Politically speaking, Richmond is a purple town with some interesting voting patterns. Donald Trump won the rural Southern Rhode Island town this year. But down the ballot, Richmond had a virtual blue wave, with Democrats dominating races for town council, school committee, and state representative.
Longtime Republican Richard Nassaney doesn’t shy away when it comes to talking about who he voted for for president. Nassaney says he went with Donald Trump because he felt he would prioritize what’s best for America.
“He stands for our country and that’s first and foremost – protect our country, protect our borders, protect our businesses or whatever,” Nassaney said.
If you’re assuming Nassaney voted for Republicans in every race, you’d be wrong. He strongly supported many of the Richmond Democratic candidates.
“I think it’s not so much the [Democratic] party itself, it’s more the people that are running,” Nassaney said. “They have been listening to the people of the town.”
Nassaney specifically pointed to Democratic State Representative Megan Cotter.
“She’s literally brought thousands and thousands of dollars to the town for the elderly. She’s brought programs to our town,” Nassaney said.
Nassaney doesn’t seem to be an anomaly in Richmond this year. The town of about 8,000 residents usually votes Democrat for president and mostly Republican for local offices. This election year it flipped.
“No one was more surprised than I was on election night,” said State Rep. Cotter. Cotter represents the conservative-leaning District 39, which encompasses Exeter, Hopkinton and Richmond. She first ran for office back in 2020 and lost decisively. She won two years ago by a razor-thin margin of 32 votes. This year though, she won the district by nearly 700 votes. She says she did it by staying away from national politics and talking to voters about bread and butter issues instead.
“Stagnant wages, the cost of goods, being number four in the country for electricity rates,” Cotter said. “All these things impact people’s lives every day, and they want to see representation that will do their best to address it and take [care of] their needs.”
Cotter says the Democratic Party used to focus more on working class issues nationally, and that her success on the local level shows that’s a winning formula with voters.
“I think hearing the party talk about saving democracy … it doesn’t resonate with everyday people, and it doesn’t address the things that they’re concerned about,” Cotter said.
Democrats in Richmond say they’ve also been able to motivate more good candidates to run. Jessica Purcell was recently elected back on the school committee. She ran for office for the first time in 2022, when political divisions were playing out in fights over the direction of the Chariho Regional School District.
“I was around my neighborhood knocking on doors asking people to sign this paper. And my neighbor, Samantha Wilcox, was inspired by that,” Purcell said. “She ran for town council in 2022 and she won, and then she just was awarded a second term by the voters.”
Some local conservatives say the Republican Town Committee in Richmond has been less unified. The chair of the committee didn’t respond to my request for an interview, but Republican voter Richard Nassaney says some local Republican officeholders have become more extreme in their positions. That’s led conservatives like him to vote for local Democrats.
“This Republican committee right now is, you’re either with them or you’re against them,” he said.
Nassaney says the hyper-partisan approach that’s worked for Republicans in Washington, D.C., doesn’t apply locally. He says he’s more impressed by people who compromise for the benefit of Richmond residents.
