PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Republicans in the state House of Representatives said Wednesday that they’ve unanimously reelected Blake Filippi as Minority Leader and Michael Chippendale as Minority Whip.
Filippi, of Block Island, and Chippendale, of Foster, will serve their second term as leaders of the small GOP contingent in the chamber when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
Filippi said in a statement that House Republicans are committed to challenging the “status quo” in the Democrat-controlled Statehouse.
“Last night’s ousting of the Speaker is a clear mandate from our citizens that the General Assembly needs to get back to work and that ‘business as usual’ will no longer be tolerated,” he said.
House Democrats, meanwhile, are slated to caucus at a Warwick hotel Thursday evening following the stunning election defeat of House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello in Cranston.
House Majority Leader Joseph Shekarchi, of Warwick, has called the meeting and said he’ll run for House speaker.
But state Rep. Liana Cassar, a Barrington Democrat who is also running for the position, said she won’t attend the caucus, because of coronavirus concerns.
“Since the vote for Speaker happens in two months, on January 5th, this is not a meeting that needs to be expedited,” she said in a statement Thursday.
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