Another Democrat says he will not support Mattiello as speaker
Lawyer and first-term state Rep.
Among Knight's stated reasons for withdrawing his support from Mattiello, who won his last election as speaker with the vote of every Democrat present on the first day of the 2017 session: "I am extraordinarily disappointed with how the PawSox situation turned out ... I was extraordinarily disappointed with the fact that the Democratic leadership team in the
Of the Pawtucket Red Sox' decision to relocate to Worcester after Mattiello blocked a version of a stadium-financing bill backed by the governor and
Knight's statements echo those of state Rep.
The response from Mattiello campaign spokeswoman
"With respect to the PawSox issue, the Speaker's overarching responsibility was to protect the taxpayers who well communicated through their representatives statewide that they would not accept a state guarantee, nor would they accept the financial risk associated with earlier PawSox legislation. It's interesting that
In the end, she said,
A potential challenger to Mattiello has emerged: Rep.
Lombardi told The Journal: "Of course I am interested in being the speaker and I would not be against taking him on. I think we need a change in that room ... [so] people can at least have their legislation heard. One person should not be that powerful."
"This leadership makes no effort ... to reach over the table and say, 'OK, we've got an issue with this, how can we resolve it.' There's no communication," he said. "You just don't do business that way. This is about give-and-take. This is about compromise, open lines of communication. There has been a serious lack thereof."
These comments come less than two weeks after a group of female incumbents -- and candidates -- held a "pink wave" news conference at the State House to draw attention to both their numbers and their frustration at the number of high-priority bills the House leadership would not bring to a vote.
Their list included bills to enshrine in state law the protections of the landmark abortion-rights decision known as Roe v. Wade, encourage pay equity between male and female workers and extend
Also cited: the lack of action on any of the bills recommended by a commission studying workplace sexual harassment. Asked if Mattiello still had her vote, the chairwoman of that commission -- Rep.
"In the whole I don't want a speaker more concerned about the 85 votes he won by [in his home-district in 2016] than the 74 votes of the people who put him in the speaker's seat." she said. "We will all be looking at the speaker's race very carefully and looking for someone who doesn't have the same burdens that a very conservative district carries with it."
Knight's name was on the short list of potential candidates for speaker mentioned last week in a story in The Journal about the political fallout from Mattiello's decision to back
Mattiello continued to back Earnheart -- and give him a
Knight told The Journal he is "looking for a speaker candidate who [is] willing to work collaboratively with the others branches of government ... A candidate that listens to and respects the female members of our caucus ... [and also] someone who is interested in some rules reforms to make the make the
Speaking for Mattiello, Doyle said: "
Knight faces Libertarian candidate
With reports from Journal Staff Writer
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