Another RI Political Co-op candidate drops out amid scrutiny of social media posts

PROVIDENCE — A second legislative candidate aligned with the insurgent group of Democrats backing Matt Brown for governor and freshman Sen. Cynthia Mendes for lieutenant governor has dropped out amid scrutiny of her Facebook posts.

Tarshire Battle announced on Twitter that she was dropping her bid to unseat Rep. Karen Alzate, the Pawtucket Democrat who chairs the Legislative Black and Latino Caucus, because she did not want her life to be "weaponized" against her.

Link to tweet

In the meantime, Democrat Mendes — running for a job that would put her a heartbeat away from becoming governor — faced questions about her own recent past as a registered Republican.

Mendes had been registered as a Republican in East Providence, and then in Bristol, from 2006 to 2016, when she returned to the East Providence voter rolls as an unaffiliated voter.

Read more: https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/08/ri-political-cooperative-candidate-tarshire-battle-drops-out-race/6053448001/