I-Team: Former candidate says AG urged her not to run

A former candidate for mayor of Central Falls claims Rhode Island’s attorney general asked her to get her out of the race.

Edna Poulin was at one point going to run against Mayor Charles Moreau.  But on Aug. 14, Poulin said she got a phone call urging her not to run for mayor.

“Yes, I did. I got a call from the Attorney General, Patrick Lynch, talking to me about the fact that he’s supporting the mayor and it that would be a shame if there were a fight in the city over the position of two Democrats.  The mayor had very strong backing and chances are I wouldn’t win anyway,“ Poulin said she was told.

Poulin said she later received another call from another member of the Lynch family.

“A week and a half later, I got a call from his brother, Billy Lynch,“ Poulin said.

William Lynch is the state Democratic Party chairman. He, too, urged her not to run against Moreau.

“I might have accepted it from Billy, because he is the Democratic Party chair. But I think it was totally inappropriate for Patrick to call me,“ Poulin said.

Poulin had also gathered signatures to run for the City Council, but the Board of Canvassers recently rejected her City Council bid because she got signatures for both mayor and council.

Her attorney, Robert Healey, said that decision was made behind closed doors. 

Healey said he might file an open meetings violations complaint. But because the attorney general would have to decide whether to investigate, Healey said he is not holding out much hope.

“Given the fact that the attorney general has pretty much made clear his position on Miss Poulin’s candidacy, I’m not really sure where that would be of any benefit,“ Healey said.

A spokesman for the attorney general said the law allows Healey to take Poulin’s complaint directly to Superior Court if he thinks there’s a conflict of interest.

A spokesman for Friends of Lynch said the attorney general’s mother has known Poulin for years and that the attorney general, as a courtesy, called Poulin to let her know he was backing Moreau.