Independent Rhode Island Senate District 8 candidate Cathyann Palocsik, left, asked the Rhode Island Supreme Court to review the process by which Democrat Lori Urso, right, was appointed as the party nominee for in the race for the Pawtucket Senate seat. (Contributed photos)
Independent Rhode Island Senate candidate Cathyann Palocsik isn’t giving up on her attempt to eliminate her Democratic opponent based on the party nomination process.
Palocsik on Tuesday announced she had filed an appeal to the Rhode Island Supreme Court, asking for a review of the process by which Democrat Lori Urso was appointed as the party nominee in Pawtucket’s Senate District 8.
If Urso was removed from the ballot, Palocsik would be the only candidate left in the race.
Initially, she was set to face incumbent Democratic Sandra Cano in November. Two days after the September primary, on Sept. 12, Cano abruptly resigned and ended her reelection campaign, citing an unspecified job opportunity. Democratic officials scrambled to find a replacement. Liz Beretta-Perik, chair of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, submitted Urso as the party appointee to the Rhode Island Department of State on Sept. 13, hours before the deadline to pick a successor.
Palocsik, in a complaint first lodged with the Rhode Island Board of Elections, maintains that the Senate district committee, not the state party, should have made the pick, disputing the interpretation of state law offered by the Rhode Island Department of State.
The state elections board on Sept. 18 rejected Palocsik’s complaint, agreeing with the Department of State that under state law, state senators are considered “state officers,” nominated by the state, not district, party committee.
The petition filed with the state’s highest court names the Rhode Island Board of Elections, its individual members, and Urso. It reiterates the same arguments that Gorham made on behalf of his client before the state elections board, namely, that including state lawmakers as “state officers” violates the constitutional separation of powers. Without that definition, Palocsik argues that Urso should have been nominated by her Senate district committee.
The 10-page petition asks the court to overturn the elections board’s decision and remove Urso from the ballot.
“I am in this race for the great people of Pawtucket, not for the party insiders. Whatever the Supreme Court decides, I will fight for the average people who get ahead by working hard and not getting ahead because they know a guy,” Palocsik said in a statement on Tuesday.
Palocsik ran against Cano as a Republican in 2022. Her attorney, Nick Gorham, was previously the House Minority Whip, serving 10 years as the Republican representative for Foster.
Urso did not immediately return inquiries for comment on Tuesday.
Urso has worked since 2014 as president and CEO of the Old Slater Mill Association and Slater Industrial Archives, and formerly served as deputy chief of staff to Cano’s fiance, General Treasurer James Diossa. She also served one term on the Westerly Town Council, from 2000 to 2002, and managed Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien’s primary reelection campaign.
Christopher Hunter, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Board of Elections, declined to comment.
Lexi Kriss, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Judiciary, declined to comment, citing the pending nature of the litigation.
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