Senate Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, the longest serving member of the Senate, won election Thursday as the new president of the chamber, succeeding Teresa Paiva Weed.
As first reported Tuesday by RI Public Radio, Ruggerio was poised to move quickly into the top position in the Senate, joined by Senate Judiciary Chairman Michael McCaffrey as Warwick as the new majority leader.
Paiva Weed announced Wednesday she’s leaving for a six-figure job as head of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island. She formally resigned as Senate president at 3 pm Thursday, and plans to start in her new job May 1.
Ruggerio, 68, won the backing of a Democratic caucus on a 31-0 margin. A short time later, the Senate backed him as president on a 37-0 vote. McCaffrey won a unanimous vote during the caucus.
The oath of office was administered by a former Senate president, Joseph Montalbano, now a Superior Court judge.
Ruggerio walked to the rostrum with his granddaughter, Ava.
The North Providence Democrat, said he plans to maintain Paiva Weed’s priorities.
“We want to help people who need help, we certainly need to do economic development in this state,” Ruggerio said in an interview. “I think you need workforce development also, if you’re going to attract businesses, we need a workforce that can compete not only in a state economy, but a global economy.”
“I don’t want to mess with success. Senate President Paiva Weed has really laid out a good course of action,” Ruggerio continued. “We’ve had a number of programs that have been adopted. I think the implementation of those programs are starting to have a good effect on the state of Rhode Island. So I want to continue what we’re doing and look at the future, and see what we’re looking at down the road.”
Ruggerio pointed to changes with the Trump administration in Washington, which may sharply cut Medicaid funding for states, as a big concern.
With McCaffrey moving up, Ruggerio said a determination has not yet been made on his successor as Senate Judiciary chairman. He said a decision may not be made on that until next week.
Although Ruggerio supports marijuana legalization, he is seen as being more socially conservative than Paiva Weed and closer in political philosophy to House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, who leans conservative, although with a strong pragmatic streak.
How the change in Senate leadership affects Governor Gina Raimondo’s legislative priorities remains to be seen.
Ruggerio said he never expected “in my wildest dreams” to remain in the General Assembly this long or to rise to the top post in the Senate.
“I just can’t thank my colleagues enough,” he said. Ruggerio said he learned a lot from Paiva Weed and “she forgot more than I’ll ever know.”
