N4N is just back from the latest gubernatorial forum - this one hosted by the business-backed Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council. And on the way out, I spoke with a businessman from a prominent Rhode Island company who said what more than a few who have watched the candidate forums are suggesting: Moderate Ken Block made the most impressive showing.

Erstwhile Moderate Party candidate for lieutenant governor Jean Ann Guliano is running for a state senate seat instead. From her statement:

Many have pointed out that my running for state office is admirable, but what we really need are committed people in the General Assembly, people who are going to advocate for taxpayers, our students and small businesses.

Ian Donnis over at WRNI wonders if Ken Block, founder of the Moderate Party, may be the party's soon-to-be-unveiled nominee for governor. For what it's worth, that's what we hear - in a very Rhode Island, second-hand sort of way - over at N4N. And the field keeps growing...

WPRI-TV is set to release some interesting poll numbers on the gubernatorial race tonight.

The Moderate Party is set to unveil a roster of candidates, including a gubermatorial candidate, at the end of the month. This is shaping up as an auspicious year for a third-party insurgency. But standing out as a centrist party in a deeply polarized environment could be difficult. And getting traction in a gubernatorial race with a pair of heavy hitters in the Democratic primary and a strong independent, in Lincoln Chafee, who will be targeting the disaffected, will also be a challenge.

Steve Peoples has a story in today's ProJo about a questionable move by the Moderate Party to swell its bank account. Party Chairman Ken Block donated $10,000 to the party's state committee in September, meeting the maximum allowed under state law. A few days later, he donated an additional $10,000 to the Barrington Moderate Town Committee, which then redirected the money to the state committee, circumventing the limit.