Nicholas A. Mattiello (born 1963) is an American politician and Democratic former member of the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is ...

, who represented the 15th District from 2007 to 2021. He served as the Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from March 25, 2014 to 2021. In 2020, he was defeated in an upset by Republican

Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung (born December 10, 1980) is an American politician serving as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives for the 15th district. Elected in November 2020, she assumed office on January 5, 2021. Early life and e ...

, the wife of Cranston mayor

Allan Fung Allan Wai-Ket Fung (born February 25, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who served as the mayor of Cranston, Rhode Island, from 2009 to 2021. Fung, who is of Chinese descent, was the first Chinese American mayor in Rhode Island. He wa ...

Political positions

Mattiello has been described as an "old-guard conservative." In 2011, he voted for Rhode Island's

voter ID law A voter identification law is a law that requires a person to show some form of identification in order to vote. In some jurisdictions requiring photo IDs, voters who do not have photo ID often must have their identity verified by someone else ( ...

. Despite his generally conservative profile, he voted for

marriage equality Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...

in 2013. Mattiello has also expressed the fact that he does not support the bill relating to the

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

that was passed in the Senate in January 2018 and states that it was dead. He has expressed his disinterest in the idea of the taxpayer's money funding the new stadium, leading to the team to look outside of Rhode Island. He has been endorsed by

Right to Life The right to life is the belief that a human (or other animal) has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including: capital punishment, with some ...

and the

NRA Political Victory Fund The Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is the political action committee (PAC) of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). Founded in 1976, the Fund endorses political candidates on behalf of the NRA and contributes money to those candidate's ...

. In 2018, Mattiello sponsored legislation commonly known as "Kristen's Law" that allows life sentencing for anyone who sells, delivers or distributes an illegal drug that leads to a fatal overdose. In July 2018, the Rhode Island Democratic Party, controlled by Mattiello, endorsed a pro-Trump candidate's primary challenge against incumbent Rep. Moira Walsh, who had voiced her disapproval with Mattiello on previous occasions. In June 2019, Mattiello attempted to include $1 million in the R.I. budget to be allocated to a single chiropractor, Victor Pedro, despite R.I.'s Medicaid Medical Care Advisory Committee stating that "there wasn’t evidence that the treatment worked." Eventually, Mattiello pulled support for the bill due to public and political pressure. In June 2020, during the campaign to remove "Plantations" from the official state name of Rhode Island, Mattiello received criticism for not knowing what the holiday

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States, federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the End of slavery in the United States, ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's n ...

commemorated, and making the statement that he "did not think we had actual

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

in Rhode Island." Rhode Island ships were the center of the

Transatlantic Slave Trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

, importing more enslaved Africans than any other

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

British colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

References

External links

Rhode Island House - Representative Nicholas A. Mattiello
official R.I. House website , - 1963 births Politicians from Cranston, Rhode Island Living people Rhode Island lawyers Speakers of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Rhode Island General Assembly {{RhodeIsland-politician-stub