EAST PROVIDENCE — In the lead to the September 10 primary election, the candidates for the State Senate District 14 Democratic Party nomination — three-term incumbent Valerie Lawson and challenger Brian Coogan — recently took part in a public forum.

The event, held Wednesday night, Aug. 28 in the East Providence City Council Chamber, was co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters-Rhode Island and East Bay Media Group, parent company of The Post.

Lawson and Coogan answered a handful of questions over approximately 35 minutes, though one inquiry not asked of the latter, specifically, was why he's was challenging a relatively popular and high-ranking member of the party.

Lawson has been elected thrice before, beginning in 2018 when she ran unopposed. She won her last two elections with 72 and 60% vote shares, respectively. She is not only the Democratic Majority Whip in the upper chamber, but she is also the president of the National Education Association-Rhode Island, the local arm of the very influential union of school teachers.

As for the questions that were posed, Coogan said he was running to return to the General Assembly, where he previously represented the city in the House of Representatives in the early aughts from 2000-05 before being defeated by former local pol Helio Melo then served a two-year stint on the City Council from 2008-10, mainly for a few of reasons.

Both in his opening and closing remarks, Coogan said he didn't have anything against Lawson personally, nor did he cite any specific policy differences.

Rather, Coogan said he was running to put more emphasis on bullying and mental health issues as well as recycling.

Coogan referenced a family member who recently committing suicide in explaining his decision to run for office. He also said there was an opportunity to "make a lot of money" if local and state officials "think outside the box" when it comes to increasing the amount of materials recycled.

Lawson said she was seeking a fourth term to build on some of the accomplishments she's achieved to date in the Senate such as: removing the car tax, reducing income tax rates on seniors and veterans, implementing eight-week family medical leave, creating a $2.6 million pool of grant monies for city businesses impacted by the Washington Bridge closure, earmarking monies to keep the Linn Health & Rehabilitation solvent and increasing the East Providence School District's reimbursement for the CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training) Program at Bradley Hospital.

Both candidates offered up passionate responses to the question of what they could do as legislators to support aforementioned small business owners impacted by the bridge debacle.

Lawson said, "What happened on the bridge has been an absolute failure," adding later, she "fully support the state and outside lawyers filing lawsuits against those involved in many different aspect of bridge hope if negligent state can recoup money."

Of the $2.6 million pot of grant funding the Assembly and the office of Gov. Dan McKee created for the businesses, Lawson said it should activated within the "next week or two."

Coogan, likewise, said he supported the filing of "a class action lawsuit" for the bridge situation.

On matters of affordable housing, Coogan said the key to giving buyers access to manageable mortgages is for interest rates to fall.

Lawson pointed to specific pieces of legislation she supported such as allowing land owners to build so-called accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their existing land as well as supporting affordable housing developments such as the planned "Center City" apartments to be built locally on Taunton Avenue over three vacant lots.

Of some of their most induring accomplishments in office, Coogan said while he believes he served the residents of the city well, he has not been office for some two decades. He said he wanted to look forward, not back. Among some of her notable achievements, Lawson cited an automobile insurance anti-discrimination bill and recovering some $1.1 million in state aide intended for the East Providence School Department that was initially stripped away from the administration of Gov. Dan McKee in the draft Fiscal Year 2025 budget.

Asked about the continuing lack of primary care physicians in the state's healthcare system, both acknowledged it was a problem. Lawson said the Assembly is considering going so far as to start a medical school at the the state's flagship University of Rhode Island.

In closing, Coogan once again said he has "nothing against Val personally. I wish her the best." However, he said his desire to prevent suicide and work on mental health issues led him to run. Lawson countered by saying still has more legislation she would work to have passed that she thinks "can improve the lives of Townies and Rhode Islanders."

To view the complete State Senate District 14 Democratic Party Primary Election candidate forum visit the East Providence City Council Live Stream page on YouTube or the LWV-RI page at https://my.lwv.org/rhode-island.