Matt Brown (Rhode Island)

Matt Brown

Democratic Party

Prior offices

Rhode Island Secretary of State

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Elections and appointments

Last election

September 13, 2022

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Matt Brown (Democratic Party) was the Rhode Island Secretary of State. He assumed office in 2003. He left office in 2007.

Brown (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of Rhode Island. He lost in the Democratic primary on September 13, 2022.

Brown served as Rhode Island Secretary of State from 2003 to 2007.

Elections

2022

See also: Rhode Island gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Rhode Island

Incumbent Daniel McKee defeated Ashley Kalus, Zachary Baker Hurwitz, Paul Rianna Jr., and Elijah Gizzarelli in the general election for Governor of Rhode Island on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Daniel McKee (D)	57.9	207,166
		Ashley Kalus (R)	38.9	139,001
		Zachary Baker Hurwitz (Independent)	1.3	4,512
		Paul Rianna Jr. (Independent)	0.9	3,123
		Elijah Gizzarelli (L)	0.8	2,811
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	1,057

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 357,670
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• James Aubin (L)
• Christopher Reynolds (Independent)
• Richard Spinney (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Rhode Island

Incumbent Daniel McKee defeated Helena Foulkes, Nellie Gorbea, Matt Brown, and Luis Daniel Muñoz in the Democratic primary for Governor of Rhode Island on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Daniel McKee	32.8	37,288
		Helena Foulkes	29.9	33,931
		Nellie Gorbea	26.2	29,811
		Matt Brown	7.9	9,021
		Luis Daniel Muñoz	3.1	3,547

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 113,598
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Kalilu Camara (D)
• Seth Magaziner (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Rhode Island

Ashley Kalus defeated Jonathan Riccitelli in the Republican primary for Governor of Rhode Island on September 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ashley Kalus	83.7	17,188
		Jonathan Riccitelli	16.3	3,351

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,539
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Emmanuel Adjei (R)
• Michael Costa (R)
• David Darlington (R)
• Rey Herrera (R)

2018

General election

General election for Governor of Rhode Island

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Rhode Island on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gina Raimondo (D)	52.6	198,122
		Allan Fung (R)	37.2	139,932
		Joseph Trillo (Independent)	4.4	16,532
		Bill Gilbert (Moderate Party of Rhode Island Party)	2.7	10,155
		Luis Daniel Muñoz (Independent)	1.7	6,223
		Anne Armstrong (Compassion Party)	1.1	4,191
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	1,246

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 376,401 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Rebecca McLaughlin (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Rhode Island

Incumbent Gina Raimondo defeated Matt Brown and Spencer Dickinson in the Democratic primary for Governor of Rhode Island on September 12, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Gina Raimondo	57.2	67,370
		Matt Brown	33.5	39,518
		Spencer Dickinson	9.3	10,987

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 117,875
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Rhode Island

Allan Fung defeated Patricia Morgan and Giovanni Feroce in the Republican primary for Governor of Rhode Island on September 12, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Allan Fung	56.4	18,661
		Patricia Morgan	40.1	13,267
		Giovanni Feroce	3.5	1,159

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 33,087
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Matt Brown did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2018

The following were found on Brown's campaign website.

“	Health Care PROTECT HEALTH CARE ✓ Supports Medicare For All (Read the full plan) ✓ Undo Governor Raimondo’s severe Medicaid cuts ✓ Lower the costs of prescription drugs ✓ Expand training for caregivers and affordable care for seniors ✓ Protect and expand reproductive freedom ✓ Expand family leave We must live up to our values and stop balancing the budget on the backs of the middle class, our children, and the most vulnerable. We cannot keep giving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to huge corporations while at the same time cutting Medicaid and other programs for the poor, the disabled, and the elderly. Health care costs for Rhode Islanders have risen 250% since 1991. Seniors spend 75% more on average for prescription drugs now than they did in 2006; meanwhile, the average annual cost of just one prescription drug is nearly $13,000, or 80% of a typical Social Security check. That’s not who we are and not who we want to be. While we restore Medicaid in Rhode Island, we must build toward a Medicare-for-all system and reduce prescription drug costs by cutting expensive middleman costs from our health care system while at the same time providing high-quality health care to everyone in our state. We must act now to prevent the looming shortage of in-home health care workers to meet the needs of our seniors, as the number of Rhode Islanders over 70 climbs by 90,000 over the next 15 years. To meet the needs of our caregivers, we will dramatically expand training in the state and offer that training free of charge. We will set rules for pay, benefits, and working hours to ensure caregivers can make a living wage. Caregivers do some of the most important work in society, yet in Rhode Island, they earn on average $11.50 an hour or $23,000 per year — poverty wages for a family of four. That needs to change. As it relates to reproductive freedom, under the current administration there are severe anti-choice abortion restrictions. These restrictions should not be in place to limit reproductive freedom. That needs to change. In addition, women should have the support from their employers to take time to care for themselves and children after birth. Currently, Rhode Island does not have guaranteed maternity leave for all, and that needs to change. Education FUNDING OUR FUTURE ✓ Fund our schools. Not more tax breaks for the wealthiest and corporations ✓ Fix our crumbling schools and ensure it never happens again ✓ Shrink class sizes ✓ Invest in teachers and provide resources ✓ Ensure every child, regardless of income or race, receives an outstanding education For two decades our state has steadily cut taxes for the wealthiest corporations and individuals while leaving our schools so underfunded that school buildings are now literally crumbling. At the same time, Rhode Island has placed dead last in the country for the education of Latino children. We must repeal those top-tier tax cuts and finally provide the funding our schools need to invest in good teaching, undo teacher pension cuts, shrink class sizes, and make sure our school buildings never fall apart again so that every single child in our state can get a quality education. Economy INVEST AT HOME ✓ End lavish corporate giveaways ✓ Lower small business taxes and increase investment ✓ Create Rhode Island Investment Bank to invest our money here ✓ Unlock thousands of new jobs through housing and renewable energy As Governor, Gina Raimondo’s signature economic development initiative has been to give millions in taxpayer money to hand-picked big corporations. This failed strategy has been widely discredited and has not worked for Rhode Islanders. Business Insider’s state economic ranking, based on employment, wage and GDP growth, dropped Rhode Island from 9th to 17th this year, as unemployment rose above the national average. And CNBC ranked Rhode Island 45th out of the 50 states for its economic environment. We must reverse these trends and build an economy that works for all Rhode Islanders. Today in Rhode Island it doesn’t matter if you are a small business trying to make ends meet or a global corporation with billions in profits -- all pay the same 7% flat tax rate. We will create a fair business tax system, in which the big corporations pay their fair share and we cut taxes and fees for our small businesses, which are the beating heart and the future of the Rhode Island economy. We also know that Rhode Island small businesses struggle to access affordable credit to build and expand their businesses. We’ll make affordable, easy-to-access small business loans a priority of the new Rhode Island Investment Bank. Under my leadership, this new Rhode Island Investment Bank will have a charter and mandate to invest our money only in Rhode Island, supporting small businesses, clean energy, affordable housing, and more. The profits earned by the bank will be a source of growing revenue to invest back into the Rhode Island economy year after year, creating jobs, raising incomes, supporting small businesses, and strengthening communities here at home for generations to come, without raising property taxes or putting the state further into debt. Unlike Wall Street banks, the state investment bank will be transparent, closely regulated, regularly audited, and always held accountable. The Rhode Island Investment Bank will work in partnership with local community banks and credit unions to help build one of the strongest local banking industries in the country. The bank's focus on renewable energy and affordable housing will unlock thousands of new jobs. Right now, homeownership rates in Rhode Island are lower than they have been in more than 30 years, and less than half of Rhode Islanders can afford payments on a median-priced home in the state – one of the highest rates of unaffordability in the country. The reason is simple: We don’t have enough houses. We will work with cities and towns to help them afford to educate a growing number of school-age children by rolling back the extreme tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest -- who now pay the lowest tax rate of all Rhode Islanders -- and putting that money back in to schools, with incentives for cities and towns that facilitate the construction of affordable housing. By unlocking a construction boom and helping developers build the 40,000 new homes needed to meet demand over the next decade, we will transform our state’s economy and future. Building those homes has the potential to create and sustain more than 9,000 jobs every year over 10 years. Adding thousands of new homes will lower rents and home prices around our state, solving our affordable housing crisis. And, perhaps most importantly, the combination of new jobs and homes will attract thousands of new residents to Rhode Island. Worker's Rights MAKE WORK PAY ✓ Support $15 an hour minimum wage ✓ Strengthen union rights ✓ Create employee-owned businesses Over the past dozen years, income inequality in Rhode Island has worsened. The wealthiest now earn more than half of all of the income in the state - a greater share than in 2006 - while the share for working families and the middle class has fallen. Working families are under attack, in Rhode Island and nationwide. Minimum wage in Rhode Island is a poverty wage for a family of four, but the Governor and other leaders refuse to push for a wage that allows working families in Rhode Island to survive. And as the Supreme Court guts protections for public sector unions, Governor Raimondo vetoes legislation that would leave hard-fought contracts in place until workers and state employers reach a new labor deal. Any Rhode Islander who works full-time should be able to afford the basic necessities of life. That’s why I support a $15 living wage. A higher minimum wage will keep working Rhode Islanders out of poverty, off of government assistance, and give them the opportunity to build a better life for themselves and their families. As Governor, I propose increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022, increasing $.50 the first year, $1 the second year and $1.50 per year the final two years. We will then tie that wage to the rate of inflation to ensure that people’s earnings keep up with the cost of the things they need. Rhode Island will join the fight for laws that protect unions and the contracts they fight for and win, including evergreen contracts for public sector workers and laws that allow workers to walk away from the bargaining table if they believe they aren’t getting a fair shake from management. For decades, strong unions guarded us against rising inequality by giving workers power. In Rhode Island, I believe workers should have that power once again. Under my leadership, they will. To bring the benefits of employee ownership to Rhode Island, we will provide tax relief to a Rhode Island business owner for sale of stock to an employee-owned enterprise. When owners intend to sell their businesses, we will require that owners notify employees that they are eligible to purchase or bid on the business, and give employees the right of first refusal to purchase the business through a cooperative or employee stock ownership program. We will also establish an independent, nonprofit Center for Employee Ownership that provides technical assistance, marketing, and education on the benefits of worker cooperatives to Rhode Island businesses and workers. Environment REINVENT ENERGY ✓ 100% renewable energy by 2035 ✓ Share profits for all Rhode Islanders ✓ Create 11,000 new, green jobs The world – along with our neighboring states – is building the energy system of the future powered by water, wind, and sun rather than coal, oil, and gas. Rhode Island has the renewable resources to generate twice the amount of energy we use - enough to export all across the region. Instead, Rhode Island spends $3.6 billion a year – $3,400 for every Rhode Islander – importing fossil fuels from other states that create jobs and profits elsewhere. We want Rhode Island to be the first state in the country to build a local renewable energy system that not only provides all of the state’s energy needs but generates surplus energy to export. Creating this new energy system is the biggest economic opportunity Rhode Island has had in generations. I believe that Rhode Island can lead the energy revolution by being the first state in the country that not only produces all of its energy from local, truly clean renewable resources — but also exports surplus renewable energy to other states. It would mean thousands of jobs in wind and solar for residential and commercial that can never be outsourced. And Rhode Islanders should have a financial stake in this new energy system so they can benefit from the profits of our shared natural resources. Under my plan, Rhode Islanders would receive dividend checks every year from the profits generated by the energy system, just as all residents of Alaska do. As Rhode Island mobilizes to lead the energy economy of the future, it must scrap its plans for the Invenergy corporation to clear-cut more than 100 acres in the forest of northwestern Rhode Island to build a fracked-gas and diesel oil power plant. People in Burrillville, Providence, and across the state have been fighting heroically to stop more fossil fuel infrastructure from being built, including the expansion of the Fields Point LNG facility. All Rhode Islanders should join in this fight — the environmental, health, and economic harm caused by anchoring ourselves to the polluting, monopoly energy of the past would hurt us all. Along with our proposed offshore wind energy system that includes annual dividend returns to the public, we will have a comprehensive solar and land-based wind energy plan that will prioritize building solar in already-developed areas, such as rooftops and surface parking lots, while working to protect green spaces. In total, our energy plan will create nearly 11,000 good jobs for Rhode Islanders that can’t be outsourced. Pensions RESTORE LOST PENSION BENEFITS ✓ Restore cost of living increases for retirees ✓ Move our pension funds out of risky Wall Street hedge funds and back to stable, low-fee investments In 2011, then-Treasurer Raimondo told Rhode Islanders the state needed to cut the pensions for teachers, cops, and firefighters while moving at least $1 billion into expensive, high-risk hedge funds and venture capital firms. These investments have consistently underperformed and have already cost the state more than $214 million in fees. That includes firms like Point Judith, a venture capital firm Raimondo founded that the state invests with and from which Raimondo makes money. Governor Raimondo’s drastic pension cuts needlessly hurt public employees and retirees, exposes their retirement funds to even greater risk, and will cost the state’s taxpayers millions more long-term. As Governor, I will fight for full transparency for investments of public money, including public release of current management contracts, investment fees, and the portfolio of investments. I will also fight for rapid disinvestment from risky Wall Street hedge funds and venture capital firms and move the money back into stable, lower-fee, better-performing index funds; and use the savings from reduced investor fees and improved investment performance to restore annual COLAs for current and future retirees. Immigration RIGHTS FOR ALL RHODE ISLANDERS ✓ Welcome and value immigrants ✓ Test and license all Rhode Island drivers I wholeheartedly oppose and am disgusted by the Trump Administration’s policy of abusing migrants and asylum seekers - interning them at the border, charging them criminally, raiding their workplaces, terrorizing their communities, and worst of all, separating families. As Governor, I will strengthen sanctuary and asylum policies here in Rhode Island, including ensuring that no state agency shares information about any state resident with ICE, either intentionally or otherwise. For the safety of the public and our roads, all Rhode Island residents should be required to get tested and licensed to drive a vehicle, regardless of immigration status. And, unlike the current Governor, I will end the practice of handing out state tax breaks and other corporate welfare to defense contractors profiting from the Trump Administration’s horrific immigration policies. Child Safety PROTECTING OUR FUTURE ✓ Audit all Rhode Island child services ✓ Fund child services properly As Governor, my chief priority will be keeping our families safe. That starts with our children. Under Governor Raimondo, at least 28 children in the Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) care have died in the last two years. Governor Raimondo failed to appoint qualified leadership for more than two years, leaving the department rudderless and putting these kids’ lives at risk. Further, in the last several years, Raimondo made even more budget cuts to DCYF even after warnings from advocates that DCYF's financial shortfalls were making problems worse. Raimondo has failed at the basics of her job and the consequences of her mismanagement have been tragic. No child in our care should ever be in danger of losing their lives because of mismanagement and budget cutting. Gun Violence RHODE ISLAND CAN LEAD ✓ Hold gun manufacturers accountable ✓ Ban guns in schools ✓ Regulate junk guns ✓ Pass a Comprehensive Firearm Registration ✓ A Mom’s Demand Action Gun-Sense Candidate Washington is broken. Nowhere is that more obvious than Congress’s complete failure to pass a ban on assault weapons and large capacity ammunition magazines after the unspeakable gun violence at Newtown, at Sandy Hook, at Pulse, and Parkland. If we’re going to do something about it and prevent another tragedy, the next Governor is going to have to lead. Like you, I’m tired of our surreal national gun violence routine of mass shootings, thoughts, and prayers without real solutions from gutless politicians. It's time to take on the NRA, and pass comprehensive reforms.	”
—Matt Brown's campaign website (2018)

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