“People are angry, and they understand the conservative machine has been running the state into the ground,” says Samuel W. Bell, state coordinator of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats

Energized by Bernie Sanders’ decisive victory in Rhode Island, about a dozen progressives are challenging more conservative Democratic state legislators in September primaries.

In Pawtucket and Providence, Warwick and West Warwick, progressives are lining up to challenge Democratic incumbents, bolstering the strongest field of “real Democrats” in years, said Samuel W. Bell, state coordinator of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats.

Wednesday marked the end of a three-day window for Rhode Islanders to declare their candidacies, and some of the challengers helped catapult Sanders to victory in the state’s April 26 primary. While top Democrats lined up behind Hillary Clinton, Sanders took 54.7 percent of the vote, topping Clinton’s 43.1 percent.

“It indicates that not only do Rhode Islanders side with real Democrats against the machine, they side with the progressive wing of the national Democratic Party,” Bell said. “People are angry, and they understand the conservative machine has been running the state into the ground.”

While the state is dominated by Democrats, Bell said the party is controlled by House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello, D-Cranston, who has an A-plus rating from the NRA. And he said many Assembly Democrats are more conservative than both Sanders and Clinton — out of step with the national Democratic Party when it comes to abortion, gun control and “tax cuts for the rich.” He quoted former state GOP executive director Ann Clanton, who in 2013 told WBUR, “We have a lot of Democrats who we know are Republican but run as a Democrat — basically so they can win.”

But Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, chairman of both the state Democratic Party and the local Clinton campaign, rejected Bell’s assessment, saying, “The current Democratic Party has a very wide tent, and Sam Bell has a very narrow, restrictive view of acceptable Democratic philosophies. Democrats are a very diverse group who, for the most part, are together on core issues, including supporting teachers, education and unions in the state."

Many local Democrats are “fiscally conservative,” McNamara said. “Are we pro-business Democrats? You better believe it.” But while rural and urban Democrats might differ on Second Amendment issues, they agree on many other matters, such as the minimum wage and LGBT rights, he said.

McNamara downplayed the possibility that primary battles could hurt the party. “As Nietzsche said, every hardship we endure makes us stronger,” he said. “Elections sharpen our skills and our message.” Primaries get candidates out in their districts, and “as Tip O’Neill said, all politics are extremely local," he said.

The Progressive Democrats won’t formally endorse a full slate of candidates until Thursday night, but Bell said he’s “personally excited” about a dozen candidates in the primaries. He cited David Norton as an example of a progressive challenging a more conservative incumbent — Rep. David A. Coughlin Jr., D-Pawtucket.

Norton, a 46-year-old internet marketing consultant, said Sanders’ victory “showed Rhode Islanders are really tired of the establishment and the political machine." He said he was one of the leaders of a campaign to keep the PawSox in Pawtucket. He said it was “terrible” that, in the wake of the Orlando mass shooting, the House passed a concealed-pistol permit bill championed by local NRA allies. And he called Coughlin a “rubber stamp” for House leadership.

Coughlin, a 66-year-old lawyer and former Pawtucket School Committee member, said he supports Mattiello, but he said, “I’m not a machine Democrat.” He said he broke with leadership by, for example, voting to extend free bus passes for low-income disabled and senior riders. He said he has always advocated keeping the PawSox in Pawtucket. He said he did not vote for either Sanders or Clinton. “I am a conservative Democrat," he said. “And most of the people I meet are Democrats, for the most part, but of the conservative ilk.”

Stay tuned. The primaries are Sept. 13.

efitzpat@providencejournal.com (401) 277-7368 On Twitter: @FitzProv