News Clips
Rhode Island, long trapped in a terrible economy and a stagnant political culture, seems to be on the threshold of a remarkable transformation. Polls indicate that people want change. What the state needs to move forward is bright, bold and fearless leadership at the top. That is why we strongly support Gina Raimondo for governor of Rhode Island.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a full-throated endorsement to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Raimondo on Friday, using a campaign rally to tie Raimondo’s themes to those Clinton may run on in a 2016 presidential bid.
A little more than a week before Election Day, former first lady and secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton said Rhode Island voters have “one of the best choices in the country” for their next leader: state General Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo.
SINCE THE RECESSION, some state and local governments have come to terms with massive shortfalls in their pension obligations to retired public-sector employees. Still, the gap between available dollars and projected funds owed to retirees remains huge — more than $1 trillion, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. And bitter fights continue between unions representing public workers and reformers trying to fix the problem before it cripples state and local budgets.
It seems preposterous to argue that an obscure primary in a state with a million people could alter the debate inside the Democratic Party — much less to claim that the race could transform the broader national conversation about how to achieve progressive goals in an aging America. But that’s exactly what’s in store after Tuesday’s election in Rhode Island, when state treasurer Gina Raimondo won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination over her union-backed foes.
As a high school senior in the late 1980s, Gina M. Raimondo was thrilled to learn she had been accepted at Harvard, but she was also daunted.
ON HER last evening of campaigning, Gina Raimondo visited retirement homes in Providence. It was apt. Her opponents portray her as the worst enemy of Rhode Island’s pensioners, a chainsaw-wielding agent of Wall Street who will leave the elderly destitute. Her fans praise her for having tried to restore the state’s public-worker pension funds to something resembling solvency. On September 9th voters gave her the benefit of the doubt.
State Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo, the former venture capitalist who barely a year after winning her first public office persuaded state lawmakers to dramatically overhaul the Rhode Island pension system, has won the Democratic nod to run for governor.
Rhode Island would spend between $10 million and $15 million annually providing “last dollar” college scholarships to high school students attending state colleges, under a proposal released Thursday by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Raimondo.
"I'm very worried. I am worried for my own children's future. I am worried for all the people and the families that are struggling, that don't have jobs. We have the highest unemployment rate in the country. It's time for some leadership. A leader who has the courage to take on the tough issues," said Gina Raimondo, (D) Candidate for Rhode Island Governor.
