responsibility will not be tolerated."
"This was the right decision, and it is time to prepare for trial," declared Sara Gross, chief of the Baltimore City Department of Law's Affirmative Litigation Division in Maryland.
"Since we filed this case nearly five years ago," she noted, "the climate crisis has worsened, the costs to Baltimore taxpayers are skyrocketing, and the defendants have pocketed trillions of dollars in profits while trying to dodge accountability for their deception."
Boulder County Commissioner Ashley Stolzmann said that her community is "thrilled," adding that "our lawsuit against Exxon and Suncor should be determined in Colorado state court—where the actions of these companies are negatively impacting our residents."
"Communities like ours are exposed to destructive climate change impacts caused by the actions of fossil fuel companies while they reap record profits," she stressed. "These companies need to pay their fair share to deal with the climate chaos they've created and take responsibility for the climate impacts. Local governments cannot shoulder the price tag of climate change alone."
\u201cTHIS IS HUGE!!!! Big Oil had desperately hoped that the Supreme Court would intervene to stop climate liability lawsuits from moving forward at the state level, but they refused! \n\nThis should open the floodgates for more lawsuits that could make polluters pay!\u201d— Jamie Henn (@Jamie Henn) 1682349708
The high court's position was also praised by climate campaigners and experts across the country, including Delta Merner at the Union of Concerned Scientists' Science Hub for Climate Litigation, who applauded the "significant victory for climate justice and climate lawsuits" while calling out "the recklessness and greed of the fossil fuel industry."
"ExxonMobil, Suncor, Chevron, Shell, and other fossil fuel companies have known for decades that heat-trapping emissions from their operations and the use of their products drive climate change and its impacts, but they have continued to deceive the public and obstruct meaningful action," she said. "The decision sends a powerful message to fossil fuel companies: Evading responsibility will not be tolerated."
Earlier this month, documents
exposed that Shell knew about the impact of fossil fuels even earlier than previously thought—a revelation that came just a few months after a peer-reviewed study showed that ExxonMobil accurately predicted global heating decades ago.
"As we become more adept at identifying the specific contributions of individual companies to the climate crisis through attribution science," said Merner, "we are increasingly able to trace the lines of responsibility from the boardrooms of fossil fuel companies to the shattered homes and lives of those harmed by climate change."
"While no amount of money can compensate for the damage climate change has wrought, a victory in this case could provide some measure of justice and demonstrate the power of litigation as a tool for climate action," she added of the Boulder effort—which U.S. President Joe Biden's Justice Department supported last month with an amicus brief.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh said he would have granted a review for the Colorado case. While Justice Samuel Alito, who owns stock in some Big Oil companies, did not weigh in on the decisions, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose father spent nearly three decades as an attorney for Shell, participated.
\u201cBREAKING: The Supreme Court denied the oil companies' petitions! Alito recused himself from consideration of all five petitions. (Coney Barrett did not.) This is a major milestone for these climate corporate accountability lawsuits.\u201d— Revolving Door Project (@Revolving Door Project) 1682345153
"Honolulu taxpayers are ready to hold these defendants accountable for their deception and the enormous costs that their conduct is imposing on our communities," said Matthew Gonser, who leads the Hawaiian city and county's Office of Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resiliency. He noted the decision aligns with district and appellate court rulings.
According to the environmental law firm Sher Edling, fossil fuel companies' federal removal claims also have been rejected by the appeals courts for the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 8th, and 9th circuits, demonstrating agreement among 33 district and appellate judges nominated by five former presidents.
The Supreme Court next month is still set to decide on a petition involving Delaware and Hoboken, New Jersey. Sher Edling highlighted a few lines from the related 3rd Circuit opinion: "Our federal system trusts state courts to hear most cases—even big, important ones that raise federal defenses. Plaintiffs choose which claims to file, in which court, and under which law. Defendants may prefer federal court, but they may not remove their cases to federal court unless federal laws let them. Here, they do not."
Mat Marshall, a spokesperson for Democratic Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings, welcomed the developments on Monday and said that "the question presented to the Supreme Court by defendants in our case is identical, so we look forward to the same outcome in a few weeks when that petition is considered."
This post has been updated to clarify that Justice Samuel Alito did not participate in any of the decisions.
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