After losing the support of Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, Senate Majority Leader Ryan Pearson is trying to rally backing from fellow senators to keep him in the chamber’s second-ranking post.
Pearson did not respond when asked to identify his level of support from fellow senators.
But the Cumberland Democrat reiterated his view that health challenges faced by Ruggerio, 75, and the deaths from illness of two senators have weakened the chamber as the state faces serious challenges involving education, healthcare, and other issues.
In an interview, Pearson said the 38-member Senate has been “understandably distracted and less focused on the policies and the priorities that we want to get across the finish line for our constituents.”
Ruggerio went public last week with his endorsement for Senate Whip Val Lawson of East Providence to replace Pearson as majority leader.
The move wasn’t wholly unexpected, given Ruggerio’s pique about how Pearson visited him at his North Providence home as he was wrestling with health issues earlier this year and urged him to hasten a leadership transition in the Senate.
But Pearson isn’t going quietly, ahead of a Senate Democratic caucus vote expected after the November election.
He said he is discussing “what the right path forward may be,” adding that he has not decided to run for any post other than his current role of majority leader.
“Colleagues across all spectrums are having conversations with each other about what is important to them, what is important to their constituents,” Pearson said, “and what is the best way for the Senate to organize to get those issues accomplished and worked on.”
Senate spokesman Greg Pare did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Senate Finance Chairman Lou DiPalma (D-Middletown), a supporter of the Ruggerio-Lawson slate, said he believes Lawson has the votes needed to win the post of majority leader.
“I don’t see Ryan having a path to the numbers,” DiPalma said.
DiPalma said he is not concerned that Ruggerio, who has faced cancer and other health issues, will miss significant portions of the next legislative session after being absent for lengthy stretches of the last one.
“Every time I talk to time, he sounds better than the time before,” DiPalma said, and “I think he’s back — ready to get back to work.”
