To the editor:

Joe Merrill’s description of Jason Knight as a representative who blindly follows leadership and does as he’s told in his recently published letter to the editor could not be less accurate. On the contrary, Knight has consistently been a leader in the State House who has worked successfully to gain the support of leadership on issues important to his constituents in District 67.

As the former vice-chair of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, I saw first-hand how Knight convinced leadership to support gun violence reduction measures, including a 10-round limit on magazine capacity and prohibiting the concealed carry of firearms in our K-12 schools. These were bills that leadership was extremely reluctant to support. Without Knight's steady advocacy, they would never have made it out of the judiciary committee for a vote. 

Knight also played a crucial role in getting leadership to support the Reproductive Privacy Act that codified the rights formerly enjoyed by all Americans under Roe v. Wade.

If by “running with the progressive crowd,” Merrill means taking decisive action to protect women’s access to reproductive health care and making our state safer from gun violence, then Knight is guilty as charged. But in doing so, Knight was a leader, not a follower.

Merrill says he does not want that kind of leadership, which is his right. He’d prefer someone to go to the State House and “shake things up.” And indeed, if elected, Knight’s Republican opponent Scott Fuller will shake things up with his QAnon-inspired nonsense and Trump-like gutter politics, which will immediately alienate him from both leadership and all but a handful of Representatives.

What will that mean for District 67? Simply put, having a bomb-throwing Representative like Fuller will mean he will not be able to work with leadership to deliver on initiatives important to residents of the district, such as repairing the East Bay Bike Path bridges, which Knight was instrumental in making happen. 

Having watched the machinations of state politics closely, I have been incredibly impressed by Knight’s ability to negotiate a middle path between advocating for policies leadership would prefer not to support while at the same time cultivating a positive working relationship with them. District 67 is fortunate to have a leader as effective as Jason Knight representing them.

Pete Bilderback

Warren