Who Holds the Most Power in Rhode Island?

Our April cover story highlights the forty-five most powerful Rhode Islanders in business, politics, education, development, philanthropy and more.

April 20, 2023

Lauren Clem, Jamie Coelho, Bob Curley,

INDEX:

Politics

K. Joseph Shekarchi

As Speaker of the House, Joe Shekarchi might just have the most powerful seat in Rhode Island, but he doesn’t like to brag. The self-described moderate Democrat from Warwick prefers to think of himself as a consensus-builder, someone prepared to work with both sides of the aisle to get things done. An example? Father’s Day 2021, when the business lobby and Women’s Fund of Rhode Island had once again reached a stalemate over the latest version of the state’s equal pay law.

“I locked everybody in the room. It was a Sunday. And then I had to separate them because it was really contentious,” Shekarchi recalls. “I was shuttling back and forth until we got to a point of consensus.”

Prior to his election as speaker in 2021, some of his biggest legislative victories came in the health and economic sectors, including a bill requiring mental health training for police officers and a tax incentive for companies to relocate jobs into the state. Housing, too, has been on his short list, though his biggest challenge in that arena could be yet to come: Earlier this session, a series of bills intended to tackle Rhode Island’s housing shortage sparked outrage from local communities even before hitting the House floor.

“To me, it’s a very fixable issue, but there’s a lot of pushback from the municipalities. They resist change,” he says.

Unlike his predecessor, former Speaker Nick Mattiello, who was known for ruling Smith Hill with an iron fist, Shekarchi has built up a reputation for collaboration among his peers. But that’s not to say he doesn’t exercise his authority as speaker. He credits his leadership team, including his handpicked committee chairs, with helping get the job done. Last year, he fended off challenges by both a Republican and a progressive candidate, so for his constituents in Warwick, he must be doing something right.

“My progressive friends think I’m too conservative. And my conservative friends think I’m too progressive. I like to think as a moderate, I’m probably in the right place,” he says.

Jack Reed

Portrait in office

Jack Reed has been a fixture in the United States Senate since Claiborne Pell’s retirement in 1997, and he appears ready to match the late senator’s legacy in reputation and endurance. The senior ranking member of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation is repeatedly counted among the most popular legislators in the country and has been shortlisted for secretary of defense. (He turned it down.) In 2021, he took over leadership of the Armed Services Committee, and also serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee, proving that in his fifth Senate term, he remains a force to be reckoned with in Washington.

Dominick Ruggerio

Despite the focus on the House, it’s the Rhode Island Senate that has final say when it comes to nuances in the state budget and other key legislation, and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio is the one to convince. Case in point: When former House Speaker Nick Mattiello first proposed his signature car tax phaseout in 2017, he needed Ruggerio’s blessing to send it to the governor’s desk. Ruggerio isn’t afraid to throw his weight around on issues like sports betting and education funding and considers himself an advocate when it comes to spurring the state’s economy. He successfully fended off a progressive challenger last fall, assuring the Senate’s top official is here to stay.

Bill Murphy

You won’t often find the heads of Rhode Island’s largest companies strolling through the halls of the State House, but you will find Bill Murphy, whose seven years as Speaker of the House laid the groundwork for a lucrative lobbying career representing some of the state’s most powerful interests. As of February, his monthly contracts totaled more than $48,000, with another $143,500 in annual payments from sectors ranging from health to hospitality. Among his top-paying clients? Care New England, Rhode
Island Energy and Bally’s Corporation, parent company of Twin River and Tiverton casinos.

Sheldon Whitehouse

Sheldon Whitehouse might have cut his teeth on the banking crisis as a staffer for then-Governor Bruce Sundlun in the ’90s, but his more recent pursuits have gone after a different kind of green. As the state’s junior senator, he’s pushed legislation on climate change and renewable energy, gaining a reputation as one of the chamber’s environmental champions. He’s also spoken out against corporate influence in politics and was one of the Senate’s loudest critics of former President Donald Trump. Noise doesn’t always equate to power on Capitol Hill, but in this case, Whitehouse has a national audience as he steers his way through a third term.