Democrat

The town of Johnston has been a Democratic stronghold for years, but in 2016 Johnston voters gave Republican Donald Trump a decisive 14 point victory over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. That was the sharpest swing in partisan support since 2012 for any Rhode Island community.

The presidential primary comes to Rhode Island in less than a week, and as part of our Rhody Votes ’16 coverage, we’re talking to voters across the state about the candidates and the issues that matter to them.

Our producer Joan Moses met Barbara Scott at the Coffee Depot in Warren. She’s a registered Independent weighing a vote for Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton.

You can listen to the rest of our RhodyVotes ‘16 voter postcards here.

Providence mayor and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Angel Taveras unveiled his plan for the state’s tourism industry.

Taveras says he plans to spend five million dollars a year to the industry for a total of twenty-million dollars over a four year term to promote the state. Taveras says the plan would create about 2600 new jobs in the state, helping the floundering economy.  Rhode Island’s unemployment remains the nation’s highest at more than eight percent.

The new mayor of Woonsocket, Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, is slated to be inaugurated this evening Tuesday.  Baldelli-Hunt is taking on the job after winning four terms as a state representative.

House Speaker Gordon Fox plans to swear in Baldelli-Hunt during a 7 pm ceremony at the Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket.  Her uncle, Charles Baldelli, a former mayor in the city, will emcee the event.

Baldelli-Hunt beat two term Republican mayor Leo Fontaine in an election last month. The change comes as Woonsocket continues to wrestle with financial problems.

It’s official. Former state treasurer Frank Caprio is running for his old job. And he’ll be running as a member of his old party.

After disaffiliating from the Democratic Party and toying with the idea of running as a Republican, Frank Caprio has decided to run for his old job as general treasurer as a Democrat.  Announcing his candidacy at a Federal Hill pizzeria, he explained his reasoning.

The federal government shutdown is having an impact on the prosecution of federal cases in Rhode Island. 

U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha has had to furlough a third to a half of his 45-person staff because of the federal government shutdown.  He said they’re managing by bringing in people who are working on the most urgent cases and then rotating them as the cases change.

The federal government is edging closer to a government shutdown. President Barack Obama said he'll veto legislation coming out of the House that delays much of the Affordable Care Act for a year.  Over in the Democratic-run Senate, it has passed legislation preventing the shutdown and leaving Obamacare untouched. Rhode Island Public Radio political analyst Scott MacKay sat down with Rhode Island’s senior senator Jack Reed to talk about what could be done to avoid a shutdown.

A legislative task force created in the last General Assembly session to examine the intersection of gun violence and mental health issues has yet to meet. The panel is unlikely to meet a January deadline for reporting its findings.