For the first time ever, RI Dems elect a woman as their party chair. What to know.
EAST PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island Democrats have elected a woman, for the first time, to chair the state's ruling party: Elizabeth "Liz" Beretta-Perik.
The handpicked choice of House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, Beretta-Perik won the no-pay but high-prestige job at the helm of the state's dominant party without competition when the members of the Democratic state committee gathered at the Teamsters Hall in East Providence on Wednesday night.
Beretta-Perik succeeds state Rep. Joseph McNamara of Warwick who, after nine years as state Democratic Party chairman, announced he would not seek another term in the job.
"I want to say how grateful I am that I have the opportunity to have a little piece of the Democratic party history," Beretta-Perik told the Democrats who packed the hall. "We are the party of the future ... [the] party that takes us into the next generation. And we're going to keep doing that for Rhode Island.
"And I promise you that ... our firsts are going to become norms ... and I promise you that I will raise the money that we need to have strong campaigns. We will be organized, we'll have a clear message."
Who is Elizabeth Beretta-Perik?
The Periks – Elizabeth and her husband, Michael – have opened their Jamestown home, and their checkbooks, to dozens of local and national politicians, from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in 2017 when Democrats were battling to win back the U.S. House to Rhode Island's term-limited Attorney General Peter Neronha this last summer.
Over the years, the Periks have each given more than $100,000 to Rhode Island politicians, from the governor on down.
Along the way, Michael Perik and his companies have been dogged by controversies.
He is currently embroiled in hotly litigated lawsuits accusing him of fraud for withholding crucial information in the $120-million sale of his former business, Student Resource Center LLC. His lawyer asserts the lawsuits are meritless.
Beretta-Perik comes from a well-known Rhode Island family. Her brother is lawyer-lobbyist Richard Beretta. The late District Judge Victor Beretta was a second cousin, and Joseph Beretta, of Robinson Green Beretta Corporation, is her uncle.
Until now, however, little was known about Elizabeth Beretta-Perik's life beyond the political sphere where she has, in recent years, been the state Democratic Party treasurer and national committeewoman.
She was routinely listed as "unemployed" – or, on occasion, as "homemaker" – on political contribution filings on the Board of Elections website.
She sought the job of lieutenant governor when Gov. Dan McKee rose from that office to governor in 2021. While others submitted detailed resumés, Beretta-Perik sent a two-paragraph letter.
More: A prolific RI fundraiser is poised to take the helm of the state's Democratic Party. What to know.
In her letter she expressed interest in the job, which would have placed her next in line to the governor, and said she would welcome a chance to tell McKee, in person, about her "background and professional experience." (McKee opted to appoint then-Providence City Council President Sabina Matos.)
In a more recent letter to the voting members of the Democratic state committee, Beretta-Perik wrote:
"At a time when our party and our democracy are being challenged, I believe my professional, personal and political experience can help us meet these challenges ... After years of helping at all levels in our party, I am eager to get to work to ensure our Democratic Party is well-funded and well-organized to win."
What is Beretta-Perik's background in politics?
According to her resumé:
She graduated with a B.A. in economics from the College of the Holy Cross and a Master's in finance from Boston College. She was a Fleet Bank vice president in Boston from 1994-99.
She is the current state Democratic Party treasurer and Democratic National Committeewoman for Rhode Island, a past member of the "Speaker’s Cabinet for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee" and co-chair of the Biden Harris Rhode Island Finance Committee 2020.
She was also a Rhode Island Presidential Elector in 2020; host of the Obama-Biden Rhode Island Fundraiser 2008; Obama Delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention and finance chair for Neronha from 2018-2023.
Among her many philanthropic involvements, she has been a Rhode Island Hospital Foundation Trustee and recent presidential appointee to an advisory committee on the arts.
Beretta-Perik's involvement with campaigns started at a young age
In a 2019 interview with a local weekly, Beretta-Perik said: “The first campaign I ever worked on was when I was about 10 years old."
That’s when her uncle, Norm Beretta, helped his friend Dennis Lynch run for mayor of Pawtucket and she worked alongside her uncle, according to the Jamestown Press. "The experience campaigning for Lynch, who wound up serving five terms as mayor, sparked an interest."
An eye-opening moment for her came during Barack Obama’s keynote address during the 2004 national convention when he rejected the idea of America being divided into blue states and red states.
“That was it,” she told the Jamestown Press. “That’s when I was hooked. He was such a gentleman, so thoughtful and so smart. Everything about him was exactly what the first African-American president should be."
In fall 2017, the Periks hosted then House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at their Jamestown home. The fundraising dinner benefited the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which assists Democrats running for the U.S. House, according to an invitation.
Tickets to the fundraising dinner to benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ran as high as $33,900 to attend a VIP reception along with dinner; donors who give that amount are dubbed members of the “Speaker’s Cabinet.”
More recently, the Periks hosted a fundraiser for Neronha at their home. The co-hosts included: former IGT Chairman Don Sweitzer and Marc Crisafulli, the former top gambling industry executive in Rhode Island appointed by McKee to chair the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Democratic Party elected new chair Wednesday night. What to know.
