PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Republican Brendan Doherty, the former superintendent of the state police, has been mining incumbent U.S. Rep. David Cicilline's past votes in the state legislature and his work as a criminal defense lawyer to portray the Democrat as someone unwilling to stand up for the victimized.
One of those charges, made in an Oct. 9 press release, was that, as a state representative in the 1990s, Cicilline was against mandatory sentences for those convicted of domestic violence and child abuse.
The charge was part of a flurry of political counterpunches Doherty unloaded against Cicilline after the Democratic incumbent linked Republican Doherty to what the Democrats are saying is the Republican party's 'war on women.'
PolitiFact Rhode Island examined Doherty's claim and ruled it True. Read the complete analysis here.