Explore the hidden forces behind the opposition to a Constitutional Convention in Rhode Island. This article on the Ocean State Current unveils the complex network of political and special interest groups working to prevent constitutional reform, revealing motivations, influence, and potential impacts on Rhode Island's future. Discover the untold story of who truly controls the state’s political landscape and what it means for democracy

Unmasking the “No Coalition”; the Secret Web Conspiring Against a RI Constitutional Convention

To truly understand who would benefit and who is most at risk from a convention, look no farther than who funds and orchestrates ‘no” campaigns.

The corporate media and the State don’t want you to know who is funding RI’s “No Coalition”

The information below was gleaned from information provided to The Current  by J.H. Snyder and his “The Rhode Island State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse” website

“It appears that the “no” coalition remains worried about losing, as smart money campaign contributions to it have continued to pour in. The latest was yesterday, when the teachers’ union added another $20,000. My tally puts the total above $175,000, which is more than the “no” coalition spent during the 2014 election cycle.

“No” campaigns far outspend “yes” campaigns. In fact, “no” campaigns are backed by the most powerful special interest groups in each state. And “no” campaigns are also backed by out-of-state interests — mostly national organizations supporting their state affiliates.

Checkmate, which has managed the “no” coalition’s ad campaigns during the last two convention referendum cycles, credits its win in 2014 to the ad campaign it orchestrated during the 13 days before the referendum.

In Rhode Island in 2014, the last time the convention referendum was on the ballot, the “no” side contributed $151,800 and the “yes” side $41,500.

THE RESULTS

On October 23, 2014 – 13 days before the election – Brown University released a poll of likely Rhode Island voters showing 42% in favor of a Constitutional Convention, 27% opposed, and 31% undecided. Despite being down 15 points with only 2 weeks to go, Rhode Islanders soundly rejected Question 3 on Election Day, by a margin of 55.1%-44.9%. We won every city and town in Rhode Island with the exception of Central Falls and East Greenwich.

Checkmate’s featured direct mailer to Rhode Island registered voters ran the Saturday before the Tuesday election. It also accelerated its electronic media coverage during that period. Since 2014, Checkmate has been run by Brad Dufault. His father, Guy Dufault, apparently ran the “no” campaigns for the last two election cycles before that. Guy Dufault had to give up that position after it was found that he had mislead the State Board of Elections regarding his involvement leading the 2004 “no” campaign’s campaign finance committee.

To date, the news coverage of the campaign contributions has been awful.

Shortly after the “no” coalition launched last summer, there were a few articles. But there has been no coverage since then. One reason for the absence of coverage may be the awful campaign contributions website maintained by the Board of Elections. It has an awful interface that seems designed to intimidate most reporters, let alone the general public. Another reason is that most reporters don’t really know the relevance of campaign finance information. I know from past experience that many reporters treat it as part of their horse race coverage, where the side with more contributions is treated as not only more likely to win but to have more popular support. But that hasn’t been the problem in Rhode Island. The problem here has been the lack of coverage.

According to both U.S. Supreme Court cases and academic theories of campaign finance, the purpose of campaign finance disclosure laws is for the public to assess whose interests benefit from a yes or no vote on a ballot measure.

If reporters aren’t using the data with that democratic framework in mind, we might as well abolish the campaign finance disclosure laws for ballot measures.

A pretty much complete compilation of the campaign finance data is available on the campaign finance webpage at my website, The Rhode Island State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse.”

Courtesy of The Rhode Island State Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse:

Total reported contributions as of Oct. 23, 2024: $177,650.

RI Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, $20,000, Oct. 29, 2024.

Subtotal: $11,250

Rhode Island Building and Construction Council, $1,000, Oct. 24, 2024.

ACLU, $2,915.70, Oct. 21, 2024. (rounded up to $3,000 for purposes of calculating totals)

  • Oct. 23, 2024 Filing:
    Build New England, $10,000, Oct. 17, 2024.
    Warwick Teachers Union, $200, Oct. 17, 2024.
    ACLU, $8,000, Oct. 18, 2024.
    Coventry Teachers Alliance Local 1075, $1,000, Oct. 18, 2024.
    RISAFF PAC, $2,500, Oct. 18, 2024.
    Cranston Teachers Alliance PAC, $1,000, Oct. 21, 2024. (I have treated this the same as their Oct. 28 contribution but may be wrong.)

Subtotal: $22,700.

[J.H. Snider note: The close to $300,000 reported contributions from the American Civil Liberties Union to its Rhode Island chapter makes it difficult or arguably impossible to assess how much of the Rhode Island chapter’s contributions to the “no” coalition should be attributed to “out-of-state” money.

  • Oct. 16, 2024 Filing:
    Providence Central Federated Council, $1,000, contributed on Oct. 15, 2024.
    IUOE Local 57, $1,000, contributed on Oct. 15, 2024.
    AFT Local, $400, contributed on Oct. 15, 2024.
    West Warwick Teachers’ Alliance, $1,000, contributed on Oct. 15, 2024 (filed on Oct. 28 for a Sept. 25 contribution).

Subtotal: $3,400

(J.H. Snider note: some of the disclosures on the linked to form were already disclosed elsewhere so have not been repeated here.)

[J.H. Snider note: In its filing, Planned Parenthood appears to include the following partial funding source for this disbursement to the “no” campaign: $8,000 of its fund appears to have been contributed by District 1199 Leadership in Elections, Advocacy & Direction Fund, which represents about 25,000 members nationwide. $4,999 was contributed by Charles C. Townsend, who has sought hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of spectrum rights from the federal government as President of Aloha Wireless and General Partner of Bluewater Wireless.]

Subtotal: $11,000

  • Sept. 26, 2024 Filing:
    IBEW, $10,000, contributed on 9/25/2024.
    Rhode Island Council 94, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), $10,000, contributed on 9/11/2024.
    ACLU Rhode Island, $20,000, contributed on 9/3/2024. (Transfer form.)
    Rhode Island Federation of Teachers & Health Professionals (RIFTHP), $5,000. (The 3rd contributor, contributed $5 on August 23, 2024.)
    National Education Association of Rhode Island (NEARI), $10,000. (The 2nd contributor, contributed the $10K on August 13, 2024; see also NEARI’s August 8 Expenditure Report.)

Subtotal: $55,000

Subtotal: $5,000

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