General Assembly incumbents won each of their races in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, as Republicans picked up one open seat in Tuesday’s election. Incumbents also enjoyed broad success in elections for Rhode Island Senate, although the GOP presence there could drop by one member.
When the House starts its new session in January, there will be 64 Democrats, 10 Republicans and one independent.
The support for incumbents, even with polls showing dissatisfaction with Rhode Island’s direction, shows how change in the General Assembly is coming from the election over time of more progressive and female legislators.
As of mid-day Wednesday, overseas and dropbox votes remained outstanding and election results are preliminary.
Republicans gained two House seats previously held by conservative Democrats: Richard Fascia defeated progressive Democrat Kelsey Coletta, who beat Rep. Edward Cardillo (D-Johnston) in the primary, and Marie Hopkins edged Democrat James McElroy for an open seat formerly held by Rep. Camille Vella-Wilkinson (D-Warwick).
Republican Paul Santucci, with 55.3% of the vote, kept the seat formerly held by Rep. Brian Rea (R-Smithfield) in GOP hands by beating former Democratic Rep. Bernard Hawkins.
In Cranston, Republican City Councilor Chris Paplauskas maintained GOP control of former Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung’s seat by edging Democrat Maria Bucci, a former councilor and mayoral candidate.
The GOP gains were offset by Democrat Earl Read winning the open seat formerly held by Rep. Patricia Morgan (D-West Warwick), who lost her bid to unseat U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.
In the marquee legislative race, state Rep. Megan Cotter (D-Exeter) scored an almost eight-point win over former GOP Rep. Justin Price, a strong supporter of Donald Trump who was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6.
“This victory shows how powerful it is to talk directly to working people about what matters to them,” Cotter said in a news release sent by the Working Families Party, a progressive group that supported her campaign. “Even our neighbors who are skeptical of Democrats, most of them want more support for our seniors, healthcare that is accessible to them, affordable child care, and our beautiful natural resources protected.”
There were 27 general election races for the 75 seats in the Rhode Island House.
Incumbent House Democrats and Republicans won all of their races — 17 for the Democrats, four for the Republicans, and one for the only House independent.
Top vote-getters included Rep. Jon Brien (I-Woonsocket), who got 78.1% of the ballots with token opposition; House Minority Whip David Place (R-Burrillville) with 69.7%; House GOP Leader Mike Chippendale (R-Foster) with 69.3%; Rep. Robert Quattrocchi (R-Scituate) with 65.2%; and Rep. Jennifer Boylan (D-Barrington) with 64.4%
Democrat Peter Appollonio Jr. holds a slim 25-vote lead over Sen. Anthony DeLuca (R-Warwick), who first won election in 2022 with support from establishment Democrats.
If Appollonio prevails, the GOP presence in the Senate will shrink by one, to four senators, and the Democratic caucus will grow to 34 members.
Among races for 16 of 38 Senate seats, incumbent Democrats won their 9 races, and incumbent Republicans appear to have won three of four.
Democrat Lori Urso, who was elevated to the ballot after the resignation of former Sen. Sandra Cano (D-Pawtucket), defeated independent Cathyann Palocsik.
Democrat Andrew Dmitri defeated Republican Karin Gorman for the seat left open by the death of former Sen. Frank Lombardo (D-Johnston). And Democrat Todd Patalano, a major with the Cranston Police Department, cruised past Republican Jennifer Caputi for the seat vacated by Sen. Frank Lombardi (D-Cranston).
The top vote-getters in the Senate were Sen. Sam Bell (D-Providence) with 78.4%; Senate Judiciary Chairwoman Dawn Euer (D-Newport) with 70.2%; Senate GOP Leader Jessica de la Cruz (R-North Smithfield) with 68.2%; Sen. Susan Sosnowski (D-South Kingstown) with 65.8%; and Urso with 64.3%
