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One is kicking the tires on a run for president in 2028. The other is trying to shape the education policy for Democrats vying for the White House.

In the last month, former Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo and former Providence mayor Jorge Elorza have published separate opinion pieces in The New York Times, outlining their respective visions on the economy and schools in the most prestigious op-ed page in global journalism.

Start with Raimondo, who was US commerce secretary during President Biden’s administration and is not ruling out a candidate for the presidency in two years.

Under the headline, “America cannot withstand the economic shock that’s coming,” Raimondo used her March 6 op-ed to argue that “A.I.-driven mass unemployment is a potential crisis on the horizon.”

Raimondo wrote: “This country cannot withstand the kind of economic shock I see coming. Without solutions, America’s anxiety will become rage — and political backlash will follow, targeting companies that make A.I., businesses that deploy it and politicians who back it. A new grand bargain between the public and private sectors can help us meet this moment. I know we have the ingenuity to do it. What’s missing now is the collective will.”

Then there’s Elorza, who leads Democrats of Education Reform and has spent much of the last trying to convince members of his party that they’ve lost ground to Republicans on an issue they used to dominate.

In a Feb. 17 op-ed titled, “Democrats, this is why you haven’t fixed schools yet,” Elorza argues that “America is in a decade-long education depression.” 

Elorza wrote: “Instead of a top-down model that delivers a one-size-fits-all experience, we need an open, dynamic system where educators have the freedom to design new schools — and parents have the power to choose among them. When families have more agency, schools are compelled to adapt and improve to earn their trust, and a more responsive system follows.”

The bigger picture: It’s not a surprise to anyone who has followed Raimondo’s political career that she’d be a major voice in Democratic politics nationally, but few would have bet that Elorza would become a factor on the national stage.

But their voices both have traction on two of the major challenges the country is facing in the coming years. 

Artificial intelligence appears likely to dominate most policy conversations for the rest of the decade, but Elorza is seeking to overhaul the traditional Democratic vision for public education. Former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is all but guaranteed to run for president, has adopted some of Elorza’s talking points.

Raimondo and Elorza were allies when the two held the two most visible elected offices in Rhode Island, but they weren’t exactly in tandem. 

Raimondo never quite viewed Elorza as on her level, and she saw city leadership as a non-entity when it came to executing her strategy as governor – even though she knew Providence itself was essential.

Elorza largely threw up his hands on Providence’s school system, and supported Raimondo’s effort to take control of the largest school district. But he was increasingly critical of the takeover after Raimondo left for Washington, D.C. and current Governor Dan McKee continued the state’s oversight of the school system.