Rep. Jon Brien

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a powerful corporate front groupthat lets Big Business draft legislation to pass in state legislature. Most of its allies are Republicans, but a few are Democrats, too.

Rhode Island state representative Rep. Jon Brien is one of those Democrats. He even serves on ALEC’s board. But Brien received some bad news late yesterday, as a firefighter who challenged him in his Democratic primary defeated him by 50 votes.

Stephen Casey, an area firefighter, will be replacing Brien on the Democratic ticket this fall. “I’m not surprised,” he told the press during a victory celebration. “We worked hard. Weai??i??re in a climate that people are looking for new ideas and new people to help out at the State House.”

According to a local press report, Brien’s reaction at his planned victory party was a little different. He “stared at a placard listing the poll numbers with an expression of grim disbelief.”

Take action with PCCC and tell Democrats to dump ALEC.