RI Election 2023 Candidate Profile: Niyoka Powell For State Senate

PROVIDENCE, RI — Off-year elections in 2023 are fast approaching in Rhode Island.

On Nov. 7, a special election will decide who takes the seat vacated state Senate Majority Whip Maryellen Goodwin (D-Providence), who died earlier this year following a battle with cancer. The race will see Democratic General Assembly staffer Jake Bissaillon square off against Republican Niyoka Powell, a frontline health care worker seeking office.

To help inform voters prior to the special election, Patch is publishing candidate profiles. This one focuses on Powell.

1. The single most pressing issue facing the district is _______, and this is what do you intend to do about it?

The most pressing issue facing my district is the rising cost of housing, an issue that I’ve personally experienced. To meet this challenge, I'll advance policies that defend residential zoning, preserve and expand the stock of affordable housing, and protect the character of our neighborhoods from aggressive development by special interests.

2. What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

There’s a difference of background and perspective. My opponent is the ultimate insider. Politics is how he makes a living: $183,000 a year in taxpayer money, to be precise. By contrast, I’m a young Jamaican immigrant, a nurse, a working mother, and a community advocate. For me, politics isn’t a job; it’s a call to service. My district is feeling the pinch of high inflation, wage stagnation, and housing dislocation. I’ve felt these hardships, too, making me well positioned to voice the average resident’s concerns and frustrations.

There’s also a difference of policy. My opponent tends to take a tax-and-regulate approach. Ultimately, that approach produces bloated and unaccountable government. It’s good for special interests that can afford to capture legislators and bureaucrats, but it’s bad for ordinary people and small businesses. I believe in empowering folks by creating an opportunity-rich environment. Unleash the power of the market, driven by "Main Street" enterprises. Let people keep their hard-earned money. Allow parents to determine how best to educate their children. Protect neighborhoods from crime and aggressive development. Work with business owners, not against them. This is the path to widespread prosperity.

3. Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Beyond combating gentrification, there are a handful of issues that define my campaign.

Making family affordable by addressing soaring utility costs, expanding the sales tax exemption to include basic family items such as car seats, strollers, and high chairs, and smartly allocating existing public funds to support working parents who don't otherwise qualify for assistance.

Enabling access to good-paying occupations and laying the groundwork for a 21st century economy by revising burdensome licensing requirements and nurturing a culture of entrepreneurship and skills-development.

Putting education back in parents’ hands by experimenting with education diversity and giving moms and dads — who are the primary stakeholders in their children’s educations — the financial means to afford alternatives to traditional public schools.

Protecting our communities by imposing severe penalties on those pushing fentanyl and other opioids, while also continuing to implement community policing programs.

If people want to learn more about my platform, they can visit my website: https://www.powellrisenate.com/

4. What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I think this question has a hidden premise: specifically, that our legislature should be populated by men and women with certain credentials and a particular professional background. In other words, lots of lawyers, lobbyists, and political operators. I reject this premise. True representative government is built on the “citizen statesman” — or, in my case, the citizen stateswoman — not the career politician.

We need to ask what success means in this context. To me, success as a legislator means advancing the interests of the residents of my district first, then the interests of Rhode Island as a whole. This requires the ability to listen and dialogue: to listen to constituents and to dialogue with colleagues in the chamber.

I’ve developed these collaborative skills as a working mother and a frontline healthcare worker. In particular, as a nurse, I’ve learned how to really open my ears to people’s concerns, especially when they’re hurting; I’ve also learned how to negotiate competing needs and demands in very stressful circumstances. Combined with my life experience as a Black female and an immigrant who loves this state and our country, I will bring these skills and perspectives to the State House.

5. What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

This November 7, the people of my district have the opportunity to reject a failed system.

Consider the current situation. The Rhode Island Senate has 38 seats. Of those, 33 are held by Democrats. In the Rhode Island House of Representatives, 65 of the 75 seats are held by Democrats.

This imbalance hurts our state by stifling debate, breeding corruption and cronyism, and thwarting creative policy-making.

A vote for me is a vote against this dangerous arrangement. A vote for me is a vote for a new and hopeful future, for a different vision of Rhode Island. That’s why I'm asking the people of District 1 to send a working mother to the State House on November 7.

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