Katie Mulvaney, Providence Journal
Updated Thu, May 7, 2026 at 4:46 PM UTC
A Massachusetts man admitted to his role in the campaign signature scandal that helped sink Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos’ candidacy for Congress.
Christopher Cotham, 47, of Brighton, Massachusetts, pleaded no contest May 4 to two counts each of knowingly making a false nomination paper and submitting false nomination papers to election officials. He received a deferred sentence of three years and was ordered to undergo substance use counseling.
Two campaign workers linked to false signatures
Cotham was one of two Matos campaign workers to face charges in 2024 for filing fake signatures on nomination papers.
Holly McClaren, 54, who now lives in Virginia, pleaded no contest in June 2025 to two counts each of felony falsely certifying nomination papers and misdemeanor filing false documents with a public official related to the scandal. She received a three-year unsupervised suspended sentence with probation.
Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos
What went down
Jamestown Canvassing Clerk Keith Ford first flagged Matos’ signatures for including the names of at least three dead residents and others who were not registered or were ineligible to vote in the town. McClaren submitted 17 signatures in Jamestown, all but one of which was rejected.
Hundreds more signatures on Matos’ nominating papers were eventually thrown out, though she still qualified for the ballot. The controversy knocked her out of her presumed front-runner status, with Matos publicly blaming McLaren.
Matos, who was named lieutenant governor by Gov. Dan McKee, is running for reelection as Rhode Island’s second-in-command.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Ex-Sabina Matos campaign worker admits filing fake signatures in 2023 race