The following piece appeared in this week's Sakonnet Times, and was submitted to both the Newport Daily News and the Providence Journal.

Of all the election results last Tuesday night, there is none so saddening as the defeat of long-time progressive champion Sen. Charles Levesque of Portsmouth/Bristol. His loss hurts so deeply because of what it will mean for the whole state.

In his years in the legislature, Levesque showed a sensitivity and concern for the dispossessed that went beyond the boundaries of his district. And he did so without political calculation; his positions were selected not for popularity, but because they were morally right.

Those whose voices often get shouted down had a true ally in Levesque. Believers in marriage equality, criminal justice reform, support for the elderly, the HIV-infected, the poor, the undocumented immigrants. Even the prostitutes: his principled opposition to last year's law was not, as it was cynically represented, a vote in favor, but rather an attempt to protect the most desperate from being driven into the clutches of human traffickers by fear of prosecution.

There is a parable in Matthew, 25:40, where the Son of Man has come to separate the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the accursed, and His method is simple. 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

I have been proud to have had Sen. Levesque as my representative, and both Portsmouth and Rhode Island are better for his absolute commitment and moral compass. Thank you, Chuck.

John G. McDaid
Portsmouth