Happy Saturday! Here's another edition of my weekend column for WPRI.com -- as always, send your takes, tips and trial balloons to [email protected] and follow me on Twitter, Threads and Facebook. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Nesi's Notes SIGN UP NOW 1. It's been a fairly quiet primary season in Rhode Island -- unless you're in Cranston. The state's third-largest city has eight contested primaries on Tuesday, which helps explain why it's currently leading the state for early voting turnout. There's plenty to watch, including that five-way Democratic contest to replace retiring state Sen. Josh Miller. But what has people talking most is the Republican primary for mayor. As our WPRI 12 debate showed last week, there is no love lost between former allies Ken Hopkins, the incumbent, and Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, a state rep and the wife of Hopkins' predecessor. Primaries are always hard to handicap; in this case it's expected that just 5,000 or so voters will choose the winner. Hopkins has the advantages of incumbency and the city GOP's endorsement. But he's been knocked sideways in the last week by the revelation that he took a car three years ago and has yet to pay for it. Hopkins insists it's a political hit job, but the allegations have raised real questions -- and given fresh ammunition to Fenton-Fung, who is trying to paint Hopkins as bumbling and unethical. He has hit back by playing to the GOP base, airing a TV ad on Fox News this week that suggests her record on Smith Hill is too liberal. As Dan McGowan noted Friday, all this creates an opening for Cranston Democrats, who have only held the mayor's office for six years total since John F. Kennedy was president. Their nominee, Republican-turned-Democrat Robert Ferri, will get a boost in November from higher Democratic turnout in a presidential year. He should also have plenty of money: the Ferri campaign has scheduled a major fundraiser for Sept. 22, with a host committee headed by the entire congressional delegation plus Speaker Shekarchi. 2. I loved this stat from Cranston elections registrar Nick Lima: the youngest local voters who are eligible to cast a ballot in next week's primary are age 17 (thanks to this new law), while the oldest is 109-year-old Henry Polichetti -- who also happens to be the country's second-oldest living World War II veteran. And sure enough, there was Polichetti on Friday flanking Jack Reed at a 75th anniversary celebration for the Cranston Historical Society, looking hale and hearty. If his last name sounds familiar -- yes, his daughter is Projo reporter Barbara Polichetti. You can learn more about him in this Street Stories feature we aired last December. 3. There are 18 contested primaries for General Assembly on the ballot next Tuesday, per the secretary of state's office -- all Democratic Party nomination contests. The most high-profile of the bunch is over in North Providence, where Senate President Dominick Ruggerio has an army of surrogates knocking doors on his behalf as he seeks to fend off a third straight challenge from Lenny Cioe. As for the rest of the legislative races, I can't do a better job summarizing them than the Projo's Patrick Anderson did in Monday's Political Scene -- so I'll direct you over to his good work. 4. National political forecasters keep updating their U.S. Senate race outlooks, and they all keep classifying Democratic incumbent Sheldon Whitehouse as a lock for reelection in November. That hasn't stopped two Republicans -- Ray McKay and Patricia Morgan -- as well as Democrat Michael Costa from giving him some opposition on the ballot. As with the Cranston mayoral primary, the McKay-Morgan primary is hard to handicap due to the low expected turnout and unusual dynamics with the two candidates. (Morgan has a much longer political résumé than McKay but seemingly many more intraparty critics.) Costa, who briefly ran for governor as a Republican in 2022, unexpectedly filed to challenge Whitehouse in the Democratic primary and is using some of his own wealth to fund a five-figure TV ad buy. Whether planned all along or spurred by Costa, Whitehouse's campaign announced this week he was going back on the air with 30-second and 60-second spots ahead of Tuesday's primary. (He already did a big TV buy targeting Olympics viewers, as well.) Will Whitehouse beat his 77% showing in the 2018 primary, or will Costa's late effort push his number lower? 5. Across the border in Massachusetts, incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Warren is also viewed nationally as a sure thing to win reelection. But unlike Sheldon Whitehouse -- who is poised to have a massive cash advantage over his GOP rival, barring a surprise influx of outside money -- Warren can't take for granted that she will have the financial upper hand. The winner of this week's GOP primary to challenge her was John Deaton, who moved out of Rhode Island early this year for the chance to run against the incumbent senator. Deaton is best-known as a major advocate for the cryptocurrency industry, which Warren has repeatedly targeted. (That includes a bill she cosponsored with Jack Reed in 2022, the Digital Asset Sanctions Compliance Enhancement Act.) As Politico's Kelly Garrity notes, billionaires with interest in crypto have been putting big money into super PACs this election cycle to sway voters. 6. Seth Magaziner is facing only token opposition this fall from Republican Steven Corvi, who has raised almost no money and was down double-digits as of June. That hasn't stopped the freshman congressman from keeping up an aggressive fundraising schedule to pad his $1 million war chest. On Aug. 29, Connecticut Congressman Jim Himes headlined a Magaziner fundraiser at Newport's Laurelawn estate, owned by the prominent D.C. lobbyist Tom Quinn. And he has another fundraiser on the calendar for Sept. 16, this one hosted by Kate and Macky McCleary at their East Side home. He also did a fundraiser this week that benefited the DCCC, House Democrats' campaign arm, via Zoom. At the same time, Magaziner has started to speak out about what he sees as a lack of organizing among local Democrats on behalf of Kamala Harris. "What I’m not seeing yet is as much engagement in the form of door-knocking, phone-banking, volunteering today that there was for the Joe Biden campaign four years ago," he told me Tuesday in an interview that raised eyebrows among other political insiders. He followed up Friday with a selfie video posted to social media, emphasizing that his message is about rank-and-file Democrats, not Harris. "She's doing her job, but the rest of us need to do our job, too," he said. "And the sense I get from too many Democrats who are out there is they think, 'Oh, well, Kamala's our nominee, things are better than they were before, we're good.' That's not how this works." Magaziner's call to arms has so far helped generate 100 registrations for a phone bank he is hosting Thursday. 7. Rhode Island's other freshman congressman, Gabe Amo, is if anything even more favored in his own reelection race. Amo's Republican opponent is Allen Waters, who is making his fourth run for Congress in the last five years (one of which was as a Democrat). That has freed up time for Amo to serve as a frequent campaign surrogate for first Joe Biden and now Kamala Harris. He's racked up Frequent Flyer miles with visits to Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and New Hampshire on behalf of the party's presidential ticket. He's also doing regular media appearances for Harris, including a hit Wednesday on Bloomberg Radio as well as a speaking slot on a "Black Voters for Harris" Zoom event. Amo has also been on the campaign trail locally, knocking on doors Thursday in Pawtucket with longtime mayor Don Grebien, who is facing a Democratic primary challenge Tuesday from Camron Segalla. 8. Not something you see every day: a juicy leak about Jack Reed from a private meeting. 9. Once the primary is over, keep an eye on the race for Warwick mayor. Independent incumbent Frank Picozzi is seeking another term after ousting the late Joe Solomon in 2020 and then running unopposed in 2022. Democrats have drafted School Committee member Leah Hazelwood as their nominee against Picozzi. While the race hasn't received much attention, Hazelwood is getting a financial boost at a fundraiser later this month hosted by a who's who of Rhode Island Democrats -- including Warwick's most powerful pol, Joe Shekarchi -- which if nothing else suggests they view her as a credible candidate for mayor. 10. There's no lack of news about Rhode Island's hospital industry these days. Lifespan is advancing into Massachusetts with the $175 million purchase of two Bristol County hospitals from Steward. South County Hospital CEO Aaron Robinson is on the defensive as he faces public criticism over how he is leading the money-losing facility. Prospect Medical Holdings and the attorney general's office are still at odds over transferring ownership of Roger Williams and Fatima. And Blue Cross & Blue Shield is arguing that the health insurance commissioner isn't allowing rates to increase enough to keep up with ever-rising medical costs (hospital and otherwise). There is a common thread across these stories: health care is expensive, and nobody seems to think there is enough money flowing into Rhode Island's health sector to meet the demands of patients, providers and state leaders. South County's Robinson used a striking analogy in an interview with my colleague Eli Sherman: "Just like the Washington Bridge had signs of a failing infrastructure, there’s a failing infrastructure in health care in this state and we’ve kicked the can down the road year after year. ... Let’s not be in the same position where the house burns down, or the Washington Bridge fails, before we act on it." 11. R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green is our guest on this week's Newsmakers, joining Tim White and me for a wide-ranging conversation on everything from the future of the Providence schools takeover to how Rhode Island's pension changes make teacher recruitment more difficult. Infante-Green has served as commissioner since 2019, when she was hired by then-Gov. Gina Raimondo, and her contract is up next year. She didn't hesitate when asked whether she wants to stay in place for another tour of duty. "Absolutely," she said. "I'm a Rhode Islander -- my kids are in school and we are staying here." 12. People in the news ... Governor Healey is hosting the 45th annual New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers Conference on Monday and Tuesday; Governor McKee is expected to attend ... George Nee will retire as president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO after 15 years in the job ... Newport Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong has been named to NewDEAL's fall 2024 class of rising state and local Democrats ... Time magazine named Gina Raimondo as one of the key people shaping the future of AI ... Aaron Mackisey has departed as Mayor Picozzi's chief of staff to take a job in D.C.; Bill Facente has replaced him ... local author Phil Eil's book "Prescription for Pain" is slated to come out in paperback next spring ... Democratic operatives Mark LeBeau and Matt McDermott have launched an "Out for Harris Rhode Island" volunteer group to rally LGBTQ+ voters for the Democratic ticket ... Rhode Island Monthly's Lauren Clem filed a story on two up-and-coming local reporters. 13. PC's James Bailey asks a fair question: What is vision insurance good for? 14. GQ has an entertaining new joint interview with George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Can you believe they're both in their 60s now? 15. Set your DVRs: This week on Newsmakers — R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. Watch Sunday at 5:30 a.m. on WPRI 12 and 10 a.m. on Fox Providence, or listen on the radio Sunday at 6 p.m. on WPRO. You can also subscribe to Newsmakers as a podcast via Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you back here next Saturday. Ted Nesi ([email protected]) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi's Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter, Threads and Facebook. Your Local Election HQ☆ Latest Headlines »☆ Race Results »☆ Voter Guide »☆ Where They Stand »