Matt Brown is running for governor again: Former Rotary secretary of state announces Mendes as running mate
Wednesday September 22, 2021
Mendes (left) and Brown (right) announced on Tuesday. Photo: campaign video
Former Rhode Island Secretary of State – and 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate – Matt Brown is running again.
On Wednesday, Brown and State Senator Cynthia Mendes announced their candidacies for governor and lieutenant governor in the 2022 race — and that they will run on a shared platform alongside a team of 50 progressive candidates for state and local offices under the Rhode Island Political Cooperative.
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In the Democratic primaries for governor of 2018, former governor Gina Raimondo obtained 57.2% of the vote; Brown received 33.5% and Spencer Dickinson 9.3%.
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“Rhode Island has been run by the same corrupt political machine for decades, but it doesn’t have to be,†Brown said. “We have a unique opportunity to replace our entire state government in one day and usher in an era of transparent, progressive and effective government that works for all Rhode Islanders. That’s why I’m running for governor, and not alone, but alongside Cynthia Mendes and an incredible team of progressive candidates across the state. Together, and only together, we can make our state work for all Rhode Islanders, as it always should have. ”
“Last year I was one of ten candidates representing the Rhode Island Political Cooperative who won their election and proved that there is a resounding mandate for progressive, people-centered politics in this state,” Mendes said. “Now I am delighted to run for Lieutenant Governor alongside Matt and the rest of our team to finish the job and win a true government majority. As the pandemic rages on in Rhode Island and the climate crisis accelerates, the corrupt incumbents of our State House sit on their hands, hiding from their constituents and refusing to lift a finger to help us. Our movement is about the ordinary people of this state taking our government away from the super-rich and their corporate lobbyists. “
About Brown, Mendes – and the platform
Brown was Secretary of State for Rhode Island from 2003 to 2007. He was also executive director of City Year Rhode Island and co-founder of Global Zero, an international non-profit organization dedicated to reduction and elimination. nuclear weapons. Mendes first ran last year, defeating Senate Finance Speaker Bill Conley.
RI cooperative policy platform:
Affordable housing for all
Ensuring all working families in Rhode Island have the means to provide housing
Extend the moratorium on evictions throughout the pandemic
Implement a moratorium on shutting down public services throughout the pandemic
Build 10,000 affordable green housing for working families
Implement statewide rent control to ensure rent increases do not exceed 4% per year
Health for all
Adopt Medicare-for-All style universal health care
Ensuring that every Rotary resident receives mental, dental, hearing and vision care
Take on Big Pharma to Make Prescription Drugs Affordable
Protect reproductive freedom
Quality education for all
Tax the rich to finance our schools, create smaller classes and improve our school buildings
Ensure all public school teachers earn at least $ 60,000 each year
Green New Deal for all
Take on the fossil fuel industry to ensure clean air, clean water and clean energy for all
Achieve 100% clean electricity by 2028 and zero net emissions by 2040 (first in the country)
Stop polluting businesses in frontline communities with a just transition for workers
Preserve our natural resources, eliminate clearcuts, develop regenerative agriculture and guarantee public access to our coastline
Create thousands of good union jobs
Develop public transport, electrify all buses and make the bus free
Build 10,000 ecological and affordable housing for working families
Fair economy for all
Helping small businesses recover from the pandemic
Spend a minimum wage of $ 19 per hour ($ 39,520 per year)
Equal justice for all
Legalize cannabis
End mass incarceration
End the cash deposit
Ban for-profit prisons
Ensuring police accountability
Investing funds in mental health services and drug overdose prevention
End family separations and provide driving licenses to undocumented migrants in Rhode Island
Pandemic protection for all
Vaccination requirement to enter public spaces, including restaurants, bars and stadiums (except for people with valid medical or religious reasons not to be vaccinated)
Implement a statewide mask mandate in public spaces
Extend paid sick leave
Democracy for all
End the influence of corporate lobbyists’ money
Establish public funding for campaigns
Make Election Day a statewide holiday
Repeal the voter identification law
Cooperative commitment:
No corporate PAC donations
No corporate lobbyist donations
No fossil fuel donation
