Rep. Ray Sullivan, a leader among young Rhode Island House Democrats, is leaving the House and taking a job as deputy district director of government affairs for U.S. Rep. James Langevin.

Sullivan, 33, is well-respected among Democrats for his political savvy; he was campaign director for Barack Obama's campaign in Rhode Island. Before that he worked for Myrth York's 2002 campaign for governor. Sullivan is also a former journalist.

As expected, the January 2011 departure of Governor Carcieri -- and Gordon Fox's anticipated move this week into the speakership -- will change the dynamic around long-stalled gay marriage legislation in Rhode Island. Here's further evidence, via Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD):

When House Speaker Bill Murphy steps down later this week, he will hand  the gavel to his loyal lieutenant, Gordon Fox of Providence.

House Speaker is one of the two or three most powerful jobs in state government, yet the campaign for the post has been invisible to all but the 75 state reps and the usual gang of state House lobbyists, journalists and pols.

The campaign has been playing out behind the scenes for months now, with Fox and Murphy lining up support from Democrats who form the vast majority on Smith Hill.

The complicated dynamic in Rhode Island's 2010 governor's race -- with Democratic, Republican, independent, and Moderate candidates -- makes more significant the matter of just who's running for the Mods. Under the right circumstances, the Mod candidate might draw from some combination of the other entrants in the race.

This just in:

State Senator Lou Raptakis, who recently announced his campaign for Secretary of State, has hired Erin Arcand to serve as his Campaign Manager.  For the past four years, Arcand served as a campaign manager for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, directing fundraising efforts and organizing a range of special events, such as the annual Light the Night campaign.

US Representative Patrick Kennedy's camp wasn't commenting to reporters following GOP rival John Loughlin's campaign announcement yesterday. But that hasn't stopped Kennedy from firing a shot of his own against one of Loughlin's role models, newly minted Senator Scott Brown. As Politico reports:

The long-anticipated resignation of Gary Sasse is at hand. As recently as yesterday afternoon, Carcieri spokeswoman Amy Kempe denied that Sasse's resignation had already been accepted.

Media Nation, my ex-colleague Dan Kennedy's blog, is a must-read for people interested in the evolution of media. And Kennedy had an interesting post yesterday exploring the usefulness and legitimacy of government support* for public-interest reporting. An excerpt:

A day before he formally unveils his Republican challenge to US Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, John Loughlin is using Facebook to play up comparisons with Scott Brown's upset victory in Massachusetts. As Ted Nesi reports at Providence Business News:

WPRI-TV (Channel 12) is getting ready to release some early indicators on this big political year (disclosure: I'm a weekly panelist on the station's Newsmakers show). The poll, billed as the station's largest, includes the following questions: