Rhode Island
Primary voters back Democratic incumbent legislators with one exception • Rhode Island Current
The incumbent advantage is alive and well in Rhode Island, where sitting Democratic state lawmakers overwhelmingly triumphed in primary races Tuesday.
Except for Democratic Rep. Ed Cardillo Jr., who narrowly lost his reelection bid in the three-way primary to represent House District 42 to progressive challenger Kelsey Coletta.
All results are preliminary and unofficial, with mail ballots and those turned into polling place drop boxes still being counted over the next week, according to a tentative schedule from the Rhode Island Board of Elections.
The closest primary came down to 31 votes, in which Coletta ousted Cardillo for the seat representing parts of Cranston and Johnston. Coletta first challenged Cardillo for the seat in the 2022 primary, losing by roughly 80 votes.
What made the second go-round different?
“I had a lot of support and I started a lot earlier,” Coletta said, gathering with fellow Democratic representatives at Lemongrass restaurant in Warwick to celebrate. “I am their neighbor, I understand what they’re struggling with. I understand what it’s like to live in this world, in our state, in Johnston and Cranston.”
Coletta will square off against Republican Richard Fascia in the November general election.
Cardillo, a two-term representative, declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday night. His nephew, Dennis Cardillo Jr., was also in the race, and finished a distant third.
In contrast, Democratic Providence Rep. Enrique Sanchez had no trouble winning a second term in House District 9, which lacks a Republican opponent, despite an accusation-riddled race against challengers Anastacia Williams and Santos Javier. Sanchez drew more than 50% of the vote, drawing nearly twice as much support as Javier. Williams, who held the seat for 20 years before being ousted by Sanchez in 2022, finished third.
“I just want to thank the voters of House District 9 for reelecting us to continue working hard for them and fighting for strong progressive policies and initiatives at the State House,” Sanchez said in an interview Tuesday night.
Complaints by all three candidates against their opponents alleging mail ballot tampering, ethical violations and sign stealing, among others, remain under review by various state and local agencies, including Providence police. Sanchez declined to comment on the complaints and investigations.
“We’ll let the authorities handle it,” he said.
Senate President Ruggerio easily defeats challenger
Meanwhile, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio is poised to reach the 40-year-mark in the Rhode Island Senate after handily defeating progressive challenger Lenny Cioe with 70% of the vote. There is no Republican challenger.
Ruggerio was strongly favored to win the Senate District 4 primary representing North Providence, despite health issues that kept him away from the State House for a large chunk of the legislative session. Ruggerio also did not attend his scheduled watch party at Knights of Columbus Dillon Council event venue in North Providence Tuesday night, according to Greg Pare, a Senate spokesperson.
In a statement Tuesday night, Ruggerio called his reelection “a tremendous honor,” thanking voters, and supporters who volunteered on his campaign.
“I have been overwhelmed by the support of so many people who helped our campaign while I have been recovering from my temporary health challenge,” Ruggerio said. “I recently had a procedure that successfully addressed complications from the shingles virus, and I am presently at home recuperating. While the surgery was successful and I am feeling better every day, I have been advised by my doctors to stay out of crowded spaces for the time being.”
He continued, “I look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with residents and colleagues across government to address the challenges facing our State and to making Rhode Island an even greater place to live and work.”
Ruggerio’s supporters included a mix of likely faces as well as a few surprises, including progressive Providence Democratic Sen. Tiara Mack.
Mack, who said in an interview Monday that she canvassed for Ruggerio once during the summer, is unopposed in her reelection bid, a status shared by more than half of the 104 state legislators vying for another term. (Nine legislators are not seeking reelection).
Who’s backing who
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, who is running unopposed in both the primary and general election, gathered with Democratic representatives at Lemongrass restaurant in Warwick to celebrate their wins and watch the presidential debate.
Shekarchi, a top fundraiser whose name has surfaced in discussions of the 2026 governor’s race, spent Tuesday afternoon traveling the state to stump for lawmakers facing reelection. Among his stops: Providence’s House District 11, where 20-year incumbent Rep. Grace Diaz faced a challenge from Tania Quezada, who served on Providence Mayor Brett Smiley’s transition team.
Diaz held on to her seat by a more than 20-percentage-point margin over Quezada.
Shekarchi also planned to stop in Westerly to help Rep. Samuel Azzinaro, who for the first time since winning office in 2008, had a primary challenger in Jonathan Daly-LaBelle. Azzinaro drew nearly twice as many votes in the House District 37 primary, securing his spot in the State House because there is no Republican opponent.
“They have competitive races, and I want to show support for my team,” Shekarchi said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. “They are long-standing members of the House, and they are good Democrats.”
Shekarchi stressed that his support was forged in personal relationships, not politics. For example, the moderate Warwick Democrat gave $1,000 to Rep. Cherie Cruz in her reelection bid for Pawtucket’s House District 58, where Cruz faced a challenge from mayoral-backed candidate Elizabeth Moreira.
Cruz, a progressive elected in 2022, successfully fended off Moreira by a 20-percentage point margin, thanks in part to the backing of the Rhode Island Working Families Party. No Republican candidate entered the race.
Progressive strategy
Having secured major wins for its endorsed candidates in past elections, the progressive group chose to focus on just four primary races this year, two of which were for incumbents facing establishment-backed challengers. In addition to Cruz, the group also worked to help Rep. Brandon Potter stave off a challenge from Democrat Joseph Graziano in House District 16.
Potter, a two-term incumbent, has alleged that Ruggerio recruited Graziano to run against him as retaliation over policy disagreements, allegations which Graziano and Ruggerio have both denied. Potter ultimately trounced Graziano with more than 75% of the vote Tuesday night. Potter will still have to defeat Republican Deborah Leong in November.
Potter declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday night, saying he planned to issue a statement on results in the morning.
Georgia Hollister Isman, New England regional director for the Working Families Party, expressed confidence in both incumbents’ chances in an interview Tuesday morning.
“That’s a bad political call on their part,” Hollister Isman said of the decision to challenge Cruz and Potter, both of whom are popular with fellow lawmakers and with voters.
The Working Families Party also backed Coletta in the House District 64 race, and Giona Picheco, a progressive challenger to Rep. Charlene Lima in House District 14. Lima, a three-decade veteran of the Rhode Island State House, won her reelection campaign, capturing more than 55% of the votes cast.
Hollister Isman touted wins among three of the four priority candidates in a statement Tuesday night.
“Voters want what they’re fighting for: better wages and benefits, more affordable housing and healthcare, quality schools and childcare for all Rhode Island kids, and a government that is run not by political insiders or corporate lobbyists, but by people who know firsthand what their districts need,” Hollister Isman said. “Working Families Democrats are standing up for the people of their districts, even in the face of powerful opposition, and that is political strength, not a weakness.”
Wide open
Cranston’s Republican mayoral primary was perhaps the biggest news of an otherwise sleepy, low-turnout primary. But Cranston Democrats also had tough decisions to make, including for the open seat in Senate District 28, held by Sen. Josh Miller. Miller opted not to run for reelection, creating an opportunity in a liberal stronghold that drew no Republican contenders.
Cranston City Council Vice President Lammis Vargas beat runner-up Darrell Brown by 101 votes in the five-way primary representing parts of Cranston and Providence. She celebrated the win with family and friends at Ted’s Stadium Pub in Cranston.
“The voters of Cranston and Providence have put their faith in my strong track record and leadership experience to deliver results and continue fighting for District 28,” Vargas said in a statement Tuesday night. “This was a close primary race amongst five stellar candidates, and I am grateful to them, as well as the voters who turned out to the polls, and the unions and elected officials who put their support behind my candidacy.”
Two other open seats in the Rhode Island Senate featured three Democratic candidates.
In Senate District 20, vacated by Sen. Roger Picard, Woonsocket City Councilor Brian Thompson came out on top with two-thirds of ballots cast. The Senate District 25 seat left vacant after Sen. Frank Lombardo III died in February was claimed, at least in the primary, by Andrew Dimitri. Dimitri will now face Republican Karin Gorman in the general election.
In East Providence and Pawtucket, the open House District 64 seat held by two-term Rep. Brianna Henries was easily claimed by Jenni Furtado. Furtado, chair of the East Providence School Committee, bested fellow Democrat Ashley Pereira with more than double the support among voters. There is no Republican candidate.
Other state races decided Tuesday, with no Republican opponent in November, included:
- House District 51: Rep. Robert Phillips will serve an eighth term representing voters in Woonsocket and Cumberland after beating challenger Garrett Mancieri.
- House District 57: Rep. Brandon Voas secured a second term after beating Democratic challenger Raiden Phoenix Witt for the seat representing Cumberland and Central Falls.
- Senate District 14: Senate Majority Whip Valarie Lawson easily defeated challenger Brian Gary Coogan for the seat representing East Providence.
- Senate District 37: Incumbent Rep. V. Susan Sosnowski handily won her reelection bid against challenger Anita Norton Jacobson in South Kingstown.
Two other Democratic primaries decided Tuesday set up challenges against Republican incumbents in November.
In Senate District 17, Cameron Deutsch defeated Alexander Azar in the primary spanning parts of Lincoln, North Providence and Smithfield. Deutsch will now face Republican incumbent Sen. Thomas Paolino in the general election.
In Warwick’s Senate District 29, Peter Appollonio Jr. defeated Jennifer Rourke, advancing him to the November ballot against Republican incumbent Sen. Anthony DeLuca.
The Rhode Island Board of Elections expects to finish tallying results by Sept. 16.
The general election is Nov. 5.
Reporter Chris Shea contributed to this story.
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“They were truly the unrelenting voices of their time, and made sure that this was something that happened because they knew it was important,” Jess Motyl-Szary, director of Rhode Island Pride, said in an interview on Thursday.
The 1976 pride march came after local Bicentennial Committee organizers “refused meeting space for the group of community members hosting the Congress of People with Gay Concerns,” according to research by Matthew Lawrence and published on the Providence Public Library’s website.
“Calling themselves Toward a Gayer Bicentennial Committee, the group sued the official Bicentennial Committee and won the right to assemble at the Old State House, where about 30 people met in June 1976 to discuss civil rights concerns,” according to Lawrence.
But the contingent also had to fight to join the Bicentennial Parade after they were initially denied the right to do so by officials who pointed to the state’s anti-sodomy law at the time, according to Motyl-Szary.
The 76ers “knew that being a part of an existing parade meant there was a little bit of safety there, because it was an existing infrastructure,” Motyl-Szary said.
“But it also meant that there was a much higher visibility for them to be able to be out there, be proud, and show other people who might not have been out that there is a safe space for them,” Motyl-Szary said.
With the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union, they won the right to march, she said.
“It wasn’t safe to be out in the ’70s,” Motyl-Szary said. “Incredibly great people marched. Some had to march with paper bags on their heads because there were no legal protections to protect their jobs, their home, their families, but [it was] still incredibly brave to go out there, create visibility, and create this organization.
“Being here 50 years later, and being a part of their legacy has been so incredible,” she said.
A lot has changed for LGBTQIA+ Rhode Islanders in the decades since, Motyl-Szary said.
“But the closeness of it still feels relevant because we’re seeing these continued attacks in our community, and a very real resurgence of attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community, especially our trans brothers, sisters, and siblings,” Motyl-Szary said.
Since returning to office last year, the Trump Administration has taken aim at transgender rights across the country, especially after President Donald Trump signed an executive order recognizing two sexes, male and female. Among other actions, Trump has often sought to tie adherence to the order with federal funding requirements, and the administration has also attempted to gather private medical records from hospitals that provided gender-affirming care to transgender children and teens.
Reflecting on what pride means to her right now, Motyl-Szary said pride festivities are new to at least somebody every year.
“Someone is coming and getting to feel this embrace, this huge hug of their community for the first time every year,” she said. “And in a time like this, when our community is being told that we are hated by the rest of our community, by the rest of our country, when we are told we should hate ourselves, coming out and celebrating ourselves, loving ourselves, loving each other is so incredibly important. Our community creates the space that we need.”
Motyl-Szary said she also believes that “queer joy is resistance.”
“There is a real need for us to have a space and a celebration of who we are and to remind ourselves that we are worthy of love and that we are worthy of being a part of a community that gathers, celebrates, and fights for ourselves and our rights,” she said.
Rhode Island Pride kicks off on Friday night with the “Golden Anniversary Eve” party from 6 to 8 p.m. at the 195 District Park in Providence, Motyl-Szary said.
Festivities continue at the park on Saturday with yoga at 10 a.m. and PrideFest entertainment beginning at 11 a.m., alongside approximately 260 vendors, she said. A rally at 2 p.m. will focus on “what’s happening, get people motivated to be involved in [the] community to speak up and be an activist in whatever way is right for their path of activism,” Motyl-Szary said.
The Illuminated Night Parade steps off at 7:30 p.m. at Washington and Empire streets before moving through downtown Providence, according to organizers.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.
(WJAR) — While Rhode Island prepares for its 50th Pride celebration, many are looking back on the history of the event and remembering the people who launched the movement.
“Being in the first parade in 1976, it was the bicentennial year,” said Billy Mencer Ackerly. “It was absolutely very scary and we didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Mencer Ackerly was among a group of between 70 and 100 people who marched in Providence’s first pride parade in June of 1976, at the time of the nation’s bicentennial celebration.
“People on the sidelines were still looking at us like we just came off of a spaceship,” Mencer Ackerly said. “It was almost like they didn’t believe that we would have enough courage to be able to say who we were.”
Billy Mencer Ackerly was among a group of between 70 and 100 people who marched in Providence’s first pride parade in June of 1976, at the time of the nation’s bicentennial celebration. (WJAR)
For some, it was a chance to come out and be seen. For others, like Billy’s family members who took part in the parade, it was an opportunity to show their support.
“My mother was in a car with two other mothers, and it was driven by a gay guy. And on each side of the car it said, ‘I’m proud to say my child is gay,’” Mencer Ackerly said. “It was the best thing my mother ever did for me.”
But the parade itself was almost shut down before it began.
“They were denied the parade by the police chief who said there would be no parade in providence over his dead body,” retired judge and former civil rights attorney Stephen Fortunato said.
First, the bicentennial commission rejected a proposal to include the pride parade in the bicentennial celebrations.
“They can be gay. I have no qualms about their activity or their private habits. We denied endorsement primarily because their activities do not sufficiently relate to the bicentennial,” said Patrick Conley in 1976. He was the Chairman of the Bicentennial Commission at the time.
Stephen Fortunato, who was a civil rights attorney at the time, took on the case.
“This group was ostracized, hated, discriminated against,” Fortunato said. “These civil rights and civil liberties cases depend on the courage of individual people or groups of people like the gay community at the time.”
Billy Mencer Ackerly’s mother, among other mothers, were in a car that read ‘I’m proud to say my child is gay’ during the first parade.
They took the case to federal court and won, paving the way for not just one parade, but five decades of love, acceptance and visibility.
“This movement is based on love,” said Rodney Davis, the current president of Rhode Island Pride. “I want people to come and experience themselves. Their whole selves, who they are.”
This year, organizers are honoring those who came before as well as the tens of thousands of people who show up every year to continue to carry the torch.
“Our theme for this year is ‘We are the people,’ because without everyone America isn’t America,” Davis said.
NBC 10 asked Davis what he hopes to see in the future.
“I want to get to a point where we don’t have to fight to exist,” Davis said. “It’s gotten better, but it’s not there yet.”
Since 1976, Mencer Ackerly has attended Rhode Island’s Pride celebration nearly every year. This coming weekend, he’s once again looking forward to participating.
“When I’m in the parade, I will also be thinking of all those ’76ers that have passed away over the years and about their bravery and their courage,” Mencer Ackerly said. “And I just believe they’ll be clapping up in heaven and celebrating for all of us.”
This year’s PrideFest kicks off Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. at District Park in Providence.
(WJAR) — Tucked away in the woods of Exeter, a small museum is preserving stories that long predate Rhode Island’s founding, and even the arrival of European settlers in New England.
The Tomaquag Museum is Rhode Island’s only Indigenous-led museum and one of the oldest tribal museums in the United States.
For more than six decades, it has worked to preserve and share the history, culture and resilience of Native peoples across Southern New England.
A historic image from the Tomaquag Museum. (Tomaquag Museum)
“Tomaquag Museum is very unique in that it was founded by women,” said Executive Director Loren Spears.
The museum traces its roots back to 1958, when anthropologist Eva Butler and Narragansett Wampanoag elder Princess Red Wing set out to preserve Indigenous history through an Indigenous lens.
The collection originally began in Tomaquag Valley in Hopkinton, which inspired the museum’s name.
A member of the Narragansett Native American Tribe, Spears said the museum’s mission is to ensure Native voices remain part of the historical narrative.
A painting at the Tomaquag Museum that depicts a harsh scene. (WJAR)
“There is no U.S. history without First Peoples’ history,” she said.
The Narragansett Tribe, based primarily in Charlestown, has a history in the region stretching back more than 30,000 years.
Before English colonization, the Narragansetts were among the most influential Indigenous nations in Southern New England.
A display on historic documents at the Tomaquag Museum. (WJAR)
“We’ve had this interrelationship and this history the whole time and have contributed to the creation and formation of this nation in different kinds of ways,” Spears said.
Today, the museum houses thousands of cultural belongings and hundreds of thousands of archival materials documenting Indigenous communities throughout the region.
Among the artifacts on display is an American flag that flew in Afghanistan in honor of the Narragansett Tribe.
“People are often like, ‘Why is there a flag here?’” Spears said. “It’s here because this exact flag flew in Afghanistan in honor of the Narragansett Tribe.”
A U.S. dollar bill signed by Lynn Malerba, the first female chief of the Mohegan Tribe in modern times and the 45th Treasurer of the United States. (WJAR)
The museum also showcases a U.S. dollar bill signed by Lynn Malerba, the first female chief of the Mohegan Tribe in modern times and the 45th Treasurer of the United States.
“You can’t get any more American than a dollar bill,” Spears said. “To be able to see that an Indigenous woman is the one that signed that as the treasurer, we think is pretty remarkable.”
Visitors can explore the museum’s exhibit, “Revolution to Reclamation: Freedom Through Indigenous Sovereignty,” which includes hands-on activities designed for families and children.
Guests can create corn husk dolls, play traditional games, and learn about Native cultures through interactive displays.
Tomaquag Museum Executive Director Loren Spears and NBC 10’s Abbey Buttacavoli at the museum. (WJAR)
In 2016, the museum received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries.
The museum is also preparing for a major new chapter. Within the next few years, Tomaquag plans to relocate to a new facility on the campus of the University of Rhode Island, with hopes of breaking ground by the end of 2026.
“There’s an importance to having Indigenous voice in the room and being part of the story,” Spears said.
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