• The Democratic majority whip parts with the leadership and votes against a redistricting bill that he says will probably leave his Pawtucket district with just one senator from the city.
Journal State House Bureau
PROVIDENCE
-- As the state Senate's Democratic majority whip, it is Thomas R. Coderre's job to line up votes for important bills.
But when it came to the redistricting bill, arguably the most important piece of legislation the Senate will consider this year, Coderre voted "no."
Coderre, D-Pawtucket, cast his vote last month without explanation, but in a recent interview he said he voted against the new Senate map because Pawtucket is likely to wind up with just one senator who lives in the city.
"This may be my last year here, and I didn't want to walk away knowing I'd done a disservice to the city I love," Coderre said. "So I broke the institutional tradition of the whip never being at odds with the leadership."
Some senators suggest Coderre is getting a raw deal from a Senate leadership team that he helped to build. Coderre, who had been deputy whip under former Senate Majority Leader Paul S. Kelly, helped topple Kelly in 2000 by switching his allegiance to current Senate Majority Leader William V. Irons.
Now, under the new Senate map, Coderre is facing a difficult matchup against "the dean of the Senate," Sen. John F. McBurney III, a fellow Pawtucket Democrat who has served more consecutive years than any other senator.
Why is Coderre in such a precarious situation?
Senate leaders say the downsizing of the General Assembly is to blame. "It isn't a sinister motive," Irons said. "It is a reality of downsizing that what would be traditional political outcomes can't be accomplished in downsizing."
But former Senate leaders contend it's more a matter of politics and betrayal.
"It does look like he was used," said Kelly, D-North Smithfield. "He gave his word to one camp, he betrayed that word and he got the whip position. At the end of the day, it appeared neither side trusted him. And if that's the case, that's not what a majority leader needs in a whip."
"I'm quite surprised the leadership would abandon their number-two guy," said Sen. William Enos, D-Tiverton, who was Kelly's whip. "But that's nothing new for that building," he said of the State House. "I've seen many people chewed up and spit out -- used and abused."
Irons rejected the notion that Coderre is not trusted or is being abandoned. To follow that logic, he said, would be to suggest that he is also abandoning two other members of his leadership team -- Sen. Catherine E. Graziano and Sen. Maryellen Goodwin, committee chairwomen who are pitted against each other in a new Providence district. And that's clearly not the case, he said.
"The truth of the matter is that with downsizing, you are going to have contests," Irons said. "[Coderre] is disappointed in the outcome, but so are Senators Graziano, Goodwin, Walsh, Cicilline, Roney and Perry. I understand and appreciate their disappointment."
Rhode Island is redrawing its legislative districts to reflect new census figures and a 1994 voter mandate to downsize the House from 100 to 75 members and the Senate from 50 to 38 members.
Coderre also rejected Kelly's contentions, saying he concurs with what Sen. Joseph A. Montalbano, vice chairman of the Redistricting Commission, has said repeatedly: "The devil is in the downsizing."
A lot of incumbent senators live close together in that area of the state, Coderre said, so "somebody had to run against somebody."
But why him? "Because I had the least amount of seniority," said Coderre, whose eight-year tenure is shorter than that of Irons, Montalbano and McBurney.
Coderre said his "no" vote shows he can be independent when he needs to be and that Irons allows such independence.
"When you feel you have done all you can to support a particular leadership team, and the rug is pulled out from under you, and you are left standing there with a black eye, sure, it hurts," Coderre said. "But when you take away the emotions and look at it intellectually, you realize it wasn't personal. Someone had to be hurt, and it just happened to be me."
He said he voted against the Senate map because Pawtucket, with a population of 73,000, is likely to wind up with just one resident senator next year -- either him or McBurney. By comparison, he said, East Providence, with a population of 49,000, could end up with three senators within its borders.
The map puts other parts of Pawtucket in districts that include Irons, who lives in East Providence; Montalbano, who lives in North Providence; and Sen. Daniel J. Issa, who lives in Central Falls. "They are great representatives," Coderre said. "I'm comfortable as long as they're here, but we can't guarantee they'll be elected in the future."
Irons said whoever succeeds him and Montalbano in those districts will probably be from Pawtucket, giving the city three senators. In the meantime, he said, he and Montalbano have represented parts of the city for years and can continue serving Pawtucket well. Under the new map, Pawtucket will constitute about 95 percent of Irons's district, up from the current 70 percent.
"I consider myself an honorary resident of Pawtucket," Irons said. "Joe would say the same, and most importantly, I think the citizens feel the same way."
Coderre said he doesn't know if he will run for reelection, but he plans to decide within a month. Kelly said, "If Coderre decides he wants to mount a campaign, then McBurney will have a race on his hands. Tom Coderre is one of the best campaigners in the Senate."
Coderre raised another intriguing possibility -- that he could move to another part of Pawtucket and run against Irons. He said his current district makes up about 60 percent of Irons's new district.
So how are Coderre and Irons getting along?
Irons, 58, said he and Coderre have a "very cordial" relationship. "Tom Coderre is like a son to me," he said. "We've represented Pawtucket together for many years." And before that, he said, Coderre helped coordinate his campaign for Senate.
Coderre, 32, said he has been friends with Irons for 20 years. "I'm not the closest person in the inner circle," he said. "He relies on Montalbano more than anyone else. He views me as a son as opposed to a peer. When you come up here as a young person, that's what can happen to you."
Kelly said Coderre did not seem to function as majority whip last session. "It appeared Irons did the whipping himself," he said. Irons said Coderre did handle whip duties but there wasn't much need last session because it "was probably the most collegial year in my 20 years in the Senate."
Coderre said he asked McBurney to help him fight the redistricting bill but McBurney's reply was: "The train has left the station." Coderre said he told McBurney, "Jack, we need to jump in front of the train."
But Coderre didn't have much company when he made the leap. On Feb. 7, the Senate voted 39 to 9 for the Senate redistricting plan, with McBurney voting "yes."
McBurney said, "I'm disappointed to be in a matchup, but it's inevitable with downsizing to have matchups." He blamed others such as Common Cause of Rhode Island's H. Philip West Jr. for supporting downsizing, borrowing a Laurel and Hardy phrase: "Another fine mess you've gotten us into, Phil West."
McBurney, 51, a senator for 28 years, said he is running for reelection. He said the new district includes areas that he now represents, such as Woodlawn, but also contains areas that Coderre now represents, such as Quality Hill, and areas that neither of them represent, such as Oak Hill.
"I don't take him lightly," McBurney said of Coderre. "He's been a good senator. But only one of us can win."
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