PROVIDENCE – Holly McLaren, a Providence woman who was at the center of the controversy surrounding fraudulent signatures submitted by the Sabina Matos campaign in the lieutenant governor’s quest for the U.S. House last year, has been formally charged by the R.I. State Police and the R.I. Attorney General’s Office in connection with the controversy.
The state police and AG’s office announced Friday that McLaren, 52, was indicted by a statewide grand jury on Friday with two counts of falsely certifying nomination papers and two counts of filing false documents with a public official. McLaren also on May 31 appeared voluntarily in Providence County Superior Court for an arraignment, state law enforcement officials say, where she pleaded not guilty.
The charges stem from McLaren had allegedly knowingly falsified nomination papers and caused them to be submitted on behalf of Matos to boards of canvassers within Jamestown and Newport between July 11-13, 2023.
McLaren is the second Matos campaign worker charged in connection with the signature scandal.
Johnston resident Christopher Cotham was also charged back in early April with two felony counts of falsely making a nomination paper, and two misdemeanor counts of submitting nomination papers to election officials containing information known to be false. Cotham pleaded not guilty to the charges at the time.
"I am glad to learn that the investigation is progressing, and that those involved are being held accountable," Matos said in a statement Friday. "This is a serious crime that was perpetrated against our state’s free and fair elections, and I look forward to this case being settled and resolved. I will continue to support our justice system in any way I can to ensure the truth comes to light, as well as supporting reforms to the reporting structure to protect our democratic process."
Those nomination paper submissions allegedly from McLaren triggered a wave of investigations
both at the local and state levels where past news reports outlined that some signatures found on papers for Matos’ campaign were either forged or of deceased residents. Then-Newport Canvassing Clerk Stephen Waluk told Providence Business News at the time the paper with the questionable signatures was submitted by McLaren.
Discrepancies were also reportedly found in Barrington and East Providence.
Matos’ campaign at the time said it was “deeply disappointed and angry” about the reports of fraudulent signatures. During
a candidate debate at Roger Williams University last August, Matos said at the time she took responsibility for the signatures submitted on her behalf. She also reiterated that she had “more than enough signatures” to qualify for the ballot and that she “didn’t need this” controversy.
“The person [who submitted the fraudulent signatures] who I trusted lied to us, and I took responsibility for that,” Matos said during the debate. “But I am the candidate here on this stage with the most experience to run for office.”
A month later, the R.I. Board of Elections
ruled that while Matos’ campaign had more than enough valid signatures for Matos to be eligible for the then November ballot, the board still had questions about the signatures themselves.
Matos at the time was one of 12 Democrat candidates vying for the open seat in the U.S. that was vacated by David N. Cicilline – now the Rhode Island Foundation’s CEO and president. Gabe Amo subsequently was elected as the state’s new congressman.
Now, McLaren will face a judge on the charges and scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Aug. 8.
(UPDATE: Adds comment from Matos in 5th paragraph)
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
