CUMBERLAND/CENTRAL FALLS – By age, almost exactly 50 years separate the candidates for House of Representatives in District 57, Cumberland and Central Falls.
There is also a wide gap on how these two Democrats, Brandon Voas and James McLaughlin, see the issues, and voters in the Sept. 9 primary will decide whose stances most align with their own.
Voas, who turns 33 years old in October, says he’s been getting a great reception from voters for the past four years/two terms in office since unseating McLaughlin, and he’s aiming to have that support reflected in a wider margin of victory this time around. He emphasizes that he got the same number bills passed to benefit constituents in his first term in office than McLaughlin did in the previous 12 years combined.
McLaughlin, who will turn 83 in November, says voters are telling him that they want a return of common-sense solutions instead of inaction. He said he gives himself a “50-50 shot” of winning this time around, though he acknowledged the difficulty of ousting the incumbent.
“It ain’t over until the fat lady sings,” McLaughlin said. “He has a lot of support.”
Voas defeated Raiden Pheonix Whit 69.3 percent to 30.7 percent in the 2024 Democratic primary. In that year’s general election, with McLaughlin as an independent, Voas defeated the challenger 53.5 percent to 46.1 percent, with 21 write-in votes.
In 2022, McLaughlin lost in the Democratic primary against Voas by 34 votes, or 675-641. McLaughlin then ran a write-in campaign in the general election, coming up well short.
Voas said he thinks the people have spoken in the last couple of elections, three elections if one counts McLaughlin’s write-in attempt, and he noted that his record of getting good bills through the General Assembly earned him the recognition of being named most effective by the Center for Effective Lawmaking at Vanderbilt University.
When the incumbent McLaughlin lost his seat four years ago, he said he would be back in two years, describing Voas as a “button pusher” with extreme progressive views.
Voas, meanwhile, says he’s not ashamed to hold strong stances on common-sense gun safety, gay rights, and reproductive freedom. He has said repeatedly that McLaughlin holds extreme, far-right views on guns, women’s rights and abortion, same-sex marriage, and President Trump.
A military veteran, McLaughlin is pledging to serve with patriotism and purpose. He says he’s on a mission to expose Voas for his lack of caring for constituents and his continued record that is out of touch with average people.
Voas pushes back on that narrative, saying he pledged when he first ran to be open and accessible, and has done just that. In every piece of campaign literature, he said, he includes his personal cell phone number and email.
Voas said he doesn’t know what to expect in terms of overall support this election, but he said he treats every campaign as if it’s close and works hard for each vote, pledging to keep doing the right things and to focus on the issues important to voters if he gets sent back to the Statehouse.
The incumbent said he comes across some McLaughlin voters here and there during his door-to-door campaigning, many of them older residents with some sort of personal connection to McLaughlin. Some, he said, indicate a level of opposition to the incumbent based on something they’ve heard through the grapevine, but after speaking with him further, they change their mind.
A deputy majority leader, Voas is the second vice chairperson of the House Small Business Committee and is a member of the House Corporations Committee and the House Education Committee. He works as the parts director for Ballard Mack Truck Center in Johnston
Voas said he believes candidates should be clear about who they are, including the age of the photos they use in their campaign materials.
McLaughlin, who is supported by the League of Rhode Island Businesses, says there’s one clear choice in this race based on their records. He’s criticizing Voas for voting twice to exempt himself from the inspector general’s scrutiny as a member of the General Assembly, characterizing it as “good for thee, not for me,” and saying Voas is part of the “good old boys network.”
“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” McLaughlin added.
Voas said McLaughlin’s argument collapses in on itself. The challenger lists six different lawmakers who were charged with a crime and found guilty, Voas said, all when McLaughlin was in office and all of which happened when there was no inspector general. He said General Assembly members didn’t exempt themselves as individuals, especially related to criminal activities.
Voas said he can’t say why the General Assembly decided to exempt the legislature from the purview of the inspector general in seeking out waste and mismanagement. The move was made quickly, he said, and the inspector general oversight has nothing to do with exempting himself as an individual. What would an inspector general come after an individual for anyway, he asked, reiterating that the examples McLaughlin gives have “absolutely nothing to do” with this issue.
McLaughlin says he plans to introduce legislation to lower utility costs, increase state aid to municipalities by fixing the state education funding formula, and expand tax relief for seniors. He said he wants to shift non-energy state-mandated programs off utility bills.
“Utility bills are sky-high,” he said. “The General Assembly has done nothing the last four years on the fair funding formula.”
It just so happens, says Voas, that the House speaker recently appointed him to the commission studying the funding formula. He said he’ll now have a seat at the table to make sure the formula is fair in how it treats both Cumberland and Central Falls.
Voas said he’s also been leading the conversation on utility costs, participating in multiple community meetings to push for more transparency and accountability from Rhode Island Energy on rising utility rates.
“It’s absolutely a top priority of mine to figure out what we need to do to bring them down,” he said. “There’s no simple answer.”
McLaughlin is also campaigning on a goal of eliminating the state’s income tax on Social Security benefits. Voas counters that they already passed a three-year phaseout of the tax.
McLaughlin said he was part of a 100-person event at the senior center, and has seen similar receptions at high-rises and other venues.
“I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” he said.
If elected back to his previous seat, McLaughlin said, he would stay in the position for a maximum of four years.
