Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo is a suitable fit as U.S. commerce secretary given her emphasis on economic development, officials and other Ocean State political observers said.
President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday night officially nominated Raimondo, 49, and others to cabinet positions — including Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as labor secretary -- subject to U.S. Senate approval, which is expected following two Democratic runoff wins in Georgia on Tuesday. Biden, who will take office Jan 20, also nominated Isabel Guzman and Don Graves small business administrator and deputy secretary of commerce, respectively,
"I think it's a good choice by the president-elect. In her six years she took a determined interest in economic development," said Gary Sasse, a former Rhode Island state revenue director and now founding director of Bryant University's Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership. "She's focused on economic development broadly, not just the narrower concepts. And she has good experience as a chief executive."
Raimondo is the country's longest-serving female governor and Rhode Island's 75th governor overall. She is considered a moderate, pro-business Democrat.
Commerce promotes economic development for businesses and Americans domestically and abroad and oversees international trade agreements, including delicate dealings with China. Biden said Raimondo would be a "key player" in helping position the U.S. as an exporter of 21st-century products and a clean-energy economy leader.
"The Commerce Department is a hodge-podge of disparate agencies, and commerce secretaries have often had a lot of flexibility in choosing their areas of focus," said Adam Myers, a Providence College political science professor. "I imagine that Gov. Raimondo will prioritize economic development, which is her bailiwick.
"Her views on trade policy — a key policy area for the department — are not very well-known, but given her background in finance, she is probably more pro-free trade than many Democrats."
Seth Magaziner, who succeeded Raimondo as general treasurer when she became governor in 2105, worked with her on several major initiatives, including the launch of a statewide school construction program, green infrastructure investments, and strategies to secure Rhode Island's finances during the COVID-19 pandemic. Magaziner also worked with Raimondo at Point Judith Capital, a venture firm she co-founded before entering public service.
"I know her to be capable and talented, and I have full confidence that she will serve our country well in this new role," Magaziner said in a statement. "It is a source of pride for Rhode Islanders to have one of our own represented in the president's cabinet."
Raimondo and Biden have also developed a warm relationship over the years. In May 2016 while Biden was vice president under Barack Obama, he
His visit evolved from a meeting between the two earlier that year at a national conference.
“He said, 'Hey gov, you're doing a lot of good things there,’” Raimondo told reporters. “I said, 'Why don't you come to Rhode Island and learn about it?’”
As general treasurer, Raimondo championed the 2011 landmark law overhauling benefits for state employees. "The reality was that the system was at a breaking point,” Raimondo said in an
The move, intended to shore up Rhode Island's unfunded pension liability, made national headlines, earned praise from bond rating agencies and withstood a court challenge from public-sector unions. In 2015 the state settled with all but three of the unions and preserved about 92% of its projected savings of $4 billion over 20 years.
“I was delighted that Gina was elected governor,” former New York lieutenant governor and longtime public-finance power broker Richard Ravitch said after her election. Ravitch, now 87, is best known for advising on New York City's emergence from its mid-1970s financial crisis. “She’s in it for the right reasons," Ravitch said. "She faced up to the fact that her state had to do something about the pension problem.”
Raimondo, who studied at Harvard and Yale, won her two gubernatorial elections, the second in 2018, narrowly over Republican Cranston Mayor Allan Fung as the controversy over pension overhaul lingered.
While governor, Raimondo emphasized economic recovery in the nation's smallest state — "jobs, jobs, jobs" — and sought to upgrade the state's crumbling infrastructure, which received low ratings nationally.
"Our primary focus is improving the business climate," Raimondo said during a
Raimondo emphasized data-driven and systematic decision-making and, in the face of parochialism, hired from out of state when she deemed it necessary. “Top talent. People who believe in the mission," she said.
Rhode Island's unemployment rate dropped over about a decade from worst in the nation to around the middle — 3.4% right before the pandemic, compared with the national average of 3.9%. Still, "what didn't happen was the creation of enough good-paying jobs," Sasse said.
While business closures in March and April designed to counter the coronavirus outbreak cost roughly 98,000 jobs, according to the state Department of Labor and Training, the state's economy has recovered 58% of the jobs lost.
She spent the last year coping with the pandemic and in recent weeks, a spike in coronavirus cases. In late November, Raimondo called for a "pause" that featured the closing of in-person learning at colleges; limits on retail and religious assembly; and an indoor dining scaleback. "Frankly, it's alarming," she said.
Lt. Gov. and fellow Democrat Dan McKee, a former Cumberland mayor, will serve out Raimondo's last two years as governor. McKee will also appoint his own successor as lieutenant governor.
"My job is to always be prepared in that unlikely scenario,” McKee, 69, said recently on Providence television station WPRI's Newsmakers show. “I am prepared, and I’ve been working for the last six years to make sure that I am prepared.”
In Boston, Biden's expected appointment of Walsh, 53, sets up a wild scramble this year to succeed him.
Walsh, a former state representative, framed his career around organized labor. He was president of Laborers’ Union Local 223 in Boston and head of the Building and Construction Trades Council. Unions contributed heavily to his first mayoral run in 2013.
“In his prior governmental posts, Mayor Walsh has proven himself to be a dedicated public servant known to be fair and open minded," said James Callahan, general president of the International Union of Operating Engineers. "In addition, Marty Walsh knows what it takes to lace up a pair of work boots and earn a paycheck through toil and skill."
