Ric Thornton aims to reduce the $6.2 million dollars worth of outstanding fines for missing or overdue state campaign finance reports by 25% by the end of the year. The state campaign finance director doesn’t expect to convince former candidates and officeholders to make good on their six-figure debts.

Nicole Jellinek, center, claps at an event held for her husband, Rep. Jason Knight, to announce his candidacy for Rhode Island Attorney General on Oct. 6, 2025.

Rhode Island’s political waters got unusually choppy in 2023, when the state’s two longtime incumbents chose to depart within the span of 10 months. Now, their replacements — Democratic Reps. Gabe Amo and Seth Magaziner — are largely settled into their new roles.

WARREN – State Rep. Jason Knight, a former state prosecutor-turned-defense lawyer best known in the Rhode Island political world for his efforts to win passage of an "assault weapons" ban, is running for attorney general.