Barrington resident Jason Knight did not earn the endorsement of the District 67 Committee, and wants to know why he never had the chance to make his pitch to the group.

Mr. Knight said he never received an invitation to speak to that committee, which reportedly met at a senior center in Warren when casting a 5-0 vote to endorse incumbent Democrat Jan. Malik for the RI House seat. 

See who else is running for office in Barrington.

"I'm disappointed for the benefit of the voters," said Mr. Knight. "I just think voters will be best served by an open process."

Mr. Knight said he would have enjoyed the opportunity to share his ideas with the members of the District 67 committee. 

Rep. Malik, a Warren resident, said the District 67 committee's endorsement is an important one, and determines which name is listed first on the primary ballot. The committee is reportedly comprised of Warren residents John Jannitto, Billy Ryan and Skip Mansi, and Barrington residents Tony DeSisto and John Calitri.

Rep. Malik and Mr. Knight both had the opportunity to speak to the Barrington Democratic Town Committee and pitch them for an endorsement. When that committee cast ballots, 12 members voted to endorse Mr. Knight while seven voted for Rep. Malik.

"I give Jason Knight a lot of credit," said Rep. Malik. "He went and talked and they liked what they heard. 

"But that (endorsement) means nothing… I'm disappointed, but it means nothing."

Rep. Malik said the most important endorsement is that of the District 67 committee. In a recent press release, Rep. Malik wrote: "This is the endorsement that really matters because it makes me the endorsed candidate listed first on the ballot in the Democratic Primary. The committee is made up of three people from Warren and two from Barrington, all of whom live in my district.”

Rep. Malik said he took a closer look at the voting for the Barrington Democratic Town Committee and found that the membership who voted for the District 67 endorsement included people who live outside that district. He said the 12 votes cast for Mr. Knight included eight from people who live in District 66. He and Mr. Knight each received four votes from people who live in District 67, he said.

Vote details

Kate Weymouth is the vice president of the Barrington Democratic Town Committee. She said the committee listened to both candidates pitch for the endorsement.

"Jason spent more time explaining who he was and he spoke to the issues," she said. "Jan responded to the issues."

Mr. Weymouth, who is an endorsed Democrat running for re-election to the town council, said the District 67 candidates and non-voting members stepped out of the meeting while the vote was taken. 

"We took a secret vote," Ms. Weymouth said, adding that the ballots were counted by two independent officials. 

"It was a very close vote."

Ms. Weymouth offered her own perspective for the vote — she believes that there is a push to see a change at the state level with legislators. 

How the committee voted

Rep. Jan Malik said he took a closer look at how the Barrington Democratic Town Committee voted and discovered that not all voting members live in District 67. He said his Democratic challenger, Jason Knight, received four votes from people who live in District 67 and eight votes from folks who live in District 66. Rep. Malik said he also received four votes from people who live in District 67 and three from voting members who live in District 66. 

State official chimes in

Rhode Island Democratic State Committee Chairman Joseph McNamara announced in a recent press release that State Rep. Jan Malik is the endorsed Democratic candidate in the District 67 race. “Rep. Malik will appear on the Democratic Primary ballot as the endorsed candidate,” said Chairman McNamara.  “He received the unanimous endorsement of the District 67 Representative Committee.” Chairman McNamara pointed out that Rep. Malik was endorsed by the Warren Democratic Town Committee and Jason Knight was endorsed by the Barrington Democratic Town Committee, but both are unofficial. “The town committees determine the endorsements for candidates in local races,” said Mr. McNamara. “But when it comes to state candidates, according to Rhode Island law, the only endorsements that are recognized are made by the Representative Committees. The endorsements of town committees are only symbolic and carry no weight.”