Rhode Island

The Machine Holds: Business Reform Slate Goes 0-for-9 While Assembly Incumbents Survive

Virtue Forge briefing · Based on Ocean State Media (Ian Donnis) and WPRI Nesi’s Notes coverage of the Sept. 9, 2026 primary

What happened

The League of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB), a conservative-leaning business advocacy group, saw all nine of its backed candidates lose in the Sept. 9, 2026 primary — most by lopsided margins (Ocean State Media, Sept. 10).

Examples: Rep. Tina Spears won roughly 82% against Leah Boisclair; several other LORIB-challenged incumbents cleared 70% — Craven Jr. 72.9%, Jellinek 77.6%, Bell 72.4%, Kallman 70.8%, and DiMario 71.9%.

Ted Nesi (WPRI Notes, Sept. 12) and other coverage noted that not a single incumbent lawmaker who faced a primary challenger lost Wednesday — a sharp contrast with executive upsets (governor, Providence and Pawtucket mayors) covered elsewhere on Virtue Forge.

LORIB used a novel structure: PACs in each of Rhode Island’s 39 communities plus a statewide PAC and a 501(c)(4), allowing larger combined contributions around the $2,000-per-year per-PAC cap. Levesque said the group raised more than $240,000 this year; Mesrobian had about $84,000 pre-primary.

Levesque (Brewed Awakenings) blamed progressive turnout. Sen. DiMario called it a cynical run of non-Democrats in Democratic primaries and “Republican money.” Rep. Brian Newberry (R) wrote on X that the results “only proved Dems in primaries need have no fear of the business community.”

Virtue Forge commentary

Executive incumbents fell; the General Assembly machine did not. Power that never faces real competition is how cronyism and a high-tax, high-spend status quo harden.

Bias check: LORIB’s multi-PAC workaround is itself a transparency problem — reforming a closed legislature shouldn’t require opaque contribution stacking. Separately, DiMario’s “Republican money bought a Dem primary” line and Levesque’s “progressives swamped” line are competing spin; the vote margins are the checkable fact. A 0-for-9 shutout after promising to shift the Assembly “pro-business” is a real free-enterprise setback in a state that already punishes capital (second-home tax, rent caps, and more).

Competent, humble government requires contestable seats — not just new letterheads at City Hall and on the State House’s top floor while the Assembly stays locked.

Original reporting

Read the underlying coverage:

Ocean State Media (Ian Donnis) — Conservative-leaning business group goes 0-for-9 in Rhode Island primary (Sept. 10, 2026)

WPRI — Nesi’s Notes (Sept. 12, 2026)