Matt Brown is in the race under the Rhode Island Political Co-op banner, which gives this growing far-left slice of the Democratic party their candidate. It was always clear to me that this faction would never be satisfied with the assumed “big 4 candidates”of McKee, Elorza, Gorbea, and Magaziner. Obviously Elorza is out now, so you can fairly pencil in Brown as rounding out the Big 4, at least at this point. This group better represents the spectrum of Democratic officials and voters in the state, with Brown to the far left, McKee in the centrist lane, and Gorbea/Magaziner somewhere in between.
-So what are Brown’s chances realistically? It’s been pointed out that Democratic primary voters already rejected him once. In 2018, his primary challenge to Governor Raimondo was more of a referendum on Raimondo and less of a clear head-to-head contest between the centrist and progressive wings of the party. The lines between those factions are somewhat blurred, but I have a hard time seeing Brown’s ceiling as being much higher than the 33 percent he got last time around. The 2018 anti-Raimondo vote will have more options this time around, including both centrist and left-leaning candidates. At the same time, Brown’s 2018 campaign was also a challenge to an elected Governor, a more difficult feat that doesn’t apply this time around.
Original source can be found here.
