An aide in the Rhode Island Senate won a four-way Democratic primary Tuesday for a vacant seat on Providence City Council, according to unofficial results.
Unofficial results from the state Board of Elections show Oscar Vargas with 379 votes, compared with 290 for Doris De Los Santos, 115 for Casandra Inez, and 74 for Santos Javier.
There are no Republican candidates for the Ward 15 seat representing Olneyville and parts of the Valley and Silver Lake sections of Providence, so barring a change in the outcome, Vargas has a clear path to serving on the City Council. He will succeed Sabina Matos, who became lieutenant governor in April.
Vargas outpaced De Los Santos thanks to the strength of his mail ballot effort. Three hundred and six of his 379 votes came from mail ballots, according to unofficial results, compared with 223 of 290 for De Los Santos. Inez, a Providence school teacher, got more election day votes than either Vargas or De Los Santos, but lagged behind in mail ballots.
In the Democratic primary for Pawtucket’s District 5 city council seat, unofficial results show Clovis C. Gregor beating out Ana P. Soares with 56% of the 372 votes cast. Independent Frank Carter is also running for the seat in the general election to be held July 6.
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@ripr.org
