Rhode Island House Majority Leader John DeSimone, D-Providence, who was narrowly defeated in the September primary, is announcing tomorrow that he is mounting a November general election write-in challenge to the political newcomer who defeated him in the primary, Marcia Ranglin-Vassell.
DeSimone, who holds the second-most influential position in the House, the majority leader position, has served in the General Assembly for more than 20 years. A lawyer, DeSimone was defeated in what was viewed as the top upset of the 2016 primary season. DeSimone’s formal announcement is scheduled for tomorrow at noon at Hopkins Park in Providence, which is located at the corner of Branch Avenue and Charles Street in Providence.
A second write-in campaign will come from Jan Malik, who has held the District 67 seat since 1996. A self-styled conservative Democrat, Malik was crushed by lawyer Jason Knight in the Barrington part of the district, though Malik won comfortably in his hometown of Warren, where he is owner of Malik’s Liquors.
“The Democratic Party is supporting the Democratic nominees,” said Ann Gooding, spokeswoman for state Democratic Chairman Joseph McNamara, D-Warwick. “They [Knight and Ranglin-Vassell] won their elections fair and square.”
A spokeswoman for Mattiello, Patti Doyle, said the speaker supports the party nominees, Knight and Ranglin-Vassell.
Malik said he is running a write-in campaign because “people in both communities have asked me to.” Malik said he believes that Knight, a lawyer, is too liberal for the district.
“I don’t think the district is that progressive yet,” said Malik. “The Warrenites love me, the conservatives love me, the NRA loves me. People want another choice.”
Malik said that Knight was a progressive along the lines of former Speaker Gordon Fox, D-Providence, who ushered in the state’s same-sex marriage law but is now serving a federal prison sentence for corruption and bribery. Malik said he doesn’t think Knight is corrupt; he is comparing him to Fox only on his ideology.
A DeSimone news release said he is running a write-in campaign to “fight back against the out-of-state special interests who spent tens of thousands of dollars in the local primary election for House District 5.”
