Nesi’s Notes: Oct. 15 | WPRI.com

1. Did Ashley Kalus do sufficient this week to alter the dynamics in a race she’s trailed by double-digits? That’s the large query following back-to-back debates pitting the Republican nominee for governor in opposition to Democratic incumbent Dan McKee, a TV conflict Tuesday evening here on WPRI 12 and a radio bout two days later hosted by Public’s Radio and The Windfall Journal. Kalus lived as much as her branding as a “fighter,” pummeling McKee each occasions on points starting from sluggish RICAS scores and the FBI ILO investigation to RIPTA’s woes and cupboard raises. McKee defended his document whereas casting Kalus as a Republican carpetbagger whose candidacy is “retaliation” over a misplaced state contract. If Kalus have been working for governor of Western Rhode Island, the race could be a tossup: the WPRI/RWU and Globe/Suffolk polls each confirmed McKee with solely a slim lead within the 2nd Congressional District. However the governor is forward by as a lot as 20 factors within the jap communities of the first District, a area that features his geographic base within the Blackstone Valley in addition to more and more Democratic cities alongside the East Bay. The McKee workforce thinks Kalus’s tenuous ties to Rhode Island are disqualifying, and are attempting to land a knockout punch with a brand new 60-second advert mocking her as an out-of-towner. (Former White Home press secretary Jen Psaki even noticed it.) However the Kalus workforce is insistent that she has sufficient money and time to shut the hole with McKee, and so they plan to remain on the offensive. One problem for Kalus: there aren’t any extra debates scheduled till Nov. 3, simply 5 days earlier than Election Day.

2. Governor McKee insisted throughout our debate Tuesday evening that Ashley Kalus is unsuitable to allege he’s withholding this 12 months’s RICAS standardized check scores till after the election, saying, “I should not have the scores.” He additionally instructed his administration’s sluggish launch of the outcomes this 12 months has one thing to do with the truth that the check administrator is processing MCAS scores for Massachusetts first. However my colleagues Steph Machado and Tolly Taylor determined to do a reality verify on Friday — and realized the check administrator has already despatched the RICAS scores to Rhode Island. Kalus issued a blistering assertion saying McKee had lied to Rhode Islanders on dwell TV; McKee’s workplace now argues the governor was solely saying he didn’t “personally” have the scores in his possession. Read the full story here.

3. With lower than a month to go earlier than the election, it’s lastly sunk in regionally and nationally that Republicans have an actual shot at successful Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District for the primary time since 1988. Three polls launched in fast succession have all proven Allan Fung main Democrat Seth Magaziner: 46%-40% within the WPRI/RWU ballot, 45%-37% within the Globe/Suffolk ballot, and 43%-40% in Magaziner’s personal inner ballot. Home GOP leaders from Kevin McCarthy on down are gunning for the seat, with their important tremendous PAC — the Congressional Management Fund — doubling its spending on the race to $2 million this week. But the polls stay too shut, and the 2nd District too purple, to jot down Magaziner off but. Proper now Fung is hovering barely above 42% of the vote that Donald Trump acquired within the 2nd District two years in the past, whereas Magaziner is falling far wanting Joe Biden’s 56%. That’s an issue for Magaziner, but additionally a possibility — there are clearly nonetheless loads of Biden voters who aren’t backing Magaziner or Fung at this level. The problem for the Democrat’s marketing campaign is getting these voters on board, and even convincing them to vote in any respect, since turnout often slumps in a midterm in contrast with a presidential 12 months. All which means the stakes are excessive for each males after they meet for his or her first televised debate Tuesday at 7 p.m. on WPRI 12 dwell from the Windfall Performing Arts Middle. Our debate would be the second assembly for the pair within the house of 24 hours, following a radio debate the evening earlier than hosted by Public’s Radio and The Journal.

4. One Democrat who’s turn into absolutely engaged for the combat for the 2nd District has direct expertise successful the seat in opposition to a powerful Republican nominee: Jack Reed, who entered Congress after defeating Trudy Coxe within the 2nd District in 1990. That race seems straightforward looking back — Reed gained 59% to 41% — however he wasn’t a powerful favourite on the time; in actual fact, Reed didn’t even lead within the polls that 12 months till a WPRI 12 survey that got here out Oct. 25. Reed instructed me Friday evening he remembers that 1990 race’s first debate as a pivotal second within the marketing campaign for him — and he thinks the identical might be true for Magaziner. “He’s actually acquired to be authoritative, forceful and convincing within the debate,” Reed mentioned. “And I feel he’s acquired the flexibility to try this. I feel he’ll.” Reed has been getting extra closely concerned within the effort to retain his previous seat for his social gathering, elevating vital sums to bolster Magaziner and hitting the marketing campaign path with the candidate. Whereas the low-key senator isn’t typically considered as a partisan brawler, he argues his engagement must be no shock. “When there’s a aggressive race, I’m in there,” Reed mentioned. One of many unanswered questions: will Reed reduce a TV advert for Magaziner? He did commercials for Sheldon Whitehouse in 2006 and Gina Raimondo in 2014, making an attempt to develop the halo of his personal excessive approval ranking over their heads, too. Reed wouldn’t inform me Friday if he’s taping a spot, however did say he’s dedicated to doing “what’s most useful” to Magaziner.

5. Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch filed an informative profile Thursday of the 2 2nd District candidates, eliciting some new data from each Allan Fung and Seth Magaziner, notably on overseas coverage. Each candidates help a two-state answer to the Israeli-Palestinian battle, and each pledged continued help for the U.S. alliance with Israel. Fung mentioned he opposes President Biden’s efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal, whereas Magaziner mentioned he helps the thought however desires a “stronger model” than President Obama’s. The pair additionally spoke about their backgrounds. Fung mentioned he’s proud to proceed “breaking obstacles” and being somebody who “hopefully opens the door for the following technology of Asian American elected officers.” Magaziner, whose father is Jewish and whose mom is Catholic, remembered “being referred to as anti-Jewish slurs from a really younger age.” He additionally mentioned, “Definitely, ethnically, I determine as Jewish. Religiously, I are inclined to preserve that personal.”

6. Tuesday is publication day for Senator Whitehouse’s new guide, “The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court.” Nesi’s Notes obtained an advance copy of the guide, through which Whitehouse offers a full-length remedy to his long-stated arguments that the nation’s highest courtroom has been captured by right-wing pursuits. He compares the trouble to “covert opts” run by intelligence businesses (in addition to, in his view, fossil gasoline corporations almost about local weather change). “Each operations secretly management issues, cover their identities, and may lie with impunity,” Whitehouse writes. “Staying covert usually means evading the legal guidelines that require monetary transparency and disclosure — legal guidelines which might be wildly fashionable throughout the American political spectrum. An elected official who desires to remain in workplace lengthy can’t very nicely repeal these legal guidelines. However an unelected, unaccountable set of Supreme Court docket justices can. In truth, they have already got.”

7. If you need proof that Senator Whitehouse’s campaign in opposition to conservative authorized elites has his adversaries’ consideration, look no additional than final week’s New York Times exposé concerning the actions of Whitehouse bête noire Leonard Leo, a frontrunner of the Federalist Society. Detailing the a number of organizations Leo has created to advance his agenda, The Instances’ Ken Vogel writes: “Mr. Leo’s community has not been shy about taking over critics in Washington, like Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, who has repeatedly spotlighted him in speeches, together with one last month through which he described Mr. Leo as ‘the little spider that you simply discover on the heart of the darkish cash internet.’” Whitehouse additionally just lately acquired some vindication from a lengthy Law360 investigation into the FBI’s apparently lackluster examination of sexual misconduct allegations in opposition to Supreme Court docket Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The authorized information outlet experiences that after 4 years, “the investigation stays shrouded in secrecy,” including: “Questions linger about what sources have been allotted to the probe, how lengthy ideas sat with out being reviewed by FBI workers, and whether or not brokers might develop its scope in mild of credible allegations.”

8. Tough Axios piece on certainly one of David Cicilline’s high coverage priorities for the 117th Congress: “Democrats talked a giant recreation about reining in Huge Tech, however after almost two years of controlling the agenda in Washington, they’ve acquired little to indicate for it.”

9. One of many downballot races that has gotten comparatively little consideration is the problem to Democratic Legal professional Basic Peter Neronha by Republican Chas Calenda. Whereas Neronha is the favourite, Calenda has been making a sustained case for a unique strategy by the state’s high prosecutor. “I feel the partisanship that’s occurring within the present administration has been a detriment to our legal justice system and the workplace of the lawyer basic,” Calenda instructed our Kayla Fish on 12 News at 4 this week. “It’s our chief law-enforcement officer right here in Rhode Island, and we’ve seen a really partisan administration so far as the priorities they’re pursuing and going ahead, and I’d like to alter that.” Neronha appeared on the identical program with Kim Kalunian back on Sept. 20, when he pushed again at Calenda’s critique.

10. Now right here’s one thing you don’t see each day. East Bay Newspapers and The League of Girls Voters hosted a discussion board Thursday evening for Senate District 11, the seat being vacated by Portsmouth Democrat Jim Seveney. It featured three of the 4 candidates: impartial Andrew Kelly, Republican Ken Mendonça, and Democrat Linda Ujifusa. Three minutes into the discussion board, whereas giving a gap assertion, Kelly introduced he was dropping out of the race — and endorsing Ujifusa. The look on her face as Kelly spoke suggests Ujifusa was as surprised as everyone else.

11. The New York Instances took a take a look at Rhode Island’s determination to turn into the first state to legalize supervised drug consumption sites.

12. The offshore wind trade acquired its begin in Rhode Island with the Block Island demonstration challenge, and it’s now rising by leaps and bounds. That enlargement might be on show subsequent week in Windfall, when the American Clear Energy Affiliation will maintain its Offshore WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition on the Rhode Island Conference Middle. Governor McKee, Senator Reed and Senator Whitehouse all plan to talk to the two-day gathering. Forward of the occasion, McKee introduced Friday that Rhode Island Vitality has begun soliciting bids for an additional 600 to 1,000 megawatts of offshore wind. The procurement stems from a legislation handed this previous Basic Meeting session by Sen. Daybreak Euer and Rep. Artwork Useful.

13. A reminder from our Windfall reporter Steph Machado: Monday could possibly be your final likelihood to weigh in on the proposed metropolis tax breaks for the “Superman” constructing. The general public listening to on the deal is being held at 5 p.m. at Metropolis Corridor, and the Finance Committee could vote on the tax stabilization settlement instantly afterwards. (The settlement will nonetheless need to be accepted by the total Metropolis Council, however these conferences don’t permit public remark.) The vacant skyscraper, which is being developed into flats, would get a roughly $29 million discount on their taxes over 30 years if the settlement is accepted.

14. Condolences to the household and mates of Westerly broadcaster Christopher DiPaola, who has died too younger at age 49. The Globe’s Brian Amaral has a great obituary for DiPaola here.

15. That is enjoyable: a collection of classic Life magazine photos from the campaign trail.

16. A brand new documentary seems at, of all issues, the old kids’ TV show “Barney.”

17. Do you know one of many best-selling new jazz albums of 2022 — “Lifeline” by John Stein — was released by a record label based outside New Bedford?

18. Set your DVRs: This week on Newsmakers — a political roundtable breaks down this week’s WPRI 12 gubernatorial debate between Dan McKee and Ashley Kalus. Watch Sunday at 5:30 a.m. on WPRI 12 or 10 a.m. on Fox Windfall, or pay attention on the radio Sundays at 6 p.m. on WPRO. You may also subscribe to Newsmakers as a podcast on iTunes (or wherever you get your podcasts). See you again right here subsequent Saturday morning.