Brandon Potter (born 6 August 1984) is an American politician who is state representative in the
Rhode Island House of Representatives for the 16th district.
In the 2020 election, Potter primaried incumbent representative
Christopher Millea, a close ally of speaker
Nicholas Mattiello
Nicholas A. Mattiello (born 1963) is an American politician and Democratic former member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, who represented the 15th District from 2007 to 2021. He served as the Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Repr ...
, with the support of the
Working Families Party, winning the Democratic nomination. After being unable to contact Millea, Potter was motivated to run for office when his girlfriend was removed from a kidney transplant waiting list, and the
Herb Chambers car dealership he was working at was shut down due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. Potter proceeded to defeat Republican Maryann Lancia in the general election by a margin of 585 votes.
[ He was endorsed by ]Bernie Sanders
Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...
.
Following the news that state Rep. Justin Price had attended the 2021 United States Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob was seeking to keep Trump in pow ...
, Potter was the first elected official to publicly call for him to resign.
A former member of the Rhode Island Political Cooperative, he was expelled from the group for supporting House Speaker Joe Shekarchi. Potter later called the organization “toxic to the progressive movement” after the group faced criticism for targeting other progressives.
References
Democratic Party members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives
1984 births
Living people
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